6 Months Old: We are sleeping again! Wahoo!

(These are the kind of photos I have to go through to get a good one...LOL) 

My little baby is half a year old! Oh my… I don’t even….

He is my super active, lovable, ornery, silly boy. He loves using me a jungle gym, rolling across the room, scooting to toys, laughing at jokes, eating big boy food, playing with the dogs, and being outside.

We started solids a little before 6 months, which was a really hard decision to make! We really wanted him to be EBF for as long as possible. But, talking with lots of friends, family, and health professionals, they all agreed he seemed more then ready. We started about a week and half ago and he LOVES it. The first day he couldn’t get enough. He would cry when the food was gone and lick the tray. I think we made a good choice. We decided to listen to our baby, instead of being so strict with the 6-month rule. Our chiro explained how every child develops differently and her boy did the same thing. Food is just for fun for the first year, and he is having fun. It’s a win-win and we feel good about it. We did skip the baby “cereal”… and will be skipping all sugar and grains for at least a year. Nutrition is super important to us, and we are only giving him a few select foods at this time but it’s great that he is loving it.  

A great thing about these last few weeks is that we are SLEEPING!!! WAHOO! Like seriously this changes everything. I feel like I have so much energy. I am able to work out more now and not feel like I am going to fall asleep when we do floor exercises. I feel so much better and Ollie seems happier with more sleep! It’s a great improvement. The four-month sleep regression is a doozy. Just when you feel like you have a routine, BAM, its gone. Its like starting from scratch…. But worse. So much worse. When it passes though, its like the sun coming out after a long blizzard.

Can you tell I am a little excited about sleep?!

And I will add we changed nothing about our bedtime routine the whole time, I am glad we stayed consistent. Sometimes they regress, I’m glad we kept with our same routine and now its better! The whole regression we kept feeling like we were doing something wrong, but then it passed. Now we know for the next regression!

With him sleeping better though, he has moved his bedtime up AGAIN! We are now at a 6pm bedtime…

Around 6 months was always one of my favorites with my siblings. Still baby like, but can understand more things, are stable and fun to play with. I am loving this age with Ollie as well!

Along with the development of “understanding” more and being more “mobile” has caused him to start throwing baby fits. Oh dear… He has been teething, so been on edge as it is… one day we threw fit after fit about things like:

I wont allow him to chew on the curtains.

He got stuck under the rocking chair after moving all around the room, so I got him unstuck….* cue melt down*

He can’t eat my phone.

We are eating a snack without him….

His toy fell.

He can’t fit all the big boy food in his mouth at once.

The food is now gone.

His daddy left for work.

I could go on… lol…. This kid!

Job Update:

Long story short: The job didn’t work out. It was a God thing. I am completely at peace with it. I am now looking at going to Grad school. I am praying everyday for direction!

Happy Monday ya’ll! Spring is on its way! 

Little Update on O

Ollie is 5 ½ months old! He is seriously getting big WAY too fast. His new tricks are:

1. He can drink from a straw now, but prefers just to blow bubbles in his cup. He kept grabbing my cup with a straw and trying to figure it out. We finally got him his own cup to play with. He loves it! He doesn't really drink anything, it is more of game to him.

2. He can sit up for a few seconds on his own.

3. He still loves to roll all around the room, trying to find the tags to play with on his mat. We really do have toys, he just prefers tags…

4. He is wearing some 12-month clothes now.

5. He hates sleeping.

He is definitely not a little baby anymore. He loves exploring new things, and it's fun to watch him just “get” things. I always give him kisses on the cheek, and he laughs and laughs. A little game we have played for awhile. A couple weeks ago he stopped, looked at me, grabbed my face and did it back. It was so sweet. He loves giving “kisses” and hugs. His “kisses” are more like slobber smooshing around your face, but it’s the thought that counts and super endearing. 

Sleep sucks right now. Around 4 months he regressed. Huge. Big time. We are talking, way worse then his newborn sleeping. I swear. We have nights he is up 6-7 times, when he used to get up once.  He can be up every hour to two hours. It’s tough man. For a kid that refuses to nap very much, we at least had nighttime. All sleep is a battle at this point. We are just sticking to our routine, trying every little thing to help him sleep better…. He will nap in 20-30 increments but only in my arms. We are trying to work towards napping in his crib but its been another battle we have not yet won. Want an example? Yesterday we had an hour of screaming because we were so tired and refused a nap, we finally fell asleep and slept for 6 min..... :|   Our home is definitely in zombie mode. 

We visited his chiropractor a few days ago and she adjusted him.... we are trying some of her suggestions. I tell you we are so desperate for a good nights sleep and less crying! Sleep time=screaming. We have tried every single suggestion, sleep theory, book, routine, and prayer out there. This is just where we are at right now. I’ll tell you, its completely defeating to not be able to put your 5 month old to sleep. We have been at this long enough you think we would “get” it. We feel like complete idiots to be honest. It's super annoying when people just say, well if he is fed, and has a clean diaper, and you watch for sleepy signs, he will sleep. False. You obviously have never had a kid who hates sleep. It doesn't matter how early we start trying to get him to sleep, he fights it until he is over tired..... grrrrr. 

He really is the sweetest when he finally sleeps! He is SOOOO happy once we get passed the fight!

Then snow just dumped over Wichita, which does not help a sleep deprived momma! We need spring, desperately for the sanity of our home :) 

Anyways, enough about our lack of sleep….This too shall pass. A little job update for those that care:

I have applied, passed the first test, turned in round 2 of paper work, and they are in the process of doing my background check! Prayers that after I pass the background they want to give me my first interview! God willing.

So, today we are taking my mommas advice; Turning on praise music and we dance. O seems to find it funny, and it’s a good workout. Have a good day readers, enjoy being bunkered in a little bit longer in all this snow. Enjoy an extra cup of coffee or tea…. It’s called for on snow days. <3