Dear Graeme,
How is it that you’re already 7 months old??? So much has happened in the span of one month since I last wrote about (to) you. Let me see if I can even do October justice!
You’ve kind of sort of crawled yet but you’re not actively crawling…almost there buddy! Most often, you sit and rock back and forth or slide to lay on your stomach. You are rolling all over the place to get to your toys and grunt with frustration when that isn’t quiet enough. You’re pulling up on people who are ground level with you and whatever pillow or furniture you’re close to. I’m waiting for the day you try it on Benny, though!
You are a professional “solids” eater! So far you’d had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, winter squash, green peas, green beans, carrots, apples, mangos, bananas, and white potatoes. To date the only thing you haven’t LOVED is mangos! We’re doing a combination (half and half) organic pureed baby food (Earth’s Best!) and pureed/smashed homemade food, depending on what we’re having for veggies on any given night. You’ve been eating “dinner” for over a month now but we just added breakfast to the routine to introduce more fruits. We’re waiting until you cut teeth (hopefully soon?) before we start with non pureed/smashed foods. Papaw can’t wait to give you your first hamburger but mommy wants to wait until you’re at least nine months old before you have your first meat, and I’m thinking it’ll be chicken.
You’re still nursing like a champ too and I am SO thankful! According to BabyCenter.com, only 1% of babies and moms are still breastfeeding after the age of 6 months. I feel honored that we’re a part of that 1%! Because your stomach is growing and you’re able to intake that much more milk (and the fat and carb content of my breastmilk is suited to your current but ever changing needs), you’re only nursing every 4 hours. It seems like over night you went from 3 hours to 4 hours and although I greatly enjoy nursing you, I do appreciate not having to pump as much or as often as I use to when I’m away from you.
This time last month we were struggling to phase out your fourth nap of the day. The answer? We started bedtime earlier and so now, somedays you don’t even take your third nap! Currently, you’re schedule goes like this:
7:30 awake for the day and nurse
10:00 first nap
11:30 awake and nurse
2:00 second nap
3:30 awake and nurse
6:30 nurse and sometimes fall asleep for a cat nap
7:30 solids
8:00 bath and bedtime routine
8:30 nurse and bedtime
Speaking of bedtime, right after I wrote your 6 month blog post you changed things on us. At first, you were waking frequently during the night to nurse because you weren’t getting full during your bedtime nursing session. I’d read that in order for you to understand that you needed to take in a full meal every time you nursed instead of snacking and falling asleep after only 5 minutes (you were hungry but also very sleepy), I shouldn’t nurse you every time you woke up at night, which is what I’d been doing for a week or so. To accomplish that, daddy started getting up with you if you awoke before it had been 4+ hours since your last feeding, and tried to get you back to sleep. I’d also read that it was better for it to NOT be me because you would smell me and the milk. It only worked a couple of nights before you’d just cry with daddy until it actually was time for you to nurse again. THEN it eventually became that even after nursing, you wouldn’t let me lay you back down in your crib. It’s been that way for over three weeks now. We even attempted sleep training, which back fired in our faces (you’d cry for a hour or more plus crying made you wake up!)
It wasn’t until I actually read the Ferber method book that I understood what was happening – You were going through separation anxiety! The book stated that if baby was struggling during the day (which you started to right at 6 months) then sleep training could actually make things much worse. OY! No wonder! Our solution? We bought a co-sleeper bassinet for right beside my side of the bed. We’ve been using it for a week now and you’re still not completely OK with it but it is MUCH better than what we were dealing with. It’s helping you learn to self soothe with the comfort of knowing I am right beside you. When you cry, I just lay my hand on your chest. Sometimes you don’t even cry. Sometimes you cry and my hand being there doesn’t help. Sometimes you end up in the bed with momma for the second half of the night. I’ve done the research and I honestly believe that you’ll eventually be ready to sleep on your own all on your own. In the mean time, I really don’t mind it! Once you’re good with sleeping the whole night in your bassinet, we’ll move you back to your crib. Baby steps, as they say.
This past month we had your 6 months portraits taken by the talented Jamie Bradley and I can’t wait to share those on the blog! I’ve already ordered and framed several prints from the session and I can’t wait for your 1 year portraits! You went to your first fall party at your Aunt Megan’s mom’s a couple weeks back. You did well while we were there but awful on the car ride there… thankfully, it was so late by the time we left that you eventually fell asleep on the car ride home. Your dad, Nana, and I took you to Wurth Farms the next day but missed the ride to the pumpkin patch… oh well, at least we got some pretty cute pictures of your while we were there. You were, of course, Superman for Halloween and last all of 30 minutes at the Lone Oak First Baptist Church’s Fall Festival before we had to get you home… all because you refused to take your third nap. You were absolutely adorable in your costume though so we think it was worth it in the end!