i just read over abigail's six month post to see what sorts of things i wrote about and quite honestly, even i was a little shocked at how different brady is. i mean, i guess i knew it but i thought my memory would be skewed. turns out my memory was really accurate and these kids are so on opposites side of the spectrum.
in no particular order, here are a few things about brady at six months...
brady is the most smiley, social baby i have ever seen. it takes mere eye contact for him to break out in the most gigantic smile ever. i always tell him, "brady! you keep smiling your binky out!" because he'll catch his reflection in the mirror or see chris or something and then two seconds later i hear his binky hit the floor. smiles that sucker right out. he will smile like that for everyone, complete strangers included. i can not emphasize enough how much this kid smiles. there are few things i can make him do on demand but smiling is definitely one of them.
also similar but just slightly different... it is crazy easy to get brady to laugh. eye contact and talking to him in a fun baby voice will do it. tickling his chest with your fingers will do it. really any sort of physical contact with him in a playful manner will have him busting up laughing. christopher's favorite way is by putting his head on brady's belly... for some reason that makes him laugh the hardest. i can do it when him too but then i have these tiny little iron fists clenching my hair and it takes considerable time and effort to pry those little fingers open one by one. but luckily, i can make him laugh a million times a day without putting my hair at risk. my favorite is when i abigail does something that makes brady laugh and then she laughs and he laughs more.... completely independent of me. they really love each other.
developmentally, he is no prodigy. he can roll from tummy to back but doesn't do it often. and he has never rolled back to belly and doesn't seem close either. by my standards, he seems behind what he should be, but i know each kid develops at their own rate and right now i'm just going to be mindful of it but not stress. he doesn't sit up by himself except for occasionally when he seems to want to do that. but if i try to prop him in a way that would help him sit, he's all about tipping over, lunging for a new toy. i just put together that fisher price rain forest jumper a week or two ago. i just didn't feel like he was ready for it yet, so i waited until he was older. he seems to like it more than the swing (which really we just end up using as a chair for him to sit in) but he hasn't really gotten the hang out it that he's supposed to jump and play with the toys. he is really good at putting his binky in his mouth though. he has a lot of practice with pulling it out, turning it over and examining it in his hands, and getting it back into his mouth. right now, he's fine to play by himself for a bit but gets impatient with toys and seems bored pretty easily. but just look at him and say his name and he'll instantly go from fussing to smiling. i'm hoping once he can sit up and play with toys and move around a bit more, he will learn to be happier playing on his own.
nursing is going well but always changing. a week ago, brady got sick (fifths) and the first few days he was crazy fussy and having screaming/crying fits and refusing to nurse and the next few days were just a lethargic baby that still wouldn't really nurse. i'd say all of that lasted for a week, so we've had about five days being back to normal again and i still feel like we're trying to recover nursing-wise. i think my supply took a major hit that week and brady came back impatient or extra hungry or maybe it's just coinciding with him being an add eater or maybe his reflux medicine isn't working as well anymore or maybe he's just needing solids to help fill him up but it's been an adjustment. he doesn't want to nurse as long but i don't feel like he's really eating a lot at each feeding either. before sickness he was nursing 3.5 minutes on each side. now sometimes it's really short (or really long if he's distracted) so it can be anywhere from 1-5 minutes per side. i haven't had the overabundance of milk that i did last time around which has been really nice because brady has always been able to keep up with my flow and my supply without me needing to do anything special nursing/pumping. for the past several days i've been nursing him twice as often to make sure that my supply isn't an issue. so i've been feeding him when he wakes up (that's the norm) and then sometimes again before he goes back to sleep. but before the whole sickness mess, he was just nursing every time he woke up which was about every 3.5 to 4 hours. i haven't started solids yet. such a pain and i'm not looking forward to it but hopefully it'll make him happy and help with the reflux.
as far as reflux goes, i felt like he was doing really really really well until a few weeks ago when he started spitting up more (and the cry of discomfort that comes with that) and grunting/arching his back/fussing more while he was eating. and being fussier for awake times. i talked to his doctor about it at his appointment and she's prescribed a new medicine to try out (i'm going to pick it up tomorrow) that is a capsule that can be broken and put into his solids and only needs to be given once a day instead of twice a day like his zantac. i am so grateful his reflux is under control and not crazy horrible like it was when he was a few weeks old and not on zantac yet, but honestly, i'm so anxious and curious for how he'll be when this is totally behind him. at the expert evaluation about his arm, the main expert doctor looked at him, and almost instantly asked "does he have reflux?" because, even though he wasn't fussing, it was obvious to her in the way he held his body that he was trying to relieve that discomfort. i just said yes. didn't bother telling her it was diagnosed when he was just a few weeks old. that morning/night zantac is just part of his life... which is funny because it tastes horrendous (i've tasted it and even though they try to mask the horror with peppermint flavor, it is bitter and so gross) and when brady was a newborn and first taking it, he would spit it out and cry every time i gave it to him. now? that happy guy reaches out both hands to help hold the dropper in his mouth as he opens wide and gulps down every bit. the nurse at his appointment on tuesday was surprised how well he took the oral vaccine she gave him because he was acting like it tasted so good. ha. hopefully he's that good with solids!
