I'm not sure exactly how much Jack weighs or how long he has gotten because we do not go back to the doctor until November for his six-month check-up. Suffice to say, this little man is definitely growing. His sleepers are starting to get a bit more snug when he stretches and he is filling out in all the chubby little areas of his body.
His sisters absolutely adore him. I seem to asked quite a lot if there is any jealousy, and I never hesitate to answer with a resounding "no." The girls were excited about their sibling before he was even born (when they didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl) and now that he is here, they are in love with him. In fact, I find myself saying several times a day, "ok, give Jack some space ..."
Now that Jack is a little older and able to support himself slightly, I am letting the girls hold him more often. They have also started referring to themselves as "Jack's babysitters."
Jack has always loved bath time. Even if he is slightly grumpy, just setting him in his bath seems to do wonders for his mood. I am anxious to move him out of his baby tub (and into the sink), but that won't be happening until he can sit up on his own. In the meantime, we have been giving him some toys to play with and the cloth seems to be a major highlight for him. He enjoys sucking on it while relaxing in the warm bath.
Jack has not successfully rolled over completely on his own yet. He will roll to his side to reach for toys and he can roll to his belly with a little assistance. Once he is on his belly, he tries really hard to get out that position. He's not a fan of "tummy time."
This boy loves his feet. In fact, he's the happiest when he can reach for his toes and pull them right up to his body.
Lately, with the cooler weather moving in, I have been making a habit of putting socks on him a little more consistently. However, this little stinker just keeps pulling them off. I foresee a full-time job for me this winter in making sure his toes stay some-what warm ...
Jack's fine motor skills are phenomenal for his age. He has perfected reaching and grabbing for random items, and now my jewelry and hair are almost always caught in his tight clasp. I have to make a conscious effort now to keep items out of his reach. The other day, he managed to swipe the bag of grapes on the counter.
This month has been difficult for me in terms of Jack's nighttime sleeping habits. Up until about three weeks ago, Jack had been sleeping consistently for about 8 hours and then waking for one feeding before going back down to bed for a few more hours. What started out as a growth spurt (wanting to eat every three hours) has dragged on for too long. He has continued to wake every 3-4 hours to eat every night and it has been draining for me.
We have tried a few different ideas in an attempt to revert back to the longer sleeping stretches at night, but nothing has been successful. I finally made a decision this week to start him on a little rice cereal at night. He has been showing some signs of being ready and I decided that it was time.
(Babies can start on rice cereal as early as four months of age now, but doctors encourage mothers to wait until around six months if possible. I waited until the girls were six months old to introduce it, but Jack just seems ready, and with him now being five months old, it was worth a try).
I set Jack up in his bumbo seat (I held off on bringing the big high chair up out of the basement for now), and mixed up a small bowl of rice cereal with breast milk. Of course, it is more of a runny suspension for now until he gets used to it, but he loved it!
He actually ate more than I even expected. Once I put the spoon in his mouth, he slurped it right in. Both of the girls used their tongue for a quite a while and kept pushing the cereal back out until they got the hang of it. It seemed to come a little more naturally for him. (Maybe that is a sign that he was more ready...).
So far, the couple of nights that he has had a little cereal have not made much of a difference in helping him to sleep a little longer at night. But, I think that it will get better once he begins to fill up a little more on it and we can break the pattern that he has fallen into.
During the day, I get two nice naps out of him (once in the morning and once in the afternoon). He usually sleeps for 2-3 hours and is so peaceful. He loves sleeping in his bed ...
Hopefully, we can reach a solution soon to make nighttime a little less exhausting for me. I am grateful that he nurses and goes back to sleep relatively quickly, but I am only getting a couple of hours of sleep here and there. He's definitely hungry when he wakes up, and he is surely getting enough milk every time. It's just that my little man is growing ...
No comments:
Post a Comment