Emilio - 6 months (!)

Emi- 6 months

Alright, stop with the growing!! how did 6 months creep up on us??  Sure, you are still a baby, but you are speeding your way through all these milestones and my mind just can't keep up. You are still following your brother everywhere with your eyes, and now even trying to ACTUALLY follow him around...on your hands and knees!  Seems to me you are still too young for any of that, but it seems it isn't something random that you've done once or  twice, but rather a skill you are determined to master soon. you definitely get on all fours no problem, but once you're there you start balancing back and forth trying to figure out what to do next. Most times you end up sort of leaping forward with both legs, like a frog, which almost invariably ends up with an ugly face plant and you getting frustrated and angry. But all that said, it all does get you places! I am convinced you'll probably be crawling in about a month from now.

Another huge milestone is you getting your two bottom teeth!! the first one showed up about two weeks ago, and the second followed about 3 or 4 days after. Not a surprise because you've been super drooly for quite a while now, and waking up with strange cries, and even been kind of cranky during the day.

Speaking of teeth, you are also well into your first solid foods. We started you on solids a good two weeks ago or so, and you seem to be really enjoying trying all those new flavours and textures. You definitely seem to get excited when we all sit at the table - you start kicking, screaming and reaching for food if we don't hand you some of our food quickly. We are trying "Baby led weaning" or self-feeding this time and it is amazing to me how much more enthusiastic you are with food than your brother ever was with traditional feeding methods and purees. Your dad gets very nervous with this method (and to be honest I kind of freak out a little too when you gag!), but I do notice that your ability to chew and move your food around your mouth is definitely improving.  So far you've tried orange slices (which you love and happily devour in no time), bread and butter slices, cantaloupe, mango, waffles, avocado, banana, strawberry and one of your favourites, sips of water.

Eating Strawberries and French toast

As for potty, I mean to write a more detailed report on how that's going. However, I'll say that we are still progressing and feeling great about it. We stopped all together for a few weeks so that I could observe your patterns and refocus for a while, but I've started taking you consistently after you wake up and after naps, and we have barely seen any poopy diapers in the last few weeks!

Sleep is still I guess our only "issue" this month, mainly because I haven't managed to kick you out of our bed yet, ha ha. Sleeping with you was getting very uncomfortable for your dad, who is a major bed hog, and honestly it is kind of bugging me as well that whenever you turn around and bump into me, you want to comfort nurse. I tried putting you in your crib several times but you immediately wake up 3 minutes after I've laid you down, and honestly, I'm too exhausted to persist, so I just take the easy out. And whoever wants to slap my hand about that (including your Abuis) is more than welcome to put you sound asleep any day. So, what I came up with is putting a little mattress top next to our bed so I can lay down and nurse you to sleep. It is working pretty well and you sleep for a good 4 or 5 hours the first stretch of the night, and when you wake up I'm always too groggy to have any will power or discipline, so I just pick you up and bring you to bed with us until the next morning. You are now sleeping about 1o or 11 hours at night (from about 8.30 or 9 p.m.) and sleeping 3 naps during the day of about 3-4 hrs in total).

Finally, I haven't taken you for your latest vaccines yet so I am not sure what your weight is, but my back can tell you must be getting pretty heavy. I took you and your brother to the playground while wearing you on my front, and I swear started thinking I wasn't going to make it back! I somehow hurt my back while carrying you, and my knees and feet were soar for days!! soooo, I can say our days of baby wearing might soon be over, which is a bummer because you nap so effortlessly in the sling, I can go anywhere with your brother and your napping schedule is never an issue.

Other than that baby boy, you are ALL smiles as usual, and you get more adorable by the day. I love you, we love you, and I am so blessed to see you grow little man <3 <3.