the phrase i use most often is "this boy's got issues." because at first it was just the reflux and fussiness and crying. then he had two blocked tear ducts. and a flat spot on his head. and his sleep was bad. and his right arm was acting weird. and he has a blue spot next to his eye. and a million other things i can't even think of right now. i always have a long list written down of things i need to address with his doctor. well, it's all melting away or getting under control. the tear duct in his left eye cleared up right after he turned 3 months and the one in his right eye finally cleared up while we were on our trip in utah three weeks ago. it's crazy how exciting that was for me not to have that eye constantly needing to be wiped. or being crusted and sealed shut every morning. and not having the "tri-lash" on one side.
sleep is not perfect but i am soooo very happy with it anyways! a month ago, we did cry it out with brady (click here to read about his sleep history and cry it out) and his sleep habits tremendously improved. he would basically always go down for nap without a problem (awake, double swaddled, binky, in crib) but have a hard time at night. and then during the night he would wake up a million times and fight going back to sleep. in the past month since we did cry it out, he still takes awesome naps (between 1h45 and 2.5 hours. last week they were all 2.5 hours and the past few days they've been just under 2 so really, it just varies) and goes down super easy (no real routine... just a dark room, swaddle, hold him upright to let him get out any last minute burps, and lay him down with a binky) but he actually does the same at bedtime too! and during the night he's only up twice (give or take... last night was only once) and never has a problem going back to sleep. if he wakes during the night, i just nurse him and put him back in his crib (awake) with his binky. he never wakes at the 45 minute mark during naps... i can't remember when that dropped off but it's been at least a month i'd say. as far as the carseat goes, brady will still easily fall asleep in the carseat but he typically will only nap for 30 minutes or less before he's awake again. funny that this is the exact oppsite of when he was a newborn and would nap for hours in his carseat running errands but only nap for a few minutes if it was in his moses basket at home. this way is much better. having a kid that takes consistent naps in a crib is priceless. it is amazing and i do not take this for granted. lately brady has been taking some naps without his binky. if i feed him after i swaddle him, and he's calm, then at least 50% of the time, i can lay him down without a binky and he'll fall asleep just fine. for some reason this fills me with pride and makes me want to smother him with hugs and smooches. anyways, the short story is that i'm so proud of how far he's come sleep-wise. he wake time is between 1.5 and 2 hours and he typically wakes for the day between 8 and 9 (give or take 30 minutes) and goes to sleep for the night between 8:30 and 9.
as far as clothes go, all of his 3 month carters onesies still fit great and his 6 month onesies are perfect in the length but still really long in the arms (if they have long sleeves). since it warmed up, i haven't put him in any sleepers and actually, my favorite thing for him to wear is just a long sleep onesie with no pants. for some reason, i love that look. for a long time, he's been wearing a size 2 diaper at night and size 1 during the day but as of this past week, he's in a size 2 around the clock. blowouts are still semi frequent just depending on his position when it happens, but i know all of that will be changing soon with the introduction of solid foods.
brady has no teeth but loves to gnaw on everything he possibly can. he has a strong bite! even with no teeth, it hurts for christopher and i to let him chew on our fingers and knuckles. he loves sophie and actually also really likes to chew on his aden & anais blanket that i always throw on him in his carseat. but really, anything will do.
other randoms, brady's only trip away from home has been our short road trip to utah three weeks ago and he has his first real trip, flying to atlanta, next week. he likes bath time just fine, doesn't hate it but doesn't love it either. he hasn't actually been swimming yet. he actually really likes abigail's vigorous love and attention. tummy time is hit or miss and sometimes he's angry within a minute and sometimes he's happy for twenty minutes. he still gets comments about his long eye lashes everywhere we go. and have i mentioned how much he smiles?! so so so soooo smiley.
alright, this post it about twenty times longer than i had anticipated so let's just wrap things up with some growth stats...
6.19.13 - 6 month appointment
14 lbs 2 ounces 2%
26.5 inches 44%
hc 42.5 cm 26%
the last six months have felt like forever and they've felt like they've just flown by. parenting brady so far has been a special and unique experience that has taught me so much already. if i've said it once, i've said it a million times, this kid makes me feel like a new mom. clueless and confused. i'm learning though and i'm experiencing the joys that come with hard work. brady, i love you right now, but your smiles and laughs melt my heart and make me anxious for you to keep on growing so i can keep meeting you and getting to know you.
having kids is like opening a present... the best kind of present... every. single. day.
what a cutie!
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