During the week we took Jay for his 6 month check-up. We told the doctor about the coughing and the choking incident. The doctor checked his breathing and looked down his throat and said that he seemed fine and that he didn’t think he needed medication. Obviously if the cough got worse he told us to bring him back. Jay now weighs 8kgs and is almost 70 centimeters tall. He had to have his 6-in-1 shot that day and he cried quite a bit. He was actually sleeping when they put him on my lap, but he started howling as soon as he felt the needle. Then he cried for a little while afterward. The doctor gave me some medication in case he got a fever, but he never did. He did struggle with his sleeping for the 2 or 3 days after the vaccine, though. Putting him to sleep at night was so difficult because he’d cry and scream. I’m not sure if it was teething, getting too hot or cold or just from the vaccination. Then during the night he’d wake up and start bawling again and he never does that.
Often when he drinks his bottle he likes to hold something so I usually just grab whatever is nearest. The other day I let him hold an empty Toblerone box. It was so funny because he fell asleep and for a few seconds his one hand was just straight up in the air holding the box.
We bought him a new pair of shoes that are more like indoor shoes. The sneakers that Stacy sent are too small now and the ones that Greg’s coworker gave us are too big. He wears the new ones inside sometimes to keep his feet extra warm and they are made of a soft fabric even though the base is like a soft plastic which is great because he can wear them when he is in the walker and the hair doesn’t all collect at the bottom. We also got him a pair of mittens because it’s gotten really cold and sometimes his whole body is snug and warm, but he still has these freezing cold little hands. He doesn’t know what to do when he has them on, though, and keeps waving them about like paddles. Then he puts them in his mouth and sucks them which means it’s time to take them off and put them away.
His favorite thing to do now is to lie on his stomach propped up on his elbows and scratch the floor with his fingernails and kick his feet. He likes to push his way to his toys so they are behind him and then he kicks them and does this over and over again. I think he likes the sound it makes. You have to watch him like a hawk when he is in his walker because he is so speedy in that thing now and touches everything in his path. The other day he got right up to the dog bed where Rusty sleeps and managed to grab hold of the blanket and then stuff it in his mouth. Eeew! Well, he has licked the bottom of a shoe, too, so I don’t think I should worry too much. It seems his body has no choice, but to develop a very strong immune system! Haha!
His favorite game at the moment is the “Rocco Game”. This means that you hold him, but keep quickly dropping down (whilst supporting him) so that he gets down onto Rocco’s level and is close(ish) to his face and you say, “Rocco!” loudly. He always laughs a lot and it’s so cute to watch. Stella got him this big jacket for Christmas. He’ll probably only fit into it next winter, but it’s got pockets shaped like paws and the hood is the face of a dog. It’s also black so I just unzipped it from the jacket and put it on my head and kept coming toward him saying “Rocco!” and he thought it was the funniest thing ever. Greg and I thought it was funny, too. Babies really can get you acting silly, that’s for sure.
The other day both Greg and I needed to get ready to go out so we put him in his walker. He marched around for a bit, but kept throwing his toys on the floor and then he’d get upset that he didn’t have anything and couldn’t reach anything new. So, Greg took that kickin’ bobbin’ gym we have and somehow attached it to the front of the walker. It looked so funny – liked we’d “pimped his ride” or something.
He tried yogurt for the first time on Tuesday and seemed to really enjoy it. I’ve got pumpkin and apple in the freezer for him and just take it out as necessary. I try to feed him something new each week, and around noon is when I feed him other kinds of solid food. For the other “meals” he has cereal, but then at noon I either give him pumpkin, apple, banana or yogurt. So far the banana has been his least favorite. On Thursday I cooked up some carrots and then pureed them and he really loved it. I thought maybe he’d find them to be a little bitter because the pumpkin is much sweeter, but he really gobbled them up. Actually preparing such healthy little meals for him has encouraged Greg and I to eat more vegetables as well. On Sunday we buy a whole lot and then I cook them all and freeze them in 5 bowls – one for each day of the week so that when we get home from work and feel hungry we eat veggies instead of toast or something. It’s pretty great, especially now that it’s winter and we don’t really feel like eating as much fruit as we used to. This week we had pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, peas (still in their pods), carrots and mung beans and we didn’t even add any salt or anything. Delicious!
Today I’m just spending time at home with Jay. He is having a nap in my arms right now, but I can feel him wriggling every now and then so I don’t think it’ll be long before he wakes up. Then I plan to put him in the baby room with his toys and sit on the mat with him while I do my school planning for the week ahead. That way I can take little breaks to play with him or give him new toys if I see he is getting bored or just let him sit between my legs while he plays. He can sit nicely, but still falls over so I never ever leave him sitting on his own. I always make sure I’m there. It happened once before when Greg was watching him. He just left him sitting to get the camera and take a photo. Jay fell backwards and banged his head. Lots of tears. That happened quite a long time ago, though, so maybe he would be able to break his fall somehow now, but still. I’d be okay leaving pillows or cushions behind him, but only for a very short time or if I’m right there.
Okay, let me be off.
Lots of love
Em x
(snippets from December 2009)