Maxwell turned 6-months old on Friday. Here are the latest updates.
On Growing:
15 pounds, 10 ounces
26 ¼ inches long
Maxwell dropped into the 19th percentile for weight, and 45th for height.
On Mobility:
Though a bit tipsy – Max can sit without support. He started pushing his upper body off a surface when lying on his stomach. He even occasionally gets himself onto his hands and knees – for about one second. When lying on the floor, he scoots and rolls. Sometimes we’re not quite sure how exactly he gets from one place to another. His moves aren’t graceful, and I often wonder if they are even intentional (rolling off the blanket onto the hardwood floor and underneath a chair for example). He sometimes seems surprised by this newfound mobility.
Being able to sit, and scoot around allows him much more enjoyment from his toys and surroundings.
On Eating:
Breastfeeding continues to be the main source for nutrition, but Max absolutely loves solid foods. We’ve been slow to introduce new foods, but he has enjoyed each one. So far, he’s had peas, carrots and prunes. He’s had both homemade and jarred food. The first day he tried prunes, he liked them. On the second day – he made the silliest little faces and spit them out at me – letting me know his dislike! His favorite food seems to be barley cereal mixed with breast milk.
This month I think we will introduce things a little faster. We’re going to try spinach, squash, avocado – and maybe some other fruits.
Our routine is to give him cereal and veggies in the evening, either when we’re eating, or just before we eat. He gobbles up every bite. It’s so much fun to feed him!
Being back at work, it’s been difficult for me to pump enough breast milk for Max to have at daycare, so last week we changed up the routine a bit. He now gets his cereal at daycare, and we give him veggies in the evening. I wasn’t sure if I was adding food too fast – since they say he really doesn’t need any solid food until six months. Max is six-months and eating two solid meals per day. We asked the doctor about this, and he said that we could feed him as much as he wants to eat, and can eventually add in a third meal. Adding cereal during the day seems to level off the breast milk, and the daycare woman isn’t requesting more and more milk. I think I’m also getting better and more efficient with pumping. I’m able to get more milk. I also started taking Fenugreek supplement to help increase the production of my milk.
Even though I have the best set-up at work, pumping breast milk for Max at work is challenging. I’m lucky right now because my office-mate (who is male) is working on a project that requires him to be off-site so I have the office to myself. I’m able to pump right at my desk – and because our office used to be a clinic – I have a sink! However, three to four hours comes around so quick, and it’s not something I can skip. It’s hard to plan around meetings etc. I don’t know how I would manage it if I have to start sharing my office. It would take so much time to have to walk somewhere else to do it. Plus – I might not be able to multi-task and keep plugging away at my work.
On Pooping:
Maxwell is (was) officially constipated once we started adding more veggies into his diet. He poops every 3-4 days (much better than the 8-10 days he was doing last month). However, his poop starting getting harder and harder – until the poor little guy was pooping formed turds. We checked with the doctor – and formed poops are too hard on his little six-month old bum. This was when/why we introduced prunes. As I mentioned, he ate up the prunes right off on the first try. The second try…not so much.
Within 24 hours of eating the prunes, Max had two very large poops. I felt so bad for him. I just couldn’t believe that all of that was inside of him! It must have been so uncomfortable.
I haven’t given up on the prunes – but the doctor said to try spinach too. We’ve got to keep the boy more regular!
On Sleeping:
Max goes to sleep between 7:30 – 8:00.
Up until four nights ago, Max woke up a minimum of two times to eat in the middle of the night. However, last Wednesday night he started taking a turn. He seems to be weaning himself off the second nighttime feeding.
He wakes up between 12:30 – 1:30am, eats and goes back to sleep. Then he wakes up between 4:00 – 5:00am for an early morning feed.
I have no complaints. I don’t mind one bit to get up and feed him at night. He always goes right back to sleep, and it gives me a little extra snuggle-cuddle time. I miss that little baby when I’m gone all day at work!
On Teething:
For the past 3-4 months, every time a spec of drool comes out of Maxwell’s mouth somebody (even complete strangers) proclaim that he is teething. The first month or so I believed everyone. Now, I just ignore it…because he’s not teething. He’s drooling.
We asked the doctor about this. He gave us a very simple and insightful explanation. Teething does not cause drooling and you cannot assume that a baby is teething if he drools a lot. If newborns produced much saliva, they could die of dehydration. They don’t produce saliva because they don’t need to. They eat/drink milk. As a baby grows and develops they starting preparing to eat solid foods. They start producing more saliva. Saliva is necessary to help break down foods in the mouth as well as lubricated the digestive tract. In preparation for solid food, babies also start putting everything into their mouths. They also begin to grow teeth. These three things are all necessary to eat solid foods. Therefore, teething does not cause drooling. They are two separate developmental occurrences that happen around the same time. An analogy: Teething causes drooling in as much as the leaves turning brown cause the wind to blow.
On Routines:
After a little trial and error and we’re starting to figure out our routines.
Max usually wakes up between 4-5am for an early morning feed. I bring him into bed at this time. He nurses and I doze for my last 60-90 minutes of sleep. At 5:30, I get up while Brendan and Max snuggle in bed. I take my shower and get ready for work. Sometimes Max wakes up during this time, and sometimes I have to wake him when I’m ready to go. I get him changed and dressed and nurse him once more before we head out the door. We usually leave between 6:45 and 7:00am. I drop him off at daycare. He’s never cried when I leave – and he always smiles really big when he sees Rabija in the mornings.
Work is getting easier. As I’ve mentioned before, my boss and colleagues are tremendous at helping my transition. I’m getting better at not feeling guilty for leaving work at the end of the day (even though I’ve put in 9 – 10 hours of work). For some reason, there’s always more work to do or a fire to put out! I’m sad that my part-time stint will soon be coming to an end. Though I love my job, I find the five-day workweek to be so mundane – and I find it overall depressing. Such is life…
Brendan picks Max up in the evening. Brendan works closest to Max’s daycare, and can get there quicker than me. By the time I get home, Brendan and Max are playing together – and starting to get dinner ready. It's working out quite nice.
We have a pretty consistent evening routine. It starts when I get home from work between 5:15 and 5:30. Usually Max is cranky and/or hungry – and I’m usually ready to burst so I nurse him almost right away. Sometimes during this time he “dog-naps” for 15-20 minutes (he doesn’t take great naps at daycare). When he’s finished, he’s happy and we play for an hour or so. Then it’s time for solids (Barley-time for Bonzo). Brendan and I sit down with him and enjoy this time of the evening. We both take turns scooping in the food – actually, usually Maxwell dive-bombs the spoon.
When he’s finished eating, we take him out to the studio for his nightly bath (Bath-time for Bonzo). He LOVES baths. He can be cranky as ever, but a bath will cure it. We let him play and splash around until he tells us that times up (or until the water gets too cold). After his bath – he gets on his jammies. By this time, he’s usually a little fussy and ready for bed. I swaddle him up and nurse him again before bed (Boob-time for Bonzo). Usually he falls asleep while nursing (bad habit, I’m told) but the past few nights he is awake when I lay him down (Bed-time for Bonzo). If he’s awake, it takes a little more effort to get him asleep than it does while nursing, but never more than 15-20 minutes. He’s usually in bed between 7:30 – 8:00.
Repeat.
On Loving Max:
Maxwell – it has been an amazing and wonderful six months. We have relished every minute of your young life making it feel like you have always been a part of our family. We take delight in each moment as it comes. We try to document these moments with many photos and we write in this blog – which is as much for your father and I (and you) as it is for your long distance grandparents, family, and friends. We love you so much Maxwell! You are a wonder that brings us joy, happiness and a love that we never knew until we became your parents. Happy 6-month birthday, little boy!
happy bday Max! now I feel like I am up to date on what is going on... but we still need to get together.
Posted by: karen | October 02, 2007 at 08:12 AM