Time never went by so quickly before I was a parent.
Kate is now six months old (six months!) and still as happy and cheerful as ever. Over this past month (at five months old) she has just begun taking an interest in Chase (our greyhound) which has been so much fun to see. All she has to do is see Chase and she’ll burst into laughter. Greg and I work our asses off to get a giggle out of Kate–blowing on her little belly, making silly faces–we’ll do it whatever it takes to hear that magical sound. But apparently all Chase needs to do is breathe within Kate’s line of sight and nothing makes her happier.
Kate’s activity time continues to be filled with lots of excited jumping in her Jumperoo, leisurely swaying in her swing, walks around the neighborhood, and of course business meetings in her Command Center (aka the Exersaucer). She still enjoys her floor activity mat, but now that she’s getting older she requires more space. We lay a baby blanket on the living room floor next to her activity mat, toss a bunch of her toys on it, and she rolls and scooches her way all around the floor. We can already tell that once she gets the hang of crawling she is going to be fast! Her new development over this past month has been getting the hang of sitting up. She is just starting to be able to sit unassisted for short periods of time–about five to ten seconds–so we’ve introduced a couple of toys that are meant for more “sitting up play” which she enjoys.
Kate currently naps for about four hours during the day (split between either two or three naps) and goes to bed around 6:00pm, sleeping until about 6am. This little girl loves her sleep! We’ve been trying to push her bedtime back just a bit, but on most nights she barely even makes it to 6pm. Kate’s bedtime routine consists of a bath (we do them every three nights right now) or a face and neck washing, change into pajamas, and read a book (if she’s still alert enough and has the patience for it). Then we pull the blinds, turn off the lights and feed her a bedtime bottle in the rocking chair in her nursery. When she’s done with her bottle we put her in her crib “drowsy but awake,” offer her a pacifier, turn on a little fan in the room for some white noise, and then walk out and close the door. We’ve put Kate down “drowsy but awake” since she was born and we’re very lucky to say that she goes right to sleep on her own without any fussing. Although Kate sleeps for twelve hours at night, it’s rare that she will go the entire twelve hours without waking. I’d say about 75% of the time she wakes up for one middle of the night feeding and goes right back to sleep.
Kate gets five or six bottles each day and drinks about 5-7 ounces per bottle. Greg and I continue to be worried about her weight as her percentiles in that department keep dropping, but Kate makes it very clear when she’s had enough to eat, and when that happens there’s no convincing her otherwise! She will purse her lips together and stick the lower one out in a pout. Sometimes she’ll add a little spitting sound to really get her point across. And when push comes to shove she’ll block her mouth with the back of her hand until you’ve set the bottle down. She’s quite the clever girl!
I’m very surprised to say that Kate made it five months before getting sick. She’s had a runny nose for a day or two before, but this past month was her first time really truly being sick…and it wasn’t pretty. She caught some sort of stomach bug which caused lots and lots of vomiting. At first we thought it was just some heavy spit-up, but when she projectile vomited all over Greg and her rocking chair immediately following her morning bottle, we realized this was much more than spit up. Much, much more. I called our pediatrician’s office and they recommended giving her Pedialyte–which is gentler on baby bellies than formula–until she was able to keep something down, so off to the drugstore I went. I have to admit–all of the Pedialyte options caught me a bit off guard. There was grape, fruit punch, orange–so many fun flavors and colors! What’s a first-time mom to do? In the end I worried that if our little finicky eater was introduced to a fun fruit flavor she’d probably never go back to drinking her formula, so I go the boring clear unflavored kind. An hour later I was patting myself on the back for my brilliance in Pedialyte picking when Kate once again vomited all over me, the couch, and the living room floor…and her vomit was clear. Not fruit punch pink or grape-flavored purple. Score one for this first-time mom! Luckily we didn’t have to deal with vomit–clear or otherwise–for too long since Kate was feeling better and back to her old self in just a day or two.
The cutest thing to see over this past month is how Kate’s obsession with her hands has been replaced with an obsession with her feet. Every chance she gets those little toes go straight into her mouth!
I’ll end with some of my favorite expressions from Kate’s 5 month pictures. Enjoy!
Serious baby:
After I read your comment on being concerned about her weight I just wondered if she is on solids, as you never mentioned it. ? She should be on cereal and baby food by now.
Wonderful Kate update! I’m a soon-to-be mom, so I devour any and all baby information like this. She is just adorable, and I LOVE those toes in her mouth! Glad she’s feeling better and that her sickness didn’t last long.
