6 Months

Wow! That happened fast.. 6 months of Ethan's life have been completed.  He is now half a year old.. hundreds of diapers and many sleepless nights have passed, but we love being parents and love our little guy.  I think the last month has been my favorite so far.  He has started to laugh more (but its still usually just a squeaky laugh) and he interacts more everyday.  He is sleeping better.  In the last week he has become more vocal about what he wants.  He has started to whine more and go after toys more.  It is amazing to watch him discover the world around him. 

Here are some of the milestones he has met:

-Can roll both ways, but prefers to roll from back to tummy.  He was doing this all the time, but recently I noticed it stopped for a bit.  Once he masters something he stops it for a while and focuses on something else. Often he gets fussy when on his tummy for too long.

-He can reach for something, grab it, and put it in his mouth! - Dangerous!

-He can splash in the tub.

-He holds his head when pulled to sitting.

-He can sit with just a little support, and sit without support for a few moments, but then falls over.

-This month he learned to blow his lips and blow rasberries.. of course, once he got really good at it he stopped. :)

-First prescriptions (had pink eye about two weeks ago).

He LOVES to smile at people.  He is very social but smiles for his mom and dad the most.  He lights up when he realizes one of us in the room.  His way of saying hello to someone is to give them a big grin! (Older ladies in the grocery store LOVE him).

He enjoys daddy time, especially when Steve kisses him and tickles his face with his his beard.. We love listening to his giggles.
He sucks his thumb when tired and is usually not a fan of the pacifier but will occasionally take it.

He has no teeth yet.

This month we also introduced solids for the first time.  We have tried mashed up bananas and mashed up avocado.  He spit most of it out.  He was fascinated with the spoon but wasn't too excited about the strange taste on the spoon.

Next week we go for his 6 month doctors appointment... we are really looking forward to finding out his current weight, but we are not as excited about immunizations.  Shots are never fun.

We are very excited to see what the Lord brings us during the next six months!

Recent happenings

We are almost done with Ethan's six month of life! this month has been one of my favorites. His sleep is better. We still have occasional difficult nights with him waking once or twice but most nights he does well. On an average week I get about 3 nights with him sleeping 8 to 10 hours! this month has brought some exciting changes.. He rolls from back to tummy all the time!! However, he has trouble getting back on his back and usually ends up crying. He has moved from a squeakily laugh to a light giggle.. One of the first times this happened was when he started splashing during bath time! Me, Steve, and Ethan all thaught it was hilarious! This last week he started making new noises by blowing bubbles his his drool and spitting.. It's super funny! His growth has slowed down some. Last week we had our first major sickness with Ethan having pink eye! We got prescription drops and now everything is better. I love Ethan and every time he smiles he brings such joy to our lives. What a special blessing the Lord has given us!

Easter and Hampton

Had a wonderful Easter and then Steve left for the Together 4 the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY.  I spent the week in Hampton. Spent time with family, went shopping, and then came back on Friday.  Here are a few pictures.

Lesson # 3: Support Plan

Who will be there when you come home?  Who will help you take care of yourself and your child when you leave the hospital?  Who will get up with you when you are so tired you are worried you may drop your baby from exhaustion?  Who will pray with you when nursing gets hard and you want to make that bottle of formula?  Who can you talk to if you get depressed in the weeks and month that follow?  And who is your "back up" if something changes and someone isn't available? 

These are all important questions that every pregnant women should consider.  I wish I had spent more time considering these issues. 

So the lesson?  Have a support system (or support plan) in place for after the baby is born. 

For me, the rock solid center of my plan was trusting in the Lord.  Then everything else came after that and came in support of that.  Steve was my primary support person, but he also needed support.  When Ethan came quickly in the middle of the night our family was able to come for the weekend, but they had to go home and work some before coming to be at home with us for several days.  The Lord provided much support from our church family.  Without them I do not know how would have survived those early weeks.  Steve needed to work, but I needed to rest.  I lost a lot of blood with Ethan and I was nursing round the clock.  I barely had enough strength to take a shower each day, much less cook or clean.  I remember how accomplished I felt the first time I carried him down the stairs.  I didn't do this for several days (maybe it was even weeks) for fear that I would drop him because I was just so weak.  Once family was able to come they were also a huge help.  Through cooking, cleaning, or just taking care of Ethan, they were essential for those first weeks and months. 

If your family is near by and came be there for you then that's great.  But if not, talk to some friends in advance.  Find out who you can call in an emergency. 

Once the precious baby comes many will want to come and visit.  Use your best judgement.    Limit visitors to those who will help and encourage your support plan.  Others?  Encourage them to wait a few days or a few weeks. 

