Bradley Douglas: 6 months

On January 26, Bradley reached his 6 month milestone. And we have been too busy lately to stop and write about it.

Today, I'm taking a half day to do a million things that need to be done before we leave for a comedy vacation, and right at the top of the list is to write this post!

Exactly on his 6 month date, he started sitting up unassisted. Like literally, the day before he couldn't do it without being propped up. Then boom, that morning, he sat without any help and only toppled once or twice (after about fifteen minutes of solid sitting). I couldn't believe it.

He's still not into rolling. He can do it, but he choose not to. Unless it's bedtime. Yes, he's sleeping on his belly now. We had to stop swaddling him, so he could have his hands free. The first night he slept on his stomach was terrifying: could he breathe? How would I know if he wasn't breathing? How did he do it? Now, it's the routine. Put him to bed, he rolls over and passes out. Stays like that until morning.

He's a pretty happy dude. But happy like Bryan is happy: never too ridiculously excited, but mostly content and silly throughout the whole day. He wakes up with smiles, happy that he's about to begin his day. He smiles when he sees me, Bryan or his nanny. It's super cute to walk in after a long day of work and see that kid drop everything he's doing to grin and start putting his hands out.

That's another thing! Probably my favorite milestone: Bradley reaches for me. And whoever else he wants (I am easily offended when he does this to strangers. C'mon kid.) But it's soooooooooo cute when he sees me and reaches up for me. I just love it.

Another thing: FOOD! Bradley has been exclusively breastfed for six months. I wasn't sure how long I would want to/be able to nurse him. Initially, I just wanted to try my best. Then my goal was 3 months. Then my goal was 6 months. Now my goal is 9 months. If I can make it to one year, I will be shocked. He eats like a grown up! He has breakfast at 7:30 before I leave for work, lunch at 11:45 and 12:30. Dinner at 5:30, and a bedtime snack at 6:30. This is all milk.

We introduced foods. We're trying baby-led weaning (giving him full pieces of food) in addition to purees. He likes some of both. His favorites: pickles, prunes, guacamole. He is apathetic about bananas, lettuce, mashed potatoes, juice. He HATES sweet potatoes. We'll keep trying to feed him. He prefers purees or things to chew on/suck on. If it is semi-pureed but still has small chunks, he will want to spit it out. Or worse, it will make him gag and then make him vomit. Not just a little, but comedy vomit: where it is so much so fast that it looks fake.

He is in 6-12 month clothes. He's too big for all his 9 month pants. He's firmly in 12 months on the bottom because of his huge thighs. He still doesn't like pants or jackets. I only buy onesies because I'm not ready for him to wear a shirt and pants like a grown up.

We stopped cloth diapering. Mostly because his thighs were too big for our one-size-fits-all diaper (liars!). He was getting really red indentation marks and fighting the diapers, so we moved to disposables. It's easier and faster, but I worry about his butt being in all the plasticy cloth. Could that be comfortable? But I'm not really up for purchasing another stash of cloth diapers or for letting him run around naked all the time, so I let that worry go.

We started having family dinners. We make our meal while Bradley sits in his high chair. We let him smell what we make, hear the sizzle and taste a few things. While we eat, we give him some food or a spoon - lately he's been loving to chew on the strap of his high chair. It's been great to talk to Bryan, to fully dedicate 30-45 minutes to family over food.

Bradley has been consistent at going to bed - AND SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! We put him to bed sometime between 6:45 and 8pm depending on how tired he is, and we've got a great routine. We see him getting sleepy, pull him into his room for some playtime, then strip him down and put him in the bath to play for 20 minutes, then put on pajamas, read 2-3 stories, then nurse while Bryan reads from A Series of Unfortunate Events (book 11 now), then put him to bed. AND THEN WE'RE JUST US AGAIN! It's beautiful. From about 8 until 11, we have regular couple time. It's amazing.

He has teeth! Two cute bottom teeth. Sharp, but he hasn't bit anybody yet!

Stats: 19.5 pounds (75%), 26.75 inches (75%) head circumfirence (75%) - all around big baby boy.

I am really loving this age. He recognizes us. He has preferences. He can laugh, smile and play peek-a-boo. He sleeps from about 7-6am everyday. Travels well. Is good with strangers. Is certainly still serious, but he's got a playful side that comes out when he feels like it.

I love my fat, serious baby. Being a mom to him is awesome.