Half Birthday!

Lucas is SIX months young!

Yes, I'm THAT mom that gets him a little cake for his half birthday.  And in fact, I actually tried to find one of those half cakes that the grocery store's sell.  Except all they had were the fancy ones and I just wanted a simple white/vanilla cake or something.  So unfortunately this geeky mom didn't get to give him a half cake for his half birthday.  :(

Today, Lucas went in for his six month checkup and had to get shots!  He was so great and barely cried.  I think Hubby would have cried more.  Here are the results from his six month checkup:

Weight: 16lb 9.5oz (25%) - 1.75lb increase from 5 months!

Length: 26-1/2in (75%) - only 1/2in increase from 5 months

Head: 43-1/2cm (50%) - 1.5cm increase from 5 months

** The Doctor thinks he didn't grow in length as much probably because he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet.  No worries!

Now, a few words from Lucas himself...

My Milestones!

I am an Eating Machine!  Just three weeks ago I was eating a half tub of baby food twice a day at school.  Now I'm eating a full tub each feeding!  And now that I'm six months old and have gone through all of Gerber's 1st Foods I just now started their 2nd Foods.  Mama and Nana just went on a shopping spree and got me a bunch to try.  I think we're stocked for the next month!

Since the last check-in I've also tried:

• Green beans
• Pears **
• Carrots
• Peaches
• Peas - second attempt!  Which was a flop
• Prunes **
• Garden Vegetables - first of the Gerber's 2nd Foods

** Hehe, I've had two diaper explosions after eating prunes.  Mama made the mistake of giving me a full tub instead of just a half tub.  I think she's learned her lesson.  But I do have to say this much...  Prunes may have the messiest diapers (nothing else has compared) BUT Pears has them beat for smelliest diapers (gas mask please!).

And because I'm getting so much bigger I just went up to Size 3 Huggies.  I have a package of 2's left over but they were getting snug.  And Mama is getting my new 6-9 month clothes ready for me to wear.  A whole new wardrobe, cool!

I'm really chatty even though I don't have any real words to say yet. Although Mama seems to understand me well enough. I do say "Hi" and "Hey" a lot - that's how Mama interprets it anyway! And she thinks that some of my jumbled words are "I luv you" and I just let her think that so I can hear her say "I love you too!"

I've graduated from a Supported Sitter to a Sitter!  I've been sitting up really well on my own recently.  The length of time that I stay sitting before I fall is increasing too (because I'm bound to fall, right?).  But really, I haven't been falling much.  I'm just not able to actually get up on my own to sit.

Sitting in my toy basket

I forgot to mention that last month we celebrated St. Patrick's Day but I didn't really get to do much.  For some reason it was more of a Big Person holiday and they went and crawled without me since apparently I can't crawl yet.  But I got to spend a whole night with Nana and Grandpa!   

So this month we celebrated my first Easter and I got to visit my Great-Great-Grandmother in West Virginia.  I got a few Easter baskets with a LOT of cool stuff, and I also got two chocolate bunnies, but I didn't get to eat them yet.  Again, I'm not big enough I guess.

Lucas with Grandma Ada

I've also grown out of my Hammock this month.  I had some good times with Hammy but now I get more space in my Prison...er, I mean, Pack 'n Play.  I'm getting used to it though.  I get lots of room to play with my toys or circle around on my tummy.

We also had our first professional family photos taken!  I got to meet a 'sister' of Mama's and she was PRETTY! Her and her hubby are a photo duo team and we got to spend some time outside on a pretty day.  I got to sit and lay around while they just took my photo.  How easy of a job is that?

Isn't it funny how I've gotten TOO BIG for some things and yet I'm not BIG ENOUGH for others?  This being a kid thing can get frustrating.  But I've been told that I shouldn't grow up too fast.  This being a kid thing can also have its benefits!

And lastly, Still no teeth!

So Long Hammy

You remember the Hammock I raved about here and here?  Well, it's finally time for Hammy to move on.

Fisher Price Newborn Rock and Play Sleeper

Lucas has literally started to roll over in it this month.  It's not that easy to do considering the way it's made, form fitting and all.  And Lucas has been sitting up more in it as well.  That's the sign that he's getting too big for it.  And I'm not surprised, this is about the time frame I was expecting this to happen.

So time to pack up the Hammock - it's been a wonderful six months!  Now what are we going to use in the living room to house Lucas when we are running around trying to get other stuff done?

We had just packed up the Pack 'n Play before Easter after finally removing it from our bed room.  Guess it's time to pull it back out!

