Raising the What (Diaper) Flag

Much to the relief of Daddy (and all the teachers at daycare) we have switched to disposable diapers at school.  They were doing a miserable job of fitting, and I'd always find the diapers unsnapped to the largest setting, recommended for 23lb+.  Hence, every day Jonah would leak and go through 2-3 outfits.  And now that Jonah is eating foods, his messes are getting... well, messier.  We started using liners at home, but it seems like a good time to let the school off the hook.  I can't help feel a sense of failure, but it doesn't seem worth fighting for something they clearly regret agreeing to.

Our record at home has been much better (i.e. fewer than 2 leaks every day) but certainly not perfect.  After 6 months, I think we've about broken even on cost of the cloth vs. disposables, so long as I can keep myself from buying too many more!   I'm a little addicted to shopping for new brands and cute prints.  At this point, at least I know which diapers need to retire for leakiness and which are reliable.  I refuse to give up yet!

6 Month Update

Physical Development:

We have our check-up next week, when I'll have the official measurement and weigh-in.  We are packing up his 6-month clothes, and 9-month fit him beautifully.  Jonah's eyes have maintained a shade of blue that matches his Daddy's eyes perfectly.  We suspect the grey-blue is here to stay.  His hair has lightened to a sandy blonde.  Both birthmarks (below his nose and on the back of his neck) have faded away, but he still has a bright red patch on the inside of his lower lip.  His two bottom teeth have emerged, but still have some growing to do to be any more than stubs.

Activities/Play:

Jonah loves raspberries on his tummy!  Even when he is really upset with Mommy, it can coax a temporary smile or laugh before the screaming resumes.  Jonah outgrew interest in the swing and bouncer last month, though we still occasionally use the swing to put Jonah down in the kitchen.  His all-time favorite toy is the Jumperoo.  Daddy calls it "the best non-essential baby purchase".  Jonah has figured out the jumping, turning and all the toys!  When Jonah is happy of excited, he makes a jumping motion with his legs, whether he is lying down, sitting in a lap or standing (with assistance).  His favorite game is using Mommy or Daddy as a Jumperoo, where he can get a lot more height by having us lift him into the air.

Food:

Jonah is eating solid foods!  He sits with us at the table in his high chair for a late breakfast or dinner.  So far, he's tried rice cereal, oatmeal, squash, sweet potato and sweet peas.  He hated oatmeal.  Daddy received some looks of disgust at breakfast a couple days in a row before he gave up.  On the other hand, he gulped down the sweet potato and sweet peas, using both hands to "help"!  Think he has a sweet tooth?

Sleep:

Jonah is still a great sleeper (knock on wood).  He sleeps 7:30pm-6:30am give or take 30min. on each end.  He still takes 2-3 naps throughout the day of random length 30min - 2hrs.  He uses a sleepsack and often rolls to his left side.  A couple times I've found him sleeping on his tummy, face planted on the bed!

Motor Skills:

Jonah has (pretty much) stopped throwing his head backwards all the time.  He can sit unassisted for short periods with supervision (though I prefer to have a Boppy behind him in case of falls, and Jonah will place a hand on it for balance).   He also enjoys standing - and can push himself up to a stand from a lap!  Jonah is rolling over front to back and back to front, but always over the left shoulder.  He still sometimes gets upset on his tummy and forgets that he knows how to fix the situation.  Usually, he will spend 15min. or more on his tummy before screaming for assistance.  He pushes up into cobra, reaches for toys, and can spin himself around 180deg, but only when I'm not looking.  ;-)

First Foods, Revisited

After telling a couple people about Jonah's food experiences, I received quite a few laughs.  Apparently, when the pediatrician and others suggest "rice cereal" and "oat cereal" they are not referring to Rice Krispies and simply avoiding the trademark name.  There is a whole baby food section in the supermarket devoted to baby versions of cereal!  Who knew?
Turns out, Jonah likes the baby oats much better than our quick oats anyway.  And they are pre-cooked, which is much easier for Mommy to prepare.  :-)

First Tooth!

I had the random thought the other day to check if any of Jonah's teeth are coming in.  Sure enough, his bottom gum was quite sharp!  The little points of the left tooth are just at the gumline.  Mommy was so proud, as if my little boy did something amazing!  He is growing up!

