At 6 months, Henry is:
- Getting ready to take his first big trip to Chicago! We are flying to Chicago early this year so we can see Andy, Emily and the kids before they move to Texas. Henry will be flying with Delia and I while the big boys do the drive.
- By Mid March he had good control over his hands. He was able to grab small toys and even pulled Daddy's glasses off.
- He started rolling over consistently from back to tummy right before his 6 mo birthday.
- His sleep schedule is pretty consistent. He goes down by 7pm, sleeps until we feed him around 11pm, and then sleeps until 4-5am. He'll eat again and then sleep until 6:30-7:00. He takes two naps each day--9-11am, then maybe a catnap (sometimes in the car), and then he goes down again around 2pm. His afternoon nap is less dependable than his morning nap. It's usually 1.5 hours but can be as short as an hour or as long as 2 hours..
- At his 6 month check up, he was 26 inches long ( 50th percentile) and weighed pounds ( th percentile).
- The introduction of solids continues to be no big deal. Henry hasn't eaten a food that he doesn't like. He's consistently eating most simple fruits (bananas, apples, peaches, berries, pears) and veggies (sweet potatoes, squash, ). He doesn't "love" peas. The pediatrician gave us the go ahead to start finger foods (like cheerios) and using a sippy cup.
- He continues to be a super happy, mellow, smiley little boy. He adores his siblings and is perfectly content watching them (and having them talk and play with him).
Good grief, so much for catching up on the blog! I'm keeping a draft email with dates and firsts, and I'm even taking monthly pictures, but I'm having trouble getting it all to the blog. Sigh, life really is busy with 3 kids! Here's a quick run-down of sweet Henry:
4 Months Old
- Happy happy happy. A happy boy. Such a happy, smiley boy.
- Henry is such a sweet, easy going little fellow. He adores his siblings and is always quick to smile. And laugh. Oh, that boy has such a good giggle. A giggle that makes you laugh too.
- We started solid food promptly at 4 months. Okay, maybe I fudged it a little and started a few days before his 4 month birthday, but shhh, please don't tell the pediatrician. He took to food immediately. Rice cereal caused some tummy troubles (not enough fiber), so we switched to multigrain cereal and he's done much better. Prunes are a staple in his diet. He's also tried sweet potatoes, carrots, and bananas.
- We celebrated two family birthdays this month (Delia and Daddy). Henry loved watching the kids at Delia's party and was eyeing Daddy's birthday cake. We joked that by JGray's birthday, Henry will dive face-first into the middle of the cake :)
- Compared to his siblings, Henry is a good sleeper. Best of all, we've conquered bedtime and it's proving to be not as stressful as I anticipated. It took a while to break him of his "bedtime meltdowns" and required a little tough love from Mommy and Daddy, but we're in a good place now. The introduction of bath time as a sleep cue has been key. Henry loves his bath and it's a good way to tell him that bedtime is coming.
- He eats every 3 hours (8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 6:30pm, 11pm, middle of the night). He usually stretches until 4am, eats, and immediately goes back to sleep. No middle of the night requests for a pacifier, thank goodness! Technically that is sleeping through the night, although I'm not sure we'll officially count it until he makes it until 7am ;)
5 Months Old
- Found his feet this month and boy does he love them! Play with them, chew on them, stare at them.
- He has also started "talking". When he wants something, his babble goes from something indistinguishable to a very loud "Ma" or "Mom".
- Finally started rolling from back to front! He's been working at it for quite a while and he finally got it!
- Oh yes, the boy loves to eat! The only food he's questioned (but still ate) was peas. Everything else is happily accepted. We've still struggled with some constipation, but multigrain cereal seems to be helping.
- Henry likes the pacifier but isn't attached to it like his siblings were. He does, however, LOVE his loveys. He has three--a muslin blanket with his name on it (from Aunt Emily), a duck (gifted from John Grayson), and a giraffe. He snuggles up with them and when he's really asleep, we'll look on the monitor and see that he's covered his face with one of them. Not the safest parenting move, but it really does seem to calm him. If he's fussing, then one of us can lay the blanket up to his face and he immediately calms down. Crazy.
- He is adored by his older brother and sister. They can make him belly laugh and SMILE like no one else. It melts this mommy's heart to see how much love there is between the three of them.
- He's still on the same feeding schedule as last month. He sleeps 7pm-11pm, eats, sleeps again until around 5am and then sleeps until 7:30am.