We had to do some furniture rearranging since our living room isn't that big.  And actually we aren't using the dining room at all for its intended purpose so it's becoming a storage area.  So we just moved the loveseat into the dining room along with the coffee table that's been in their since we brought Lucas home.  Then we moved the recliner into the spot where the loveseat was.  And the recliner used to be in front of the fireplace...  Yeah, we never use it and like I said, the room is small.  So now the Pack 'n Play is in front of the fireplace.

Baby Prison!

Now I really do think that Lucas considers it a prison.  The few times that we've used it for traveling he has not liked it at all.  He just wouldn't sleep for very long and would want to come out.  So it's taking some getting used to for all of us.

But we're Happy!

He actually leaned into my kiss here.  :)

Alphabet Scramble: H is for...

This week's Alphabet Scramble is brought to you by the letter H!

Hat - You gotta keep that little head covered! Lucas' very first knitted hat was given to us by our Nurse at the hospital. She was the first nurse I had when I arrived for my induction at the hospital. So she was there all day with me until about 7pm. I had another nurse the rest of the night until I delivered just before 5am. But at 7am she was back to meet Lucas and get me settled into our Mother/Baby room. Before we left the hospital she gave us a baby blue knitted hat that she said her mother had made. She likes to make several of them and pass them out to the babies. It's a lot more special than the generic hospital hat that we were also given.

Hammock - This is the affectionate name we have given Lucas' Fisher Price Newborn Rock and Play Sleeper. We love this thing and use it every day. We used it for the first few weeks after he was born so he could sleep right next to me. It's so portable that we just moved it back and forth between the bedroom and the living room. And we've taken it with us on trips, which is a spacesaver compared to pack 'n plays. Now it just stays in the living room, and in the mornings we put him in it and set it in front of the television so he can watch music videos or sports. And on nights he doesn't feel very well we will put him in it to sleep so he'll be inclined.

High chair - We just invested in a Spacesaver high chair that grows as your child does and it takes up less space since it just fits on one of your existing chairs. I also picked up awhile ago a portable one that looks just like the fold up chairs we use at the race track. That will be his very own racing seat.

Hungry - I've posted this video of Lucas before. This is his I'm-Hungry-Cry. :)

Solids to Sleep

First attempt at introducing Lucas to solid foods involved a little bit of rice cereal.  I did what the box said, 1Tbsp of cereal to 4-5 Tbsp of formula mixed up in a bowl.  Overall, I probably got him to take half of it, and even then maybe only half of that he swallowed with the rest ending up on his bib or all over his chin.  Good thing we gave him his bath afterward and not before.

I even tried to give him the last half in his bottle, which from my readings is not recommended because "they" want baby to associate the food with a spoon not the bottle.  But yeah, that didn't work so well either.  He was either full, as I gave him some regular formula in between attempts, or he was just not fooled.  Oh well, we shall attempt again this evening.  This weekend I plan on picking up some veggies for him to try.  Squash? Sweet Potato?

I will also say that he had one more bottle before bed time.  Hubby put him to bed around 10pm (I was already asleep by 9pm after having my Theraflu).  I woke up to him continuously coughing in the first hour.  When I kept checking him he was sleeping on his side and looked peaceful even through the awful coughing noises.  So Hubby put him in his "hammock" so he'd sleep inclined and I never heard another noise out of him.  By 6am I had to actually wake him up instead of him rousing himself.  He pretty much slept through his diaper change too.   I'd say he slept good!

Mama Knows Best

I'm a first time Mom and I was very hesitant if I'd be good at it.  It's nervewracking to know you're responsible for someone so dependant and small.  I'm still learning as I go.

There are times when I feel like SuperMom though!  When Hubby gets home in the evenings from work it's his time with Lucas to spend.  So after dinner I might go off for some quiet time in the bedroom and read a book or watch tv or get that badly needed shower that I never got around to.

Occasionally there's a slight yell coming from Hubby requesting my presence.  Especially when there is a massive poopy diaper that he thinks he can't handle.  (Apparently it requires four hands instead of two.)

There was this one time where Lucas just wouldn't stop crying and Hubby is pacing the room with him or rocking him on the couch.  What is he doing wrong??  So there was one time that I just took Lucas out of Hubby's arms and placed him into his hammock and just walked away.  Guess what?  He shut up!  And Hubby looks incredously at me, "How'd you do that?" "Mama knows best!" I say.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "How'd I do that?!"

Or another time where again Hubby couldn't get him settled.  Lucas was just crying and crying and nothing he did would help.  "Just put him down on his back," I say.  Yep, that was the problem.  He was gassy and needed to stretch out, not be bunched up in your arms.  Sometimes you just gotta put him down.

But I can always just take the credit that I know what I'm doing because MAMA KNOWS BEST!