My Once Upon a Time...: Fox

Weight:

16 lbs, 15 oz (36%)

Height:

26 inches (19%)

Health:

He had his 6 month check up and everything was great. So grateful for our healthy boy! He got four shots and did great with them, only cried for a few seconds and he was over it.

Nicknames:

Big Honey, Honeys, Baby Honey, Bubba, Schatzi, Bubbles, Mr. Fox, Foxy, Stinky Butts, Pumpkin, Sweatpea

Eating:

We’re still exclusively breastfeeding and I’m so proud of myself that I made it this far! Hopefully we can continue for another six months! He’s still eating every 2.5-3 hours during the day and nurses once during the night.

We got the clear from the doctor and will start him on solids this week!

Sleeping:

Nothing new here. We start his bedtime routine at 6:30pm, 6 if he has to take a bath (3 times a week). He usually doesn’t last longer than that, he gets really grumpy, but the minute we put his jammies on and sing his nighttime song, he starts to smile and laugh, it seems like he gets excited for bed!

He goes down easily, but then continues to have nightmares all night long, he whines, cries, whimpers, all while he’s still deep asleep. He mostly calms down if I put the pacifier back in or put my face on his face, but this cycle can continue for hours on end some nights and it’s exhausting.

We co-slept for a week or so this month, because it was the only thing that calmed him down and both mommies were tired, but we’re trying to break this habit again.

Katie and I are disagreeing on sleep training, she wants to do “crying it out”, I’m on the other hand don’t mind feeding him in the middle of the night or comforting him, if that’s what he needs. Yes, I’m tired and wish he would sleep all night, but hearing him cry and scream breaks my heart and I think he will feel abandoned…”crying it out” is just not for me. I know he’ll sleep through the night eventually and I don’t stress over it. I don’t know what we’ll do, because there doesn’t seem to be a compromise.

The leg slamming into the mattress is still going strong!

He wakes up any time between 6-7am.

Naps are still hit and miss. The last week he napped great and slept 1+ hour for most naps, which was unheard of before. He still naps 2-3 times a day, at work he will sleep in his mamaroo (swing) and at home in his pack n play or our bed (while I work next to him), he will also nap on the go without issues, the car, his stroller, the ergo, you name it.

Diapers:

Size 2. I found a great deal on diapers this week with coupons and we stocked up on all kinds of sizes. We have a ton of size 2 and 3 diapers and some 4’s and 5’s as well. It’ll be a while before we run out!

Clothing:

6-month clothes and a few 9 month outfits (eeks)!

Social:

He loves other babies, but gets easily overwhelmed when there are too many around, which I noticed during the last couple of playdates we had.

He also started to get shy, when people approach him to talk to him, he buries his head into my shoulder like he’s hiding, it’s so cute!

He has very strong opinions about who he likes and who he doesn’t like, his favorites right now (besides his mommies) are uncle Robert, Joelle (our co-worker), aunt Ashlie and grandpa Steve.

He is still very vocal and makes all kinds of sounds, which we love to hear.

He started imitating for the first time this month, when aunt Ashlie was blowing bubbles with her mouth at him, he did it right back. This continued on for a while.

Likes:

Looking at himself in the mirror (he smiles at himself SO big!), chewing on his fingers, putting everything in his mouth, music and dancing, standing (he makes his body super stiff when you try to sit him down, just so he can stand), his pacifier, laying on his changing table to look at his mobile, his Aden and Anais blankets (he cuddles with them, tries to eat them, rubs them on his face – it’s the cutest thing!), music class, being outside, riding in his stroller, other babies, when we make loud sounds that surprise him (like “boo”, sneezing, etc.), counting to three (he gets really excited in anticipation!), sleeping on his side, his jumperoo and walker, water bottles (he actually takes them out of my hand when I carry him and a bottle at the same time!), our dogs (especially Zuma), bath time, being carried around, having his mommies attention, bracelets, pulling hair, watching videos of himself giggle (it’s hilarious, he will smile the biggest smile towards the video and is mesmerized…it’s an awesome tool during car rides when he gets mad!), sleeping in his mommies bed, the song “skid a ma rinky dink”, kisses

Dislikes:

The Sun (he sneezes and it makes him mad when it shines in his face), Naps, being in his car seat for long periods of time, tummy time, laying down, being held like a baby

Mama:

I’m so in love with this little boy. I just keep staring at him and Katie and I will take turns asking each other “Don’t you love him?” or we’ll say “He’s so cute” or “I love him so much”.

I was really sad when he turned six months old. Time is flying by so fast and I can’t believe how big he is getting. It’s hard for me to think about the fact, that he’s closer to 1 than he is to the day he was born…wasn’t that just yesterday? I love the stage he is in right now and he is so fun to be around, but I’m also missing the newborn days, I’m sure this feeling will continue for the rest of my life.

I don’t want to miss a moment of this precious time, which is why it has been really tough for me to think about leaving him soon. We’re starting a nanny share with one of my friends on a trial basis in December and Fox will be with the nanny and my friends son (who is 5 days younger than Fox) for four hours a day. While I’m excited to get some uninterrupted work done and know how good it’ll be for him to be with another baby, I’m getting anxiety just thinking about it. I don’t want to leave him and I don’t want to miss anything. I’m so sad and hope it will be an easy and good transition for him and me.

We also found a back-up daycare that Katie and I both loved, in case the nanny share won’t work out. Of course, that’s not our first choice, we both feel that five babies for one caregiver is too many to get one on one attention, plus no daycares offer part time under the age of 1, so we’ll have to pay for fulltime. But I’m glad we found something we loved, after we toured so many daycares that we hated.

I lost another 2 lbs this month, and I’m now about 4lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight…all while I’m still eating for two and having ice cream every night….breastfeeding really does help!

My c-section scar is still bright red and my linea nigra is still very visible, I hope both will fade eventually.

Mommy:

Fox LOVES Katie. He lights up every time he sees her and still thinks she is the funniest person he’s ever met. No one can make him laugh like she does and sometimes she is not even doing anything and he cracks up.

She’s totally hands on and doesn’t even flinch when he has a poopy diaper (but will try everything to get out of buckling him in his car seat…lol). She loves having Fox at work every day and I know she’ll miss having him there.

She also continues to take care of me, she is so sweet and will make me dinner while I feed Fox, bring me a drink when I’m too tired to get up, surprises me with the sweetest gifts and just makes me feel like the most beautiful girl and best mom in the world. I know I keep saying this, but we’re so lucky to have her! I think we’ll keep her! :)

Growing up so fast!

Fun things we did:

Music Class (Fox graduated from the baby class to the next group up!) and Playdates, we went to two more Pumpkin Patches and two Baby Halloween Parties.

Opa Karl came visiting from Germany and Fox had a lot of fun playing with him and attempting to eat his nose…ha!

We had his 6 month pictures taken, went to Aunt Ashlie’s Housewarming Party and went to his first playground where he tried the swings (undecided on how he feels about them)!

Since the weather finally cooled down, we were able to take walks around the neighborhood and play outside.

Milestones:

He’s getting better and better at sitting independently and is finally consistently rolling from tummy to back! He can stand by himself for short periods of time if he holds onto something. He also learned how to give kisses (although they are open mouth and wet!).

What we’re looking forward to:

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Mexico, Christmas Time (although we already started listening to Christmas music and reading Christmas books!), starting solids

Fox had a little half birthday celebration with some of his favorite buddies! ;)