6 months old

I cannot believe how fast time has gone by since I gave birth to Nolan.  It seems like just yesterday I was scared out of my mind bringing home this tiny 6 pound 14 ounce baby. Now he is weighing in at a husky 18 pounds of pure love.  I am amazed by how much he has developed.  He is now able to roll over from his back to his stomach and vice versa from his stomach to his back.  This is his means of transportation around the house.  He just rolls across the floor to where he wants to go.  Pretty soon I am going to need to gate the stairs down to the basement and the staircase upstairs when we are playing in the loft.  We have been working on his sitting.  For some reason, Nolan has no desire to sit.  He wants to stand.  Even after his bath time when I try and sit him up to lotion his back and get his arms in his jammies, he fights me to stand instead.    Jumping and bouncing are some of his favorite things.  His legs are always moving, so I know he is going to be one ball of energy running around the house in no time.  I am hoping when this happens he lets mommy and daddy sleep more!

Our child never misses a meal either.  Right after he turned 5 months , I really started him eating both breakfast and dinner and now we have added lunch in the mix. Breakfast consists of oatmeal cereal mixed with formula and prunes.  We had to skip the rice cereal because they say rice is binding and boy do we not need any help in the binding of poop.  For dinner, Nolan has tried peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, and squash for vegetables and pears, peaches, apples, avocado, and bananas for fruit.  For most of the vegetables, I have made my own purees. I must say I am pretty impressed with myself for doing this.  Nolan actually likes my food better, which makes me even happier.  Plus, I know we are saving money with me prepping and freezing in ice cube trays. 

Sleeping is the biggest issue we have had.  I swear, Nolan slept better at 12 weeks than he was doing at 5-6  months.  It was like we had had a total regression and he was waking up ever 1.5 hours to cry or eat.  We tried to let him cry it out but neither J or I were sleeping either, so it was just easier to get up and put a pacifier in his mouth or make a bottle.  He had been coughing and wheezing a lot and I had taken him in to the doctor at 5 months. His lungs were clear and it was all upper respiratory, but had an ear infection. That was number 2 and did a round of amoxicillin.    We went for our 6 month check up and low and behold he had another double ear infection.  Dr. Hartman decided we should try a stronger penicillin, augmentin and we would have to come back for shots when they cleared up.  5 days later (and no sleep for Grand C and me) he was still tugging on his ears, so we went back.  They were still infected so Nolan was put on a baby Z pack.  I think the sleep regression was totally due to his ear infections.  We have now for the most part successfully made it to at least 5am before having a bottle!  J and I wake up and go check on him in the middle of the night because we haven’t heard a peep out of him.  If we have 3 more ear infections we will be getting tubes. 

Nolan still loves bath time.  He has discovered his penis so immediately upon getting in the bath tub his hand is on his penis. I am told it will pretty much stay there  for the rest of his life.  It just humors me and  my poor mother is beside herself.  She is still getting used to the extra appendage that comes with little boys.  He just pulls and tugs on it and smacks it as he splashes.   He also still loves going on out boat and swimming.  I have a little water bug on my hands and I love it. 

We have 2 bottom teeth and I know that he is working on others because the drool is non stop.  Poor little guy, I know it has to be so painful to cut teeth.  Those suckers are sharp too.  I made the mistake of sticking my finger in his mouth to feel his gums and he chomped down on me.  It actually cut my finger and drew blood.

I love watching him learn new things and smile.  Nolan has the most amazing laugh.  It melts my heart and it good for the soul.  I honestly do not think I could love him anymore, but each day I do.  He is pure joy and I cannot imagine life without him.