Nugget: Six Months

I cannot, I cannot, I cannot believe that this happy little man is six months old! I feel like I blinked and here we are. Seriously, I thought the time flew by with Peanut, but I had no idea – with our hectic schedules, and a toddler taking up her fair share of attention, the days are just zipping past me. I’ve done my best to cherish every moment of the past six months and Nugget and I have made some wonderful memories – but it still is going way too fast.

Six months brought more fun splashing in the pool – Nugget still isn’t sure he’s a fan, but he is starting to feel more at home in the water. Next year, I’ll bet, he loves it. And we got out and explored our surroundings plenty, again, this month. There were almost daily walks in East Aurora, hikes at Knox Farm and Reinstein Woods, trips into the city to visit Peanut at preschool and meet Dad for dinner, and a super-fun truck petting event, also in East Aurora. (That was more for Peanut, but Nugget enjoyed checking out the fire trucks too.) We also celebrated big sister’s third birthday!

I’ve been having the best time watching Nugget’s little personality develop. The kid is such a clown. Seriously, he’ll do anything for a laugh.

Don’t be fooled by this happy face, though. He hates being in his crib. We’re realizing that we dug ourselves into a very deep hole with his sleep, and next month is going to be all about digging out. More on that below.

The hardest thing about this month was the end of my maternity leave. I loved being home with Nugget, but all good things must come to a close, I guess. We’re happy with his daycare and I needed to get back into a working routine anyway, but it hasn’t been easy to go from spending all day with him attached to my hip, to squeezing in quality time in short bursts before bedtime. One nice thing is that I can visit him during the day, and I’ve been doing that most days. (Like in the picture above, which was snapped in the mothers’ lounge at the daycare.) The school is just a short drive from my office, so I’ve been nipping up there to feed Nugget during my lunch breaks. It definitely makes it easier to go to work in the mornings, knowing that I’m going to see him in just a couple of hours – unlike when I went back to work after having Peanut, and was too far away for lunchtime visits. (Peanut and Nugget are at the same school, but she’s down in the cafeteria eating her lunch when I feed Nugget, so I don’t see her – I know enough about her to understand that interrupting her routine at that particular time would throw her off for the rest of the day, and I don’t go there. So my lunchtime visits are just for Nugget.)

Nugget at 6 Months:

Weight: 15 lbs, 0 oz

Height: 26 inches

Clothing Size: He’s in six months and will be as long as this summer weather holds out, but I’m starting to look at the adorable fall clothes that the stores are rolling out about now, and I’ll definitely be buying those in nine months.

Sleep: Ahhhh, sleep. What is that, again? So we’re finally starting to face facts and realize that we have dug ourselves into a pretty deep hole. (And by “we,” I mean “me” – I’m fully aware of the fact that I’ve been the roadblock here.) Nugget has complete run of the household. He refuses to sleep in his crib, like, ever. Dad stays up holding him until 1:00 a.m. or so, and then I feed him and take over. He’s a little better about sleeping in the crib for me, only because he’s so fatigued at that point. But we’ve had quite a few nights in which I am walking the hall between my bed and the nursery ten or more times between 2:00 a.m. and morning. I know the reason for this: we let him get used to being held while he sleeps. And you know what? I know that it’s bad, I know that it’s wreaking havoc on the whole family, but I’d do it again. Nugget is my last baby and he was going to get ALL the cuddles from me, that’s just how it was going to be. But… it’s time to get ourselves on track. The whole family – Nugget included – is sleepwalking through life right now. As I type this post, Nugget is upstairs protesting at being in his crib (at 7:15 p.m.!) but we all need to come to terms with the fact that the crib is where he needs to be. He’ll sleep better and we’ll all feel better once we’re a bit more rested. I hope to have good news to report by next month. I hope. I really hope.

Likes: Watching big sister play; his activity giraffe toy; TV (sigh); his favorite chair at daycare (yes, Grandpa Nugget has a favorite chair); checking out the other babies at daycare.

Dislikes: His crib. Let’s just leave it there.

Favorite Toys: Rings! This is something we’ve really discovered since he started daycare. Most of the times I’ve come to pick him up – whether for a lunchtime feed or at the end of the day – he’s holding a ring of some sort. Sometimes it’s keys; other times it’s a ring-shaped rattle. Recently I remarked on one cute ring he had (a clear ring rattle with a plushy Very Hungry Caterpillar on it) and his teacher replied, “Oh, that’s his favorite! He loves that thing!” Noted! Since then I’ve been making sure that he gets plenty of time playing with his ring toys at home. It’s a bit of a challenge guarding them from a certain fashion-forward big sister who thinks they are bracelets, but I’m up to the task and he’s loving his ring play, as you can see.

Milestones: Aside from the bittersweet return-to-work and starting-daycare milestones, we did hit a fun one this month – first solid food! We’d actually had the go-ahead from the pediatrician to start earlier, but I wanted to wait a bit. This month we finally took the plunge and began with rice cereal. (I’ve been mixing it with formula for added nutrition.) He loves it! Peanut was a tough sell on solid foods – I had to trick her into opening her mouth to get the spoon in. Not so with the little dude – he’s already figured out opening his mouth, and each meal he gets better at swallowing. He’s been eating about a 3/4 portion of rice cereal for me and is gobbling it up. In a few days we’re moving on to pears – yeah!

Quirks: I don’t know if this counts, but he’s totally given up on being Rico Suave Baby. No more trying to distract you and furtively guiding your thumb into his mouth; now he just grabs it and stuffs it in! I guess he realized he didn’t need his Mr. Cool act, after all.