Dear Callan -SEVEN!

Dear Bubs-
Today is your seven month birthday. Holy moly, 7 months? You're a bonna fide child now. How the heck did that happen? I guess I should get a refund on that time freezing machine I bought on QVC. This month has been ridiculous, but in the best way possible.

You got  to go back to Boston to visit Nana and Papa as well as some of mama's friends this past month. While we were there you got to have a play date with Mabel. She's a few months older than you, but you are about the same size! It was so fun to see you guys play together and it made me wish we lived closer.

Teasing Mabel



Showing Mable the intricacies of the box




You loved the faces Nate was making

You've got such a personality and I love watching it develop. You are such a happy kid and I'm taking all the credit for it! People might try to tell you it's inherent, but I think it's due to your amazing parents! You still love bath time and love splashing around in your yellow ducky tub. At some point we'll need to transition you to the big tub and you'll probably lose your mind with the space you'll have to splash around. You don't mind water in your face (which makes washing your hair a breeze) and I can't wait to take you swimming, although it could be dangerous since you have no fear. One of the (many) cute things I love about you is your crazy hair. Dad calls it your radish top as it sticks straight out from the top of your head. I'm a little sad because it's starting to fall down and that is just one more thing from your "babyhood" that is almost gone.

We've slowly been introducing solids to you via baby led weaning. Although your main source of nutrition is still milk, it's been fun watching you discover food. You only have two teeth (the bottom ones) but you've done lots of vegetables and some meat and so far you seem to be enjoying all of it (except for curry, you've tried it a couple of times and have not been a fan). We incorporated some baby oatmeal into your diet in an attempt to get you some additional vitamins and iron (after we were reprimanded by the doctor) and since we also started some finger foods with you, we figure you'll also get some in the dry cereal. We haven't tried Cheerios yet, but right now rice Chex are a favorite of yours -I think you enjoy the crunch. Most days we do one meal (usually dinner although it's probably not even a full meal with you) and if we go out on the weekends we'll do those meals as well. You are so well behaved in restaurants and people are so impressed with you as you'll sit there and "eat" while everyone else does too. To be honest, I'm loving this baby led weaning thing because it allows you to feed yourself and frees up my hands so I can eat too (yes, your mama's a piggy)!

I think you have a little something on your face

 We are also giving you a little bit of water or milk during dinner and it's so cute to watch you drink (or attempt to drink) from a cup. I wanted to try and avoid the sippy cup since that's just another thing to wean you from, so we've been doing either a straw or a real cup and a shot glass is the perfect size for you to hold.


Something to quench your thirst

A quiet moment of play -where you're not moving!

 Physically you've done a lot this past month and you're developing at lightening speed. It's funny because you were a little "late" to the rolling, and I was convinced you could do it, but you just didn't want to. Well to prove me wrong, you seemed to go at lightening speed once you decided to become mobile and you went from rolling, to crawling to standing and now you're attempting to master walking, but hopefully that is still MONTHS away -seriously, months because mama can't handle you not being a baby. I joke with people that I trip you when you try to walk, but don't worry, I'm not really doing that (or at least not admitting it to the internet!). I also joke that you're not even that good at crawling -you have the funniest crawl that I call a peg-legged crawl since you like to use one knee (your right) and one foot (your left) to propel yourself forward. If you wear baggy pants it's hard to tell that you're using a foot instead of a knee and it just looks like you shake your butt a lot when you move.

Speaking of shaking, you continue to be a squirmy worm and have taken it to a whole new level this month. Changing your diaper or your clothes has turned into something akin to wrestling a small animal, a ferrel animal at that. You flip over, try to sit, stand or really do anything other than lie peacefully on your back. You LOVE standing and will do it whenever you get the opportunity -even in your crib when you should be lying down and sleeping. Speaking of which, your sleep this past month has not been great and I really wish you would improve. I think you're paying me back for being so smug about your sleeping habits before, and if that's the case, lesson learned -you can go back to the old ways now. Your newest "trick" has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder. You settle down immediately if someone goes in to hold you, but getting you back down to sleep in the crib is where the problem lies. Sigh, I would love that baby that slept 10+ hours in a row... if you see him, can you send him back my way? Tell him I miss him.

