Danny at 6 Months

It's just like we were told, 6 months is truly a magic age. He totally "gets" when mom and dad are being silly. He's pretty good about playing independently. He's sleeping good, eating good, jabbering and squealing away. He's becoming pretty darn predictable, which is great for this busy momma. We even braved dinner out on Friday and Danny did great - sat in the highchair and ate his cereal and apples while we had a Mexican feast! Why is this such a feat? Well, Danny wants to go to sleep at 7:30pm and he wants his bath before that and tends to be a little more fussy and antsy leading up to his routine. Eating out for dinner lately has been a little "at your own risk", so needless to say we were happy to have a civilized outing. Also, he's started reaching for me, which I naturally think is pretty sweet. Being a stay-at-home mom, however, I need to make sure he doesn't become too much of a momma's boy - I definitely want him to be a confident and independent little guy. Secretly though I want him to let me hold him until he's 30.

1, 3 and 6 month comparison

Weight: 16.4 lbs

Likes: "His" remote control, my iPhone, drawstrings/tags/zippers/straps, Malloy, "Bushel and a peck", sitting up, rolling, books, putting EVERYTHING in his mouth.

Dislikes: Breaks between bites of food, having his face and hands wiped, our snowman decoration from my Grandma Heintzelman (proof in the video below).

Sleeping: Danny is sleeping beautifully at night. I can put him down drowsy, but still awake and he puts himself to sleep. He goes down about 7:30 and sleeps until between 6:45 and 7am. Naps, on the other hand, tend to be a little more difficult. Unless he's the "perfect" amount of tired, he fights being rocked to sleep. And then even though he's dead in my arms, he wakes when I lay him down. Unlike nights, he does NOT then put himself to sleep. He just flails his arms and rolls around and then, suddenly, is no longer tired anymore. So, we wait a little bit and try again.

Eating: He's getting rice cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then one serving of a fruit or vegetable for lunch and another for dinner. I'm also throwing a teaspoon of 100% prune juice in his rice cereal to help with his "plumbing".

Rosy arms and legs from posing half naked for so long :(

I need a new sign for his month-by-month pictures. I think Danny may destroy the chalkboard from here on out...

Food...for future reference

I know that none of our readers care about what Danny is eating, but this blog is my modern day baby book, so I'm recording the order of his first meals here for future reference.

1st: Rice cereal
2nd: Sweet potatoes
3rd: Green beans
4th: Pears - Danny not a fan! That's okay, buddy, we'll try again later!
5th: Apples
6th: Bananas - just a little mashed, ripe banana in his morning rice cereal
7th: Peas

I've looked and looked for a guide on how much to feed a baby at Danny's age, even asked our pediatrician for some paperwork, and the easiest and most straight-forward "guide" I've found is from American Baby magazine.

Nice faces, Danny...

The state of his pants are why I should use the tray on his highchair even though he's not eating anything off of it yet...

Hello Holidays 2012

I have always been a sucker for the holidays , blame it on my upbringing, but now that I have a child of my own - forget about it! I "accidentally" found my XM holiday channel the other day. Now that I've started listening to Christmas music in my car, what's Pandora on my phone while I cook dinner? Can't hurt, right? Danny seems to like me dancing like a fool. Knowing that we're hosting an intimate Thanksgiving on Thursday, I decided we should decorate for Christmas this weekend. A little early according to some, but just in time as far as I'm concerned!

Nakey

THE boy loves to be naked. He could be crying and fussing - at his wits end - and you start to take off his clothes and he's as happy as can be. This was mid-meltdown if you can believe it...

Danny's Newest Friend

Today I met Danny's future surfing and fishing buddy, Phoenix Kenney. Thanks to the boats, rods and boards, Mike and Jimmy will be the idols of Danny and Phoenix and us mommas will be nothing but chopped liver ;)

Such a cutie

Congrats Mike and Brittany! Can't wait to experience the adventures of parenthood together.

Sleep Saga Part 1: The End

I know I've complained a number of times about how much figuring out Danny's sleeping has stumped me. I knew that I'd lose sleep with a newborn, I was prepared for that, but I didn't anticipate the added months of the "unknown".  All this said, we're extremely happy to report that we've turned a corner with Danny - he's now sleeping through the night and taking at least one long nap, like 2+ hours, a day. Hallelujah!

Not sure if any of this made a difference or whether he just grew out of his bad sleeping habits, but here are some things we did:

1. Increased his solids intake from just one meal of rice cereal to 3 rice cereal and 2 vegs/fruits meals
2. Put him down on his belly for naps and night
3. Moved to a 2 (sometimes 3) nap routine - late morning, early afternoon and maybe a 3rd nap late afternoon
4. Last, but not least, cry-it-out, which was not as bad as a thought it would be. The first night, two Fridays ago, he cried for about an hour at his usual first wakening around 11pm and then didn't wake up again, which was very unusual for him. The second night it was about 45 mins at 11pm again and then nothing. By Sunday, he was sleeping through the night. 

Mom and Dad are so well rested. Danny wakes up in the morning and from naps smiling like this. Life is GOOD!

P.S - I title his post Part 1: The End because I know that we'll inevitably have sleep troubles again. Be it brain leaps, teething, sicknesses or just wanting to play - in the middle of the night - I'm sure we'll have sleepless nights to come. For the time being, however, I'll just bask in glory that is sleeping through the night!

Adventures in Charleston

We took Danny on his first trip out of NC to visit Matt and Kari in Charleston, SC. He did pretty well on the road and only had one meltdown while we were there, so I'd call the weekend a success. Charleston was beautiful as ever and Matt and Kari were nothing short of amazing hosts. Oh and we ate our hearts out. When in Charleston, right?

Here are a few pics and highlights from the weekend.

Cuddling with Daddy

Striking a pose

Rare family portrait

Adorable welcome from Kari

Riding Matt

Last, but not least, Jimmy and Matt built a treehouse, well actually, just "access" to natural stoop in a tree in their backyard. Boys...