Since there are some benefits to being the second child, Jack got a cupcake celebration for his 1/2 birthday, mainly because we knew Max would love it (we were right, as seen below!)
A few days after Jack turned 6 months I decided he needed to learn how to fall asleep on his own. Before this the plan was he nurses to sleep, and I lower him slowly into the crib and hope for the best. More and more often the "best" was him waking up a little while later wondering where my boob was. The sleep training experience was anxiety inducing again, but not as terrible as it was with Max. Jack did not prove to have the flipping out stamina that Max had, thankfully. It was also nice that since I'm home with him during the day I was able to do naps at the same time, so he now can put himself to sleep at all times of day. This has resulted in a happier guy who is getting more sleep and a happier mom who doesn't spend hours every day just getting this kid to sleep.
Another huge 6 month milestone was starting to eat some solid food. We started giving him some oatmeal a few days before six months, and he was not a huge fan at first. I noticed quickly that he really enjoyed feeding himself. I had wanted to do baby led weaning with Max too, but the fear of choking made me too nervous to start his early. I was worried about it with Jack too but I pushed through and it turns out he just LOVES feeding himself so much. It's slightly easier for us too since we can all eat at the same time, although the clean up after may take as long as if we just fed him! So far he loves everything he has tried, so we are hopeful that he will be a better eater than his older brother. Some of his favorite foods so far include banana, peaches, sweet potato and broccoli. He also loves pizza, but what's not to love about pizza really?
Around 5-6 months I was trying to figure out if Jack had a milk protein allergy. I gave up dairy for a few weeks and was slowly adding it back in. The doctor basically just said to give Jack some dairy and see what happens. So far it seems like in small amounts he is okay but if I/he has a ton in one day it seems to make him spit up a lot the next day. Of course this is all just trial and error so we will be continuing to watch this. Luckily (fingers crossed), so far he hasn't had any other bad reactions and he's had eggs, peanut butter and a few other things that kids tend to be allergic to. Hopefully the dairy thing will get better as he gets older since it doesn't seem to be a full on allergy... we shall see.
As we moved more into 6.5 months, Jack learned how to sit up independently. Well, he may have been able