Good morning sleepy head. You might not have slept through the night, but you still are cute

There is so much more I could write about you, but I don't have the time or energy -instead I'm going to save it all for you. Each month seems to go by faster and faster and I'm just not prepared for how much you've changed. This week is Thanksgiving, and in addition to the pies and stuffing, I'm taking time to be thankful and to count my blessings because I truly am lucky to have such wonderful family and friends (who are my family) as well as you, bubba, and daddy. This week kicks off the holiday season and although we won't be travelling this year to see family, we'll spend time together as a new family creating new traditions and memories and relishing your first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. This really is a magical time of year and I can't wait to share it with you.

You are the best.

Happy 7 months!

Love,
Mama

Dear Callan -6 of one, half a dozen of something

Dear Callan-
Today is your 6 month birthday (now it's yesterday -I started this on your actual birthday but didn't finish it until the day after. Oops). Do you know what that means? That means you need two hands to count the number of months old you are and that half of a year has already passed. HALF.A.YEAR -another half of a year and you'll be a whole year old (that's how math works). That is ridiculous. Do you hear me? Ridiculous!

Before I started this newsletter I did something that I don't usually do -I reread the previous letters and you know what I found out? I write every month about how fast the month has gone by, how much you've developed and how great the month has been. Well, I don't want to disappoint, so let me tell you. This month, month 6, has been crazy. It's gone by way too fast, you've developed at lightening speed and it's been an amazing month!

So much has happened I can't even wrap my mind around it and to be honest, it seems like it all happened in the past few weeks. This month also included wonder week 26, and boy was it a wonder week! On your 6 month birthday you decided to pop your first tooth. We've been able to feel it for a little while and your dad claimed he's seen it before, but today was the first day I could see it -so that means it didn't count until today. Haha, that's how it works in mama's head. Last week you figured out how to get to a sitting position from your belly, which is an amazing feat and now you do it all the time like it's nothing. Now it kind of seems like you're trying to stand/walk, although I would really prefer you learn how to crawl first. But if we're being honest, I wish you would skip the mobility thing altogether. Rolling and army crawling is all my mind can handle right now as it's already being blown on a daily basis and can't handle any more. For some reason in my head you stopped aging around 3 months, so it takes me a minute (or two) to calculate how old you really are. I wonder when you're 30 if I'll still have to do this kind of math in my head.

Your form could use a little work -maybe nana can help.

Anyway, other physical developments this month: You do this really cute downward dog pose and you move your feet/legs (it seems like you're really good at yoga -you do downward dog, cobra, pigeon and happy baby). Good thing you're kind of top heavy otherwise you'd be standing! You are really good with your hand eye coordination and we've taken advantage of this by starting you on solids. So far you've had apples, apple sauce, bananas, mango, pear, green beans, baba ganoush on pita bread, home fries, cheesy grits and kale. So far you've seemed to like everything although it is hard to judge since we only give you a few teaspoons at a time. Your dad and I are excited to introduce all sorts of foods and flavors to you and now that you can sit up in a high chair in restaurants, I think the introduction of foods is going to increase.

Having brunch in your Halloween costume -don't worry we don't normally dress you up like this.

We are still nursing and you're taking the bottle from us before bed and from Adelia during the day. A few weeks ago I thought you were starting to wean as you showed for the first time a preference for the bottle over the bewb and I was actually pretty sad about it, more so than I expected.  Thankfully it turned out just to be a bit of a nursing strike so I don't have to say good bye to that quite yet.  As we slowly introduce more solids to you, I'm sure we'll naturally start to wean and hopefully I'll be more prepared.

You are still the curious creature who loves to look, listen and touch. You touch everything and like to feel and grab different thing. You especially love touching peoples faces, but we need to work on your "gentle" touches. You still love to put everything in your mouth and you've started this new habit where you'll put a toy in your mouth and then decide not to hold it with your hands anymore and continue on your business either sitting and reaching for other toys or rocking on all fours. It's incredibly cute, but it makes me compare you to a puppy -I mean, a really cute puppy, but using your mouth to transport objects like that is kind of what dogs do!

It seemed like overnight you could sit up and then you've decided to do all these other things -it's been a crazy month. As you can imagine, you are a squirmy worm, which makes diaper changes and getting dressed really interesting as you refuse.to.sit.still.

