Wednesday, February 23, 2011
6 months
I can't believe how time has flown by! 6 months!!
Peter is pretty much in the 75% across the board for head circumference, weight, and height. So, he's evened out a little bit. I guess his noggin isn't quite so large for his body anymore. :) He had a rough time with his immunizations again, although the shots weren't so bad. The worst time for him is the next few days after his shots.
When Peter turned 6 months, we also got a visit from his Layton grandparents. It was so fun to see them, and Peter so enjoyed his time with them. As Peter gets older, he gets much more playful. He continues to love to socialize and laugh.
Peter with his Papa Layton.
Peter with Nana. Happy baby! In this photo, you can see a big scratch on his face--I think this is from his fingernail. :(
In his 6th month, Peter's favorite thing to repeat is dadadadadadadada. Go figure! He seems to be stuck on the "d" consonant. He used to play with g, b, and d, but now he's favoring d. When I tell him to say "mama" he just smiles at me and laughs like it's hilarious. He also enjoys it when I yawn. Whenever I open my mouth at him really wide, he laughs. Very weird.
He's still not crawling, nor has he flipped from his back to his front. Probably because he hates being on his tummy. But he has mastered the art of sitting up finally. He hardly ever falls over anymore, and his balance is very good.
Peter sitting up. The balloon he's playing with is part of a balloon animal that Chris made for Peter. It fell apart pretty quickly after Peter played with it.
5 months
It has been so long since I have posted many pictures of Peter, so I'll quickly post a few. At 5 months, Peter was able to finally roll over. He still can't stand being on his belly for tummy time, but he can always roll over. He also started to jabber at 5 months. Mostly, he would jabber when no one was around, usually in his crib while he was falling asleep, or when he woke up.
Peter at Christmas, just before he turned 5 months. Finally a picture of Peter with Mommy. We really need to get a camera that's more user friendly so that I can have more representation.
Peter in his Christmas present.
Peter in his Yoda hat from his Aunt Lauren for Christmas. Cute and funny!
Peter at Christmas, just before he turned 5 months. Finally a picture of Peter with Mommy. We really need to get a camera that's more user friendly so that I can have more representation.
Peter in his Christmas present.
Peter in his Yoda hat from his Aunt Lauren for Christmas. Cute and funny!
Solids
I’m learning that Peter is very particular in terms of what he will and will not eat. Hence, the fact that I am still pumping all of his milk. I’m mostly referring to his willingness to eat solids.
It has taken me about two months to get Peter to eat 7 solids. At first, I thought it was a lost cause because no matter what I gave him, he would purse his lips and turn his head away from the spoon. I temporarily gave him fruits to get him to appreciate solids, which he enjoyed for the sweetness, I’m guessing. He takes after his mom’s sweet tooth.
Anyway, then I gave him vegetables. That was a challenge because he pretty much avoided all Gerber foods, which is fine because I prefer to make all of his food home-made if I have the time. It appears that we have a food snob already. Again, taking after his parents, unfortunately. But I’m happy to say that he’s eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, and oatmeal.
He doesn’t eagerly eat anything. Rather, we put the spoon in his mouth when it is open, and he doesn’t spit it out. So, there are improvements to be made. But I have learned that persistence is important with Peter. He may refuse a food ten times, but he’ll generally get accustomed to a flavor and begin to accept it. It also helps that he’s not quite as willful yet because he’s still so young. Or maybe that’s just Peter.
A picture of Peter's latest solids accomplishment: peas, which are all over his face
It has taken me about two months to get Peter to eat 7 solids. At first, I thought it was a lost cause because no matter what I gave him, he would purse his lips and turn his head away from the spoon. I temporarily gave him fruits to get him to appreciate solids, which he enjoyed for the sweetness, I’m guessing. He takes after his mom’s sweet tooth.
Anyway, then I gave him vegetables. That was a challenge because he pretty much avoided all Gerber foods, which is fine because I prefer to make all of his food home-made if I have the time. It appears that we have a food snob already. Again, taking after his parents, unfortunately. But I’m happy to say that he’s eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, and oatmeal.
He doesn’t eagerly eat anything. Rather, we put the spoon in his mouth when it is open, and he doesn’t spit it out. So, there are improvements to be made. But I have learned that persistence is important with Peter. He may refuse a food ten times, but he’ll generally get accustomed to a flavor and begin to accept it. It also helps that he’s not quite as willful yet because he’s still so young. Or maybe that’s just Peter.
A picture of Peter's latest solids accomplishment: peas, which are all over his face
Sleep update
I figure since it’s been two months since I’ve posted, I’d better start with an update on Peter’s sleeping habits. Thanks for all your great comments and advice. Things are going much better now. I decided to work with Peter on a couple of areas to help this along. First, I took away his paci for good. I actually did it before his 6 month immunizations, and it was surprisingly easy. Since taking away the paci, he has started sleeping better and better. He started sleeping at least 6 hours again, so that was great!
After doing a lot of research online, I discovered there are a few different methods to sleep training. It seems to range from Dr. Sears’ technique of attachment parenting to Dr. Weissbluth’s method of extinction (essentially crying it out for as long as it takes for baby to sleep). I found that neither method worked for me, so I did something in the middle. I can’t bear to listen to Peter cry in earnest for more than a few minutes, which is lucky for us because he rarely does this. More often, he will cry in short bursts while whimpering inbetween. After his bedtime routine, we put him in his crib awake. Sometimes he talks to himself after we leave, sometimes he alternates between crying and whimpering, but he very rarely cries inconsolably. If he is too upset, I’ve decided to go in and pick him up for a minute and then put him in his crib again. I basically do this for as long as he needs to feel comforted, and then he decides that he can be calm enough to fall asleep. I generally have one night like this every two or three weeks. The rest of the time, he goes down without a hitch.
So what I’ve learned from this experience is that I’m sort of a softie with his crying, mostly because Peter hardly ever cries, so it’s hard for me to hear. But I’ve also learned that what works for one baby is probably not going to work for every baby, or every parent for that matter. If Peter were more persistent with sobbing every night, I'd probably be singing a different tune. But because he's generally pretty happy, I'm not bothered spending extra time comforting him if he needs it occasionally.
Now that more time has passed, I’m happy to report that now he generally sleep for at least eight hours in a row, and it’s even pretty common for him to sleep for ten! Yay!! Naps still aren’t great. Usually he sleeps for either 45 minutes 3 times a day, or 1 ½ hours once a day with a 45 minute nap later on. I figure I don’t want to fight him on this. I tried that initially, and it only resulted in tears and frustration for both of us for a few days. But, I’ll take what I can get. I am hoping that once Peter starts to crawl, he will expend more energy and start napping better. From what I read, that will probably be the case.
After doing a lot of research online, I discovered there are a few different methods to sleep training. It seems to range from Dr. Sears’ technique of attachment parenting to Dr. Weissbluth’s method of extinction (essentially crying it out for as long as it takes for baby to sleep). I found that neither method worked for me, so I did something in the middle. I can’t bear to listen to Peter cry in earnest for more than a few minutes, which is lucky for us because he rarely does this. More often, he will cry in short bursts while whimpering inbetween. After his bedtime routine, we put him in his crib awake. Sometimes he talks to himself after we leave, sometimes he alternates between crying and whimpering, but he very rarely cries inconsolably. If he is too upset, I’ve decided to go in and pick him up for a minute and then put him in his crib again. I basically do this for as long as he needs to feel comforted, and then he decides that he can be calm enough to fall asleep. I generally have one night like this every two or three weeks. The rest of the time, he goes down without a hitch.
So what I’ve learned from this experience is that I’m sort of a softie with his crying, mostly because Peter hardly ever cries, so it’s hard for me to hear. But I’ve also learned that what works for one baby is probably not going to work for every baby, or every parent for that matter. If Peter were more persistent with sobbing every night, I'd probably be singing a different tune. But because he's generally pretty happy, I'm not bothered spending extra time comforting him if he needs it occasionally.
Now that more time has passed, I’m happy to report that now he generally sleep for at least eight hours in a row, and it’s even pretty common for him to sleep for ten! Yay!! Naps still aren’t great. Usually he sleeps for either 45 minutes 3 times a day, or 1 ½ hours once a day with a 45 minute nap later on. I figure I don’t want to fight him on this. I tried that initially, and it only resulted in tears and frustration for both of us for a few days. But, I’ll take what I can get. I am hoping that once Peter starts to crawl, he will expend more energy and start napping better. From what I read, that will probably be the case.
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