Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Wow, I didn't think it was possible!

The past few weeks have been rough regarding sleep. Oh, this ever precious and ever important topic, especially among new parents. We knew that he would start sleeping longer EVENTUALLY, even if it would be when he's 3. I have friends whose 2 year olds still wake up throughout the night so I really was just going along hoping that someday, it would happen.

Well this past saturday we had our first 6.5 hour block! Thad and I were so concerned that we both went in to check on him to make sure he was okay. Finally he woke up to eat and boy were we surprised! We had a fantastic night of sleep but had to remind ourselves that it's always 2-steps-forward, 1-step-back with regards to sleep progress.

Well last night we had another great night! He slept for just over 7 hours straight!!! Holy cow, we feel like new people today. He got up, ate, and went straight back to sleep. Oh man, I hope we're on to something here.....

Friday, December 19, 2008

Julian versus the biscuit

So there are these teething biscuits that Julian loves to eat/play with/destroy and last night at dinner he really gave that biscuit the 'what for.' For anyone interested, we give him the Healthy Timez Teething Biscuits in both Vanilla and Maple. It really is the perfect treat! It keeps him happily entertained long enough for us to eat dinner together and then some. He can pick it up easily, he can pass it between both hands, and he chews his way around it like a harmonica. Last night he made the biggest mess yet with the biscuit and I just had to include this pic to show his enjoyment with it.


No teeth yet. We hope that at least one will make an appearance soon because the little guy has been miserable the past week. Sleeping is off, cranky, irritable...oh, it's just yucky. I fear that this could go on for months before any teeth actually come out for all we know. I hope not!


Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Julian had a great first Turkey Day! We watched the parade and some of the dog show before heading to Grammy's house. There we had dinner with Grammy, Lolo (Jack), daddy, Grandma, Uncle Brian, Shannon (my friend from college), and Leah & Ed (Jack's niece and her husband).

At the head of the table with Grammy.




Julian enjoyed his sweet potatoes fo' sho'.


Half a year!!!

When he was born, 6 months sounded SO far away and here we are now! Everyone talks about this magical 6 month mark....they smile, the sleep isn't as bad (I think you just learn to deal with it better by now and your body is adjusted to the different sleep patterns), they play on their own more....it really is magical. I understand why people want another baby when they have a 6 month old because life really is great! (No, don't even ask about #2 yet!!).

Today was his 6 month appointment. Here are his stats:
  • Height- 27 2/1 inches. He is in the 70% percentile for height and has grown 6 inches total since his birth.
  • Weight- 20 lbs 10 oz. He is in the 90% percentile for height and has gained just over 12 lbs or so since his birth. He's a big 'un. We were laughing today at his big big thighs.
  • Head Circumference- 17 1/4 inches. He is in the 50% percentile for his noggin.
I realize that not everyone is as interested in numbers as I am, so onto the fun stuff.....
  • Sleep- We're getting a pretty consistent night now. We start the bedtime routine sometime around 6:30 or whenever he starts showing his sleepy signs. If it's bath night we do a bath, if not, we just change his clothes and his diaper, turn the lights low, and read a couple of books. Then we nurse, then we rock or sway and then it's down to the crib usually within 40 minutes of starting the process. While I miss sleeping with him in the bed, we really needed to get better sleep in our own spaces so I started pulling him into bed with us around the 2 AM waking. This week I've been trying to stick it out to the 4 or 5 AM waking. Hopefully as his sleeping hours extend between feedings, he'll be able to sleep the whole night on his own....but for now, we're doing pretty well.
  • Gross Motor- He is sitting up now very well despite some wobbly moments when he gets really excited and falls backwards or something. He loved tummy time since birth and thanksfully that hasn't changed as he loves being on his belly to play. He will pull his arms and legs up like an airplane and wobble on his belly. He also is pulling his butt up in the air and pushing up with his arms and tries to crawl but it's not very effective as his push with the arms/push with the legs combination to move forward isn't really nailed yet. Instead, he ends up going in a backwards circle...cute, but ineffective in getting to that remote control! He's standing very well with assistance, too. He's not big on bouncing but just standing very, very straight.
  • Fine Motor- He can pick up just about anything now that in front of him. Whether or not he can get it into his mouth is a different story...but the full hand "mitten" grab is in full effect! When he eats his potato puffs he can pick it up in his fist and then he shifts his fist around until he finds the puff to put it in his mouth. He's working hard on this one. :)
  • Verbal- I think he takes after his mother in that he really doesn't stop talking. He plays a lot with his consonants and on sunday he looked at Thad and said, "ada." I thought it was just coincidence but he did it twice more that day and I am now convinced he is trying to talk to us.
  • Solid Foods- When he was 4.5 months old he was showing MAJOR interest in our food. I figured it was just interest in what we were doing not as much the food, but I started giving him some pureed veggies periodically just to see his interest. By 5 months old we were up to 1 meal a day of solid food which sometimes he couldn't get enough of or showed very little interest. I figured just offering it as something to do and learn how to eat rather than offer any major nutritional amount would suffice. By 5 1/2 months we were up to two meals a day plus oat teething biscuits and potato puffs. He is LOVING solid food! We give him apple slices to suck/chew on and he really, really wants everything we eat. As of there was any doubt our half Filipino son would love solid food....
  • Raspberries!!! This beloved sound is how we wake up almost every morning. We just love it.
  • Show me the toes! As with many babies, he would love to just suck on his toes all day, especially when we change his diaper.
Here are some recent shots of 'baby the boy' as we have affectionately been calling him.