Your sleep this month has been a little erratic. I don't know if it's because of a growth spurt, you're cutting teeth, wonder weeks or what, but you still wake up at least once in the middle of the night and lately you've been waking up a few times in the hour or two after you go down. You do this cute thing when you're getting ready to fall asleep where you roll over to your side or onto your belly and stick your butt up in the air. As much fun as I have with you when you're awake, I could watch you sleep for hours. There has been a lot of talk recently about the banning/outlawing of crib bumpers. When you're older you're going to realize we had one on your crib and might wonder why we would put you in that kind of danger. Well the thing is kid, your dad and I nicknamed you danger baby and part of that is because you enjoy slamming your body from side to side in the crib like a pinball. I don't know if you're just trying to figure out the dimensions or if you would keep rolling if you could, but I feel like the bumpers are there for your protection. Plus, you like to snuggle up next to them to sleep and a bumper is much more snugly than the wooden slats of a crib. So for now the bumpers are staying on.

This month your babbling has really increased and recently (as in, within the last week) you finally started opening your mouth when you talk. It was very cute before that you would talk/hum with your mouth shut. You've finally opened your mouth, but that also means you now talk a lot louder than you did before! We're trying to work on your "indoor voice", but (shockingly) you haven't grasped that concept. You are much more talkative and you do this really cute thing where you stick out your tongue -it's like you're rediscovering it. I'm trying to teach you how to blow raspberries, but so far you've only gotten the sticking out the tongue part down.

You still love bath time and since you can sit up, it's made it much easier for us. You love splashing and don't seem to mind too much when water hits your face. I still want to take you for swim lessons and am so excited to take you swimming when we're on vacation. We only bathe you a couple times a week because you have such dry, sensitive skin, but I think you would let us do it every day. Thankfully we've never had a problem bathing you and now that you can splash you're really having fun.

Anyway kiddo, 6 months has come and gone and each day you still continue to amaze me. Even on your grumpiest day, you're a joy to us and your dad and I are having so much fun with you. We've turned into those people who think their kid is the best/smartest/funniest/cutest and want to share their accomplishments with everyone. I guess in a way that's what this blog has turned into since you have so many people in your life who are far away and want to keep up with you. You are truly blessed and lucky to have this extended family of friends and family and I hope you realize how lucky you are.

Well if you made it this far you deserve a prize. As your dad says, this is your whole bag of tricks in one short video!

I love you bubbers and you are truly amazing.  I know everyone says that about their kids, but for you, it's true *wink*. You are a happy, smiley baby that makes us happy and smiley. I love you more than words can express and I hope I continue to tell you as much as I do now. I wouldn't trade you for anything and I'm so honored and proud to be your mama.

Happy 6 month birthday bubs.

Love,
Mama

Applesauce and Bananas

Even though Callan is almost 6 months old, he has been on an all milk diet as we have been waiting to introduce solids to him.  When he's awake during dinnertime, we sit him with a toy in his high chair and he'll sit and watch us eat (and play with his toy). Recently he has been taking an increased interest in our food, watching us while we eat and drink and opening his mouth like a baby bird. We've been waiting to introduce solids until he's ready to feed himself and plan on skipping the puree food step. This method is called Baby Led Weaning (or BLW for short) or Baby Led Solids (BLS) and is based on a paper written by Gill Rapley. BLW/BLS just means letting your child feed themselves from the start and waiting until they are developmentally capable to feed and eat food. By waiting, it allows the intestines and stomach to fully develop and encourages babies to listen to their own cues about when they are ready to eat and how much. The thinking behind BLW over traditional puree food feeding, is that you don't need to trick the baby into swallowing before they're ready and it teaches the child to chew and move the food around in their mouths until they are ready to swallow. If they aren't ready to swallow, they will just spit the food back out. Gagging at this point is actually good as it will prevent chocking later on. 

Anyway, we've been waiting to do this with Callan. This is a milestone we've been eagerly awaiting since both Huge and I enjoy eating.  We're intrigued to find out if Callan will also be an adventurous eater and what his palate will be. We were planning on waiting until he hit 6 months, but he seemed ready and we figured 5 1/2 months was close enough. We started with some applesauce (I know that's technically pureed, but he self feeds and that is the natural state of that food so I don't think it's cheating) and bananas. We're starting slow, but Callan did so well that I have a feeling it's going to be quite the culinary adventure with him.

The videos are a little boring and don't mind the commentary (we obviously were not prepared or paying attention as you'll also notice that he's not wearing a bib in either video taken on 2 different days), but this is one milestone worth capturing and I'm sure there will be more to come.

Don't tell Huge, but the next "crunchy granola" plan of mine is to skip the sippy cup...