Nathan - six to seven months

(I'm combining 2 months because I've been 'gasp' falling behind on my posts)

Half a year has flown by with our sweet guy.  One of the biggest things that stands out to us with his personality now really developing is just how emotional he is! (Sorry, older Nathan if you're reading this 15 years+ from now! hehe). There's really not much you need to do to get a smile and belly laugh out of him and he "flirts" with just about anyone who glances his way.  On the other end, he also seems to be effected negatively by things pretty easily too (i.e. Mommy walking away from him God forbid).  He's a TOTAL Momma's boy (again, sorry Nathan. But for me it's the best feeling in the world)!  

This is such a fun age with him sitting and interacting a lot more, and even starting to make some word sounds.  I have an adorable video of him saying "Dada"!  He's obsessed with studying Gwen, and she's just infatuated with him.

OK, here are some updates:

Sleeping

This has been a challenge from the start.  I've been much more willing to bring him into bed with us than I was with Gwen.  I'm not sure if willing is the right word.  The sheer exhaustion of having a toddler and a newborn made it so that I didn't have much of a choice.  I would basically just fall asleep nursing him and any time I tried to stay awake to put him back in the crib after that first middle of the night feeding, he would just cry so I'd end up just bringing him back in anyway.  With Gwen, we had a bit of trouble getting her to fall asleep initially but once she was asleep, she was out.  It has been the opposite with Nathan.  He falls asleep almost immediately (yay for my sanity), but then he wakes himself up throughout the night.  He just moves around so much, kicks his legs and scratches his head (to the point where it breaks skin) and wakes himself up.  Thankfully now I'm starting to see a change in that and I think we're heading in a good direction here.  At seven months now, he's starting to just wake up once at night.  And now, tonight I'm not expecting to get much sleep because I just typed that out loud.

Nursing

I don't think I've posted about this since he was born.  Let me tell you, nursing the second is a WORLD of difference from the first.  The pain wasn't even close to as bad.  Plus, I was totally SHOCKED at how often I needed to nurse Gwen in the beginning but it was much easier the second time around knowing what to expect.  Nathan latched very easily from the beginning and he's much quicker than Gwen was so each feeding isn't taking as long as it did the first time.  I'm also not keeping track of each feeding on my phone so I think it has put less pressure on me and I've just been nursing him whenever I think he seems hungry.  At this point I think we're down to 5 or 6 feedings per 24hrs.  We're at that annoying stage though where he gets distracted by everything so keeping discreet while we're out just isn't possible.

Food

We started solids a little after 5 months and we're up to 3 times a day now.  I've made some of the food but I'm doing mostly store bought organic which I did with Gwen too.  He's had a variety of fruits and veggies (sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peas, carrots, green beans, spinach, avocado, apples, bananas, peaches, prunes - ahem, Lord knows we've needed them!, apricot, pears, blueberries, and I'm sure there are others I've forgotten.  No meat or dairy as of yet).  He seems to like everything pretty equally with no real obvious favorite but he does prefer the thicker purees.  He usually makes a disgusted face after the first taste of just about everything, but then once he gets used to the taste he'll gobble it all right up.  He wasn't a fan of the homemade peas or avacado but I'm thinking that's because I wasn't able to get it pureed as smoothly as the rest.  

6 Month Photos & Stats:

Weight: 16lbs 5oz 40th %

Height: 26.25in 58th %

Head: 17.25in 62nd %

7 Month Photos

Too cool for....naps, apparently...

I've been meaning to write this post about my big girl since July....it's still relevant now, only the ending of the story has slowly morphed into the demise of our beloved nap time [moment of silence, please]. so sad.

It all began at Gwen's 2.5 year Dr's visit.  Her pedi was pretty blunt about the fact that we should be getting rid of the pacifier .like.now. (even if she does only use it for sleeping).  Uuuhhhh ok lady, do you realize that we just brought a new baby into this girl's life?  Taking away her pah-pah could be devastating.  No thanks!  Fast forward about a week later to her first dentist appointment and apparently she was already showing signs of an overbite.  Ok, new plan...sayonara pah-pah!

After some planning and scheming (and stressing), Justin just decided to pull the trigger one night.  Literally from night one, the girl was a rock star!  She fell right asleep, no tears, nothing.  It was like she never even had it to begin with.  We even threw a "Big Girl Party" the next day to get her excited about the fact that she doesn't need her pacifier anymore!

Naps though, now they were a different story.  At first she would nap about 50% of the time without her pacifier.  This percentage slowly declined until she would ONLY nap for Daddy on weekends.  And now, sadly, the only time she'll nap is if my timing is just perfect and both kids are in the car fed, changed, happy, and tuckered out.  Each of these elements as crucial as the next because if anything is off, one of them is going to wake the other.  I've perfected a driving loop consisting of 3 highways around our house so that I never have to stop at a light or go any slower than what is necessary on an exit ramp.  Miraculously, I've gotten a couple of hour long naps for both kids out of it so far.

I'm pretty sure 2.5 years is pretty early to be done with naps.  And although I've thrown a few pity parties, I really can't feel that bad for myself.  For most of Gwen's life, she has given me very consistent 3-4 hour naps (and that was on top of 12-hour nights).  I'm not sure why all of a sudden she's ok with getting by on less sleep - including shaving an hour or so off of her overnight sleeps.  I keep hoping maybe it's just a phase.  But one thing I've learned as a parent is that just as you think you have things figured out, that's when they change.

Spoke too soon?

Remember this post, where I beamed about how easy the crib to big girl bed transition was?  Right, well I have an update...

Nighttime is still just peachy keen.  But naptime, well that's another story.  Once my little lady realized that she can actually get up out of the bed, we've got I'd say about a 50-60% nap rate going on.  Some days she'll sleep for her full 3 hours, others she'll spend quiet time in the room but never actually fall asleep.  But my favorite is when she gets up, knocks on the door to come out, whines for a bit, reads some books, plays with her dolls, then realizes how tired she is and just passes out wherever she is - anywhere but in her bed.  Lately, it's been on the floor almost up against the door.  I am extremely concerned about the timing of this because if she stops taking naps altogether, and I have a newborn to deal with, I seriously may lose it.  But for now, how can you not look at these pictures and smile??

see her feet on the left near the toybox?

again, up against the door

Happy 1st Birthday, Gwyneth Rose!

 

We made it!
In my best attempt to avoid gushing all over the place, I can honestly say that the past year has been the best of my life.  The most fun, fulfilling, satisfying, exciting year!  A year ago today, my hours-old daughter looked into my eyes as I felt a change come over my body.  My heart swelled and the feeling that this little one is a part of Justin and me, totally dependent on us, completely overwhelmed me.  I felt what it's like to LOVE someone more than life itself.  Besides complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, I was, and am nothing but one-hundred percent happy and excited to be able to experience this world through her eyes.

We've come a long way in a year!  When Justin and I decided that I would stay home with Gwen, I was thrilled - it's what I've always wanted.  Still, I have to admit that a small part of me questioned how I would handle it.  I've heard that it can make you stir crazy - it's all baby all the time, with little adult interaction.  Perhaps this is why I set out during my pregnancy to find some things to do once she arrived!  I joined a couple of mom groups on meetup.com, found out about mommy and me exercise classes, library events, etc.  Today, I could not be happier with our decision - I seriously have to pinch myself sometimes.  Justin works harder than anyone I know, and I'm so thankful to him for it.

Some stats from her 12 month visit:
Weight: 19lbs 6oz - 22%
Height: 30.5in - 89%
Head Circ: 17in - 7%

For comparison, here are her Newborn stats:
Weight: 7lbs 3oz - 39%
Height: 20in - 72%
I don't have her newborn head circumference measurement.

Gwen's pediatrician told us that no food is off limit now!  YAY :)  She's been doing SO awesome with her eating.  We pretty much have been feeding her everything that we eat (with the exception of nuts, shellfish, and honey - which the Dr says are now all fair game).  I have to say that we have been so lucky ::hoping not to jinx myself:: with Gwen eating and liking just about everything that we give her - as long as we follow a certain order, that is!  Here's how it goes: vegetables first, meats next, carbs and dairy last.  Start her out with cheese, and that's all she's going to want!

Nursing:  We're still going strong, nursing 4-5 times a day.  I'm still doing a middle of the night feed around 4am or so - which I may cut out.  Last night, I tested it, and after fussing/crying for a little while she eventually went back to sleep.  We'll see how it goes tonight.  There have been a few days lately where I've gone 6 or 7 hours without nursing her and she seems to do just fine.  I'm going to start giving her some whole cow's milk with meals and more water throughout the day, but I'll continue to nurse at least a few times a day until...well who knows when!

Sleep:  The girl is a rock star!  (well, with the exception of her middle of the night feeding)  She goes down around 7:30-8pm with ease.  Around 6 months (I think?) we let her cry it out, and it was the best decision we ever made.  It took about 2 nights for her to learn to soothe herself to sleep, and ever since then, she has gone to sleep within minutes of me putting her down.  She's normally up for the day around 8am now, but I know that will change once I cut out her 4am feeding (a little nervous about this heh).  We have also been very lucky in terms of naps - she always has a 2-3 hour mid-late morning nap, and sometimes a shorter afternoon nap.  If we're out during nap time, she'll just take her nap later on when we're home.  I'm so thankful for my quiet time during the day.  Otherwise, among other things, this blog may not have happened!

Let's see, what else -
She's becoming more confident with her walking, turning corners, etc.  She still looks like Frankenstein, and requires a destination (mom or dad, chair, table, etc), but she's been doing a great job with it!  She's been so cuddly lately; hugging, kissing, resting her head on us.  She's SO excited to see Justin when he comes home that it just makes both of our days.  She still LOVES playing peek-a-boo - she started hiding behind me and then peeking out to the side and giggling until I turn my head, and say boo, which just sends her into a fit of giggles!  Her birthday party was yesterday and she started clapping! Like, non-stop.  To the point where I put her down to sleep last night and she was still clapping (literally).

Gwen's Horoscope

I wrote about this back in May, but thought I would re-visit to see if she still fits the Capricorn Baby personality:

"Your little Capricorn will have a quiet, meditative nature ruled by reason instead of impulse and may seem older than his or her years at times. These children are thrifty, reserved, diplomatic, deep thinking, and determined. They are cautious in what they do and say. They know what they want and they usually get it by methodically planning every detail ahead of time-they like to take their time with things, learning lessons well along the way.

Capricorn children are receptive to down-to-earth activities. They feel a deep sense of responsibility and love being praised for a job well done. Parents should take time with their Capricorn child to show them the joy of touch and sharing comfort. Though typically practical and serious, the Capricorn often has a well-developed sense of wit and humor and is also known for being reliable." -babyzone.com

Like I said in my last post, I'm really not a "horoscope follower", but it blows my mind how dead on it seems with her quiet, cautious, reserved, but determined nature.

Her Winter 'One'derland birthday party was yesterday - a party post to follow!!  Here is a sneak preview of the party: