Little Brother's 6 months Well Baby

Graham had his 6 month well baby visit this morning. He weighs in at 19lbs 1.5oz, not quite 20 lbs (73rd percentile) and had a significant growth spurt in length at 2ft 3.5inches (81st percentile). He has less than 3 inches to go before he outgrows his car seat (and 3 lbs), so we will likely be saying good bye to the infant bucket seat soon. He didn't get any vaccines today since he has a little head cold; and when he does get them, I think I will space them out a bit so as not to bombard his little system. He is eating one meal a day, and I am going to try and work in a second. He loves to eat, but only eats about a tablespoon at a time. I remembered banana can be binding, and since he only poops about once a week, I started mixing his cereal with applesauce. I am going to get some prunes and make a little baby prune puree to help his little bowels move. He has one and a half tooth and seems to be working on a top tooth. He is doing well in the sleep department. While I still have him sleeping in our bed, he often falls asleep on his own. He is starting to have a more difficult time napping out and about, so we are all trying to go to sleep a little earlier so we can wake up a little earlier, and Graham can get in a little nap before we head out for our morning activities. He still nurses quite a bit at night- after his 4-5 hour stretch, he then nurses every hour usually. Graham can sit up independently (with the Boppy pillow behind him in case of a fall), he can move objects from one hand to the other, he can roll which ever way (though shows little interest in doing so). I don't see him being mobile anytime soon, which is fine with me. I can't believe it has already been six months!

P.S. Gwen was exactly the same weight at 6 months! Just a tad shorter.

Spring Equinox: Graham's 6 months

Graham is six months old today! Last night after Gwen picked out her frog footed jammies to wear, we noticed that they matched nicely in a very Spring way. We had visions of matching Christmas jammies in the future. Time is just flying! While I try and appreciate and live in the now, I can't help but think about our little future together- I am just so excited about my little babies and watching them grow up together. Graham seems to be right on target for being a 6 month old and has his well baby visit next week, so stay tuned for 6 month stats. His pediatrician had predicted he would be crawling by 6 months, and he isn't, but he got up on his hands and knees Friday and was rocking back and forth like he was getting ready to launch himself forward, so maybe by his appointment? I am in no rush for him to be mobile; it is much easier to keep track of him and Gwen when I know Graham is staying in more or less the same spot. While he has been a little more calm and cuddly a baby than Gwen, he seems to be coming out of his shell a bit. Spencer and I went to a talk a while back by the Children's Heath Council and they talked about temperament (and the importance of considering temperament when picking out a preschool, which is why we were there). Gwen seemed to fall into the category they called Puppy: moderate temperament, easy to live with and love, goes with the flow and can adapt to almost any environment. If I had to guess about Graham I would pick Chameleon: mellow, easy going, loves fine motor, easily occupies self, highly adaptive. We'll see!

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Gwen was watching some Saturday morning cartoons with Spencer when I set Graham down next to her (he wasn't actually watching TV). They were so cute next to each other hanging out. He got super interested in her breakfast so I got him a spoon to play with. He has been snacking on bananas, frozen squash, and now frozen cubes of baby oatmeal mixed with breastmilk all in his mesh feeder. Graham sits up at the table with us while we eat (if he isn't napping). Yes, we have finally made the transition to eating at the kitchen table like civilized people. I had to sacrifice my dishwasher (it is a portable dishwasher) to make room to pull the table out from the wall so we can all sit comfortably. It is awesome! We don't have the TV on as often in the evenings because of this, and it really feels like we are a little family. We have also managed to have the TV off a lot more often in the afternoons (often Gwen wakes from her nap demanding TV) because Gwen enjoys sitting at the table coloring while I wash all those dishes!

P.S. Graham's second bottom front tooth is coming in, so no more snaggle tooth grin.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Gwen also wore this same little t-shirt her first St. Patrick's Day. I haven't got much to say...after two days with no nap Gwen, I am trying to get a lot done during naptime. Got to get back to Mama's chores including prepping our Vegetarian pot pie for dinner and Irish Tea Brack for dessert (think it will be like a fruit cake). Since I am not expecting this dessert to be that dessert like, Gwen and I will make some sugar cookies cut out into clover shapes with green sprinkles when she wakes up. I haven't blogged much, but have posted almost daily snippets on my Facebook- so if you want to read those, let's be facebook friends!
Edited: Gwen and I did make cookies! She was actually quite helpful and is learning a lot (like leveling out the sugar in the measuring cup before 'dumping' it in the bowl. Her favorite part of making sugar cookies: sprinkles!

Graham's First Tooth!

Graham's first tooth cut through yesterday (bottom front left). I have been going on for a while about how I am sure he is teething, well now I know exactly what him teething looks like, and it isn't pretty. The last few nights he would wake up screaming, and would have a hard time settling down. Last night he screamed for about 40 minutes (I think until the tylenol kicked in, and he pooped which also seemed to make him happy :-) It was horrible. He rarely cries, so for him to be crying in pain, and inconsolable no less, was hard (besides the fact it was 2am). I don't remember Gwen being as intense with her teething...

The Dentist isn't scary

Gwen had a dentist appointment this morning, her second one. We have been talking about it since the day before and talking about what would happen, and how the dentist's special tooth brush will buzz, and it might be loud and tickle, but wouldn't hurt. And how the dentist will look to see how beautiful her teeth are, and maybe put a little fluoride on them ,which is like medicine to keep them strong, and then she would get a new toothbrush! Gwen was very excited (she loves brushing her teeth). We were even on time to the appointment, which is a first, I don't think I have been on time for anything since birthing Graham on his due date. But as soon as the dentist (Dr. Mary M.Dini, DDS with Remington Dental Group) walked into the lobby to greet us, Gwen started to freak out (I think it was the dentist's smock and face mask, which she had pulled down under her chin, but still). I realize now we should have been early so we could orient ourselves before jumping in to the whole thing (and next time I will leave Graham at home- poor little guy just wanted to nap). Gwen was super upset, but we powered through with her sitting on my lap, and me stroking her hair while the dentist did her brief exam. The disposable glove balloon really helped. The dentist was able to clean Gwen's teeth, and floss them (which blew my mind). She passed on the fluoride saying she didn't want to upset Gwen anymore and end on a high note instead, which I appreciated. Gwen was super happy to be able to pick out her own toothbrush, and while she was super satisfied with that, she also got to pick out a toy (she picked a pencil). On the walk to the car she said it wasn't scary and that her teeth are clean now, and couldn't stop talking about her new toothbrush and her pencil and how she needed paper to draw on. Painful at first, but an overall success. In 6 months the dentist wants to put sealant on her molars (which have super deep grooves).....they blocked 45 minutes for the appointment- yikes!