Steve was essential in this.  He would often kindly and graciously thank people for wanting to visit, but encourage them that I needed to rest.  Its important to know what the focus of the support should be.  For me one issue we were all very concerned about was postpartum depression, so having friends visit to raise my spirits was great. 

Steve knew what was important to me and what we needed.  We had a good friend a few months before Ethan came bring up issues that might arise with too many visitors.  That conversation helped us start the conversation in advance so Steve knew what I wanted even when I was too tired to make decisions. 

Without our trust in the Lord we would not have made it through.  Even now when Ethan has a bad night and does not sleep as much, the Lord reminds us of our need for Him that never changes.  Circumstances change, but our need for Him is always there.

Feet

This week Ethan has finally learned to grab his feet.. he has been watching them and reaching and leaning towards them for many weeks.  This week he has finally grabbed them, and now he does it ALL the time.  I love it, but it does make diapering a little more challenging.  Here are some pictures of Ethan and his new favorite toy.

"Hey, look what I got! Feet!!"

"Mom, I wanna put it in my mouth!"

"My toes are great for grabbing!"

Going Dairy Free

One new aspect to my life with Ethan is that I have given up dairy.  We haven't really talked to the doctors about what we believe maybe a sensitivity, but we definitely notice a change in his sleeping and mood when I eat dairy.  At first I just stopped eating obvious signs of dairy (no cheese, milk, or butter).  However, since we are approaching the five month mark and he doesn't sleep through the night (sometimes four or five hours, but not even this is consistent) I decided to start reading labels and restrict myself to absolutely no dairy and see if this helps the sleep. Turns out, dairy is in EVERYTHING! I also stopped eating chocolate shortly  after he was born because he always seemed more wired after I ate chocolate, and as most chocolate has dairy in it, turns out I wouldn't be able to eat it anyways.  It can take a few weeks for the protein of the milk (the part that causes problems) to be fully out of my system, so I will let you know if this experiment works in a few weeks.  For those that are wondering, here are some things I can eat (For those that know me well I have STRONG sweet tooth.. and that apple just doesn't do it sometimes)

Golden Oreos - No chocolate and no dairy!!
Nutter Butters are also dairy free!
Breakfast I eat oatmeal.  For lunch usually leftovers.  Luckily dinners haven't been too hard, seeing as my husband isn't really a casserole with cheese mixed in kinda person anyways. 

About once a week I make these really good oatmeal bars.  Its super easy, you just take 2 ripe bananas, 2 cuts of old fashioned oats, 1/4 cup raisins (or any dried fruit you like), and 1/4 cup nuts (and kind you liked, chopped up).  This is the basic recipe, you mix everything and bake in a square glass pan for 30 minutes on 350.  This provides lots of nutrition plus is dairy free, good for breakfast or a quick snack, and oatmeal is very good for milk supply. 

From the basic recipe I love to add a little brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.  I've also tried adding peanut butter and if you can eat it you can add chocolate chips, or anything really that you would put in cookies. 

There is also a molasses cookie recipe that I really want to make that is dairy free.  Turns out Crisco is a dairy free ingredient, as is butter flavored Crisco, so you can look for baking recipes that use these ingredients in place of butter for the fat.

When it comes to mexican food instead of cheese I put this yummy mango salsa on it and that helps. This was probably the hardest adjustment.  Who doesn't love cheese on tacos and fajitias??

The hardest part is when we go out to eat or to church functions with food.  But the good side is I am continuing to lose weight.. I now weigh significantly less than when I got pregnant (which is great because I wasn't exactly the picture of healthiness when I got pregnant) Who knew pregnancy and child birth and nursing were the miracle diet I was looking for!!!

Milestones

This what the little man can do:

He grabs toys when you hold them near his hands. 
He can lift his chest some when on his tummy. 
He brings his hands together.
He smiles spontaneously and response to people.
He coos. 
He does this squeaky/giggle noise which is adorable!
He holds his head when held.
He can sit up with assistance.
He bears weight on his legs.
He has rolled over twice from back to stomach, but still does not do this consistently.
He is currently wearing 9 month sleepers, 12 month onesies and pants because his belly is so big.

All of these are wonderful considering the doctors have said that due to his rather large head size, he may do some things a little bit later than the average baby.

Last week we had his four month doctors visit and I'm not sure if I put it up here or not, but he is 19 pounds, 2 oz.  Which is the 90% percentile for weight (I think.. ).  His head circumference was in the >98% category.. but we knew that :)

His four month shots went much better than the last set.  He just cried for a couple minutes, calmed down when steve held him, then I fed him and he fell asleep. 

Took this shot today.. LOVE his smile.