Six Months

Happy Half Birthday to Miles! 

Weight: 16lbs 13oz (34th %)

Height: 27 1/4" (77th%)

Head: 17 1/4" (53rd %)
Sleep: 3 naps, 6-8 hours at a time at night

Tricks: Miles is even better at crawling, is now pulling up on furniture, and starting balance wobbly on his knees. Also, discovering various body parts (belly skin, ears, nose, feet and his nethers) and loves to pinch and pull at them. Still enjoys eating, even new colors, textures, and tastes!

Beets!

Miles loved beets. We had to hose him down in the utility sink afterward. The water turned bright pink.

Trying to Stand

And his mom is not excited about it one bit! (Okay, maybe a little bit.)

First Time in the Sand

Prepping for the first time in the sand with a few stretches.

Feeling his bare toes before the sand

Hugs from Mom



















Shells aren't bad

The ocean is not all it's cracked up to be

Bundled up in the shade

Crunch Time

Miles works on his abs every night before bed.

Watch out Ladies

Just hanging in the car, waiting for his driver (Grandmom) to finish up her grocery shopping. Don't be fooled by the romper. He's a real lady killer.

Swings

Miles tried the swings today. He had a great time. We'll definitely be back.

Miles Packs His Bags

Florida, Here We Come!

Sun hat? Check! Miles models his new hat that I finished just in time for our trip.

Back to Sleep

I prepared myself for the worst last night at bedtime and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get him down. I spent a little more time rocking and singing than usual to make sure he was really sleepy and set him down in his crib. He didn't cry, just looked around a bit. A little later, I could tell by the sounds coming from his baby monitor that he was on the move. He wasn't unhappy, so I just let him roam. Then the sounds dropped off and I peeked in to check and called Jesse over. He had passed out on his stomach in the corner of the crib, in what looked like mid-crawl. I thought, oh how cute, he's so tired. So, I picked him up and turned him over and shut the door. 

After baking a batch of cookies with Jesse, I poked my head in to check on him and he was on his stomach again. So, I picked him up and turned him over. He was sleeping pretty hard and barely made a noise. Jesse and I watched a TV show and I went in to check on him one last time. Yep, on his stomach again. I flipped him to his back and called Jesse in and we watched as Miles arched his back, grabbed the sheets and flipped himself on his stomach. AGAIN. I was a nervous wreck, having the SIDS campaign drilled into my head and decided to sleep (or not) in the guest bedroom. After about two hours of him grunting and moaning and crying, I couldn't take it anymore and went back to my own bed. I didn't sleep very much, but Miles sure did. It was his first 8 hour stretch in a very long time. 

Jesse and I keep telling ourselves that he's clearly strong enough and if he wants to sleep on his stomach, there's not much that we can do about it. That only makes me feel slightly better! 

Ferberization 2.0

The video yesterday of Miles half-clothed and roaming around his crib was only a taste of what we were in for last night. Now that he is able to strong-arm his way out of even our tightest swaddling job, it's harder to settle him down. And now, when he can't get out right away, he just arches his back and flips over with his arms still at his sides. It became crystal clear this morning that swaddling is no longer an option, because it's not really working and it's now become unsafe. The problem is that Miles is totally dependent on his pacifier to fall asleep, especially when he's worked up and over-tired. We've tried to ease him out of using it, but today, we had to go cold turkey, with swaddling and pacifier elimination. 

The first nap today was hard. We played the crying game (me checking in every 5 minutes to rescue him from his crawling and wailing) for 45 minutes before he finally relented and stayed on his back long enough to pass out. I did a silent cheer when I peeked in to see him finally relaxed. He only slept for about 30 minutes, but woke up happy. After his nap, he watched me in the kitchen for a good hour and a half as I prepared his next few tastes of food -- kale, butternut squash, and more pears. He loves the sound of the stick blender as his food swishes and gurgles in the jar. Seeing him so happy made me feel a little better about the baby torture chamber that his crib has become.

Just a few minutes ago he finally, he relented to nap #2. This time it only took 30 minutes and involved hardly any crying. Although he seems to be getting the hang of it, I am not looking forward to bedtime!

Naptime?

This weekend we decided to start another phase of sleep training with Miles. The need for a new naptime/bedtime approach has been accelerated by the fact that the swaddling blanket, no matter how tight, cannot contain him. This is problematic only because once his arms are free, he pulls out his pacifier and starts to wail. So, we have to start slowly teaching him to either fall asleep without the pacifier, or to stop pulling it out once his arms are free. 

For this morning's nap, I put him down swaddled without the pacifier, but he just couldn't soothe himself to sleep. I went in and checked on him and he was really fighting to get his arms out. So, I loosened the blanket and pulled out one of his arms. And he unplugged his mouth. I let him cry for a minute or two, went in and replaced the pacifier and he went to sleep in just a few seconds. He woke up about 30 minutes later and was cooing. Since I hadn't yet finished my coffee (and wanted just a few more minutes of peace), I decided to let him stay in his crib as long as he didn't get upset. 

When he finally did make a little yell, about 15 minutes later, this is the train wreck I found:

Miles Crawls

Today Miles officially crawled. We captured about 20 minutes of his play action on video, sped it up, and set it to music. Don't worry, it's been edited down to the best parts. 

Naptime with Dad

Yesterday, I had a lecture to attend for work, so Jesse was in charge of Miles from around 3pm through bedtime. Overall, it went pretty well, although his late afternoon nap was not nearly as successful as Jesse had hoped it would be. Like any good parent, he pulled out the camera when he came in to check on Miles while "napping". 

  And now to the video tape:

One Thirsty Dude

Miles discovered drinking from a glass last week. It was funny at first, but now I find myself sneaking into the kitchen to have glasses of water so I don't have to share. I know, I'm a terrible mother, but the backwash is insane.