I can’t believe our girls are getting so big either. Kate is just so precious, I can’t believe she is out by 6pm!!! You are also very lucky that she doesn’t fuss much before sleep, ever! Take care.
Karen
Many babies do not start cereal or solids yet, Anon. Dusty, check with your ped on what’s best for Kate.
Love the smiley picture! So cute!
on the way out of the neighborhood this am, i saw a guy pushing a stroller with a greyhound and immediately thought of you. not sure if it was G or not.
Way to go with the sleep training! As a veteran mom of a 6 and 3 year old – whom I trained in a similar manner – put in bed before they are asleep- you are in for delightful children! Sleep is such a huge issue as they get older. I got a lot of grief from my family/in-laws when I did this – grandma always wanted to rock kids to sleep – but it has paid off and my kids are great sleepers now because of it – no real night time battles! Keep up the good work!
I would also ask your ped about starting solids with Kate…. sounds like she’s doing great!
Blessings!
Great update – she’s adorable!
She is SO cute!
Hi Dusty,
I am just a lil ol blog reader, but wanted to tell you that I love your blog! I have a 2 1/2 year old son and a little on the way. I love hearing your updates on Kate, but also miss some of your home/decor related posts!! Any chance you’ll be posting some more home projects soon??? Also, I’d love to see how you organize your baby bottles/feeding supplies in your kitchen. I know how busy it is working full time and taking care of a little one though so I know it’s probably hard to find time when you rather be snuggling and playing with Kate
Love the update on Kate! I am amazed by how quickly babies grow and change!
Thanks for sharing your bedtime routine. We’re expecting our first in about 3 weeks and that is one part of parenthood I am slightly nervous about. I have friends that will never put their baby to bed awake but I think I’ll need some sort of routine and schedule!
You have a cutie on your hands!
Thanks for your comments everyone!
Because Kate’s weight has been low, our pediatrician has recommended that we hold off starting Kate on solid foods. His reasoning is that her formula contains more calories/ounce than the cereal she’d start with and he doesn’t want her filling up on those empty calories. She’s such a finicky little eater that every calorie counts. Kate turned 6 months old on the 9th (and remember, this post is looking back at her past month of life–when she was only five months old) and we got the green light to start her on solids at our 6 month apt. I’ll write more about it in my next Kate post, but I’m happy to report that she’s doing great on solids and was a quick learner!
@Melanie–Oh wow, must’ve been some other dad in the neighborhood with a greyhound and a baby! Greg usually takes Kate and Chase for a morning walk but didn’t yesterday morning b/c it was Grandma Pam’s day with Kate and she takes them on plenty of walks throughout the day.
@Rachel–I have about a million home and organization-related posts that I plan to publish. I really do! And they’re all incredibly brilliant and helpful and certain to be life-changing for moms everywhere–maybe even humanity! But…I haven’t written them yet. They’re just swimming around in my head, growing more and more brilliant by the day, but I just can’t seem to find the time. I am excited to share them though, so hopefully I will be able to devote a day (week?) or two to writing soon!
I’d also just like to say a general and sincere thank you to all who continue sharing in my life even though my blog has changed so much over the past year. I do not try to have a “niche” with my blog, I do not aim to appeal to a “target audience.” I just write about what I care about and whatever comes to me. I write for me–and my family–so we can have this record of our lives, and I truly enjoy sharing it with all of you and am honored that you’re a part of it. Thank you!
What a sweet smile she has. Thanks for sharing. I have a little one, so it’s always nice to be able to compare routines.
Weight will always be an issue in the back of your mind for your kids. It gets better each child. Grace is always on the low end, I catch myself looking at her when she is with her friends, noticing how much smaller she is. They all catch up and I am always thankful they are healthy!!
Kate is super cute and you and Greg are such good parents nothing will get passed you!!
Love always….Jamie Mlsna
I love reading about Kate’s progress, especially since she’s just a couple of months older than my son. It’s fun for me to see what she’s up to and to anticipate what I’m probably in for next. You never cease to keep it real and to make me laugh. I’m just starting to put my son to sleep in his crib “drowsey but awake”- I had been rocking him and really love that time together.
Thanks so much girls!
Happy 6 months Kate! I’m in awe of how quickly time flies once we have babies. Or maybe we are just more aware of time because of how much our little ones grow and change in such a short time? Either way, it’s beautiful to get to see how Kate is changing and becoming more and more like a little human.