Faceplant

A couple times I have gone into Jonah's room to find him face-planted in his crib! Terrifying. He's great at rolling onto his tummy and still a little slow in remembering how to roll back. Still, one would think that if he landed on his tummy and couldn't roll back over, he would turn his head to the side. Nope. He puts his face straight down into the mattress, hands by his sides. I spent a couple nights waking often to check the baby monitor by the bed (much to Daddy's discomfort - he even pulled out a blindfold!). My only defense is 1.) making Jonah do lots of tummy time and not helping him roll over so he will practice on his own and 2.) putting him along the left rail of the crib so there is no room to roll over in that direction, which is the only way he seems to roll. I wonder how long I can manage to not be a super-paranoid Mommy with my kid strapped down to a heart monitor?

Big-Boy Highchair

Now that Jonah is a much better sitter, we finally deemed it time to assemble the high chair!  Well, actually Daddy somehow found time after work last week to put it together after picking Jonah up from school, while making dinner, and before Mommy got home from her conference in Boston.  Whew!  Busy guy!  Jonah wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first and seemed to protest as Daddy was feeding him cereal.  It took us a couple days to learn that putting Jonah in the seat after he finishes breast feeding, he is much calmer and happier to sit and try solid foods!  By the end of the week, he was gobbling oatmeal and squash like a champ, though in tiny quantities before getting bored and trying to swan-dive off the high chair backwards.  I quite enjoy that he can join us at the dinner table now!  (We had been banishing him to his play gym or Jumperoo while we ate.)  This weekend, Jonah had a huge proud smile on his face while we all ate lunch together.

In remembrance of Great-Grandma Germaine

We attended a memorial Mass at Assumption with the family.  Everyone was so impressed by how good Jonah was during the service!  I think he made a bad impression on folks at his Baptism, and at a Mass a few weeks ago with his Grandparents.  Cousin Nathan was even better behaved, though he seemed to be sleeping.  I can't even say what Jonah was up to!  He was sitting with Pop-pop in the pew right behind us, and every time we turned they had moved a seat farther away, until he was with Uncle Kevin two rows back.  I'm pretty sure they would have taken him home with them if we hadn't intervened.  ;-)

Snow Day = Sleepy Day

We were pretty sure the weathermen were lying when they forecast up to 10" of snow in March!  The storm wasn't named and all that nonsense, so how bad could it be?  I had been asked to go into the office this morning for a project interview.  I woke up at 5:45: +/-4".  No problem.  I'll drive over it.  I got ready.  6:45: 6".  Darn, now I have to shovel.  7:30: another inch covering my newly shoveled driveway, I'm sweaty and tired, plow hasn't done our street since 4am, news is interviewing people who spent an hour on a 10mi commute, and Jonah (finally!) woke up for breakfast.  7:35: call the office to surrender.  No chance of getting in by 9.  We ended up with around 20".
Instead, Jonah and I enjoyed a long afternoon nap.  I'm not sure what it is about snow days that make us both so drowsy!  Jonah napped again at 5:30 and fell asleep during dinner at 6:30.  He was out so deep, I completed my first diaper change without waking him up!  Well, at least he didn't open his eyes.  By the gymnastics of his legs shooting into the air, stretching out straight, and fending off the wipe, one might think he was somewhat conscious of the process.

The "Captain Morgan" Stance

Most babies are easy to carry with one arm.  Not Jonah!  He was a two-handed baby until about 5 months, when I could finally rely on him to not throw his head back at any moment.  And it sure is nice to have a free hand!
Except Jonah is now very mobile and squirmy, so he doesn't like to just sit still on my hip.  This means I now have one hand on him and the other occupied while he is working very hard to maneuver himself anywhere he isn't.  Thus I discovered the purpose behind the Captain Morgan stance.  I don't have a photo, so you can just use your imagination to picture me preparing Jonah's lunch with him on my left hip, standing on one leg with my left knee up in the air to keep Jonah from falling.  What a sight we must be!

First Food!

We gave Jonah his first taste of "solid" food for dinner on Sunday.  He had Rice Krispies mashed in breastmilk - yum!  It was quite a production.  We hadn't yet assembled his high chair, so we spread out a blanket on the living room floor, put him in the Bumbo, strapped on a bib and started spooning the soft mash.  Jonah didn't quite know what to make of it.  He seemed to get the spoon concept quickly, and would open and close him mouth appropriately to remove food from the utensil.   That's not to say that most of the cereal ended or stayed in his mouth!  He tried to help it, by sticking his fingers in his mouth, which inevitably caused more cereal to exit than he swallowed.  But then his fingers were covered, so they became increasingly more interesting to suck, at the expense of the new spoonfuls.  It's hard to say that Jonah was happy of excited about the whole thing.  He looked more confused, but interested.  After several attempts, the distraction of the newness wore off and Jonah realized he was still hungry and hadn't had what he recognizes as dinner.  So we aborted and finished dinner the old-fashion way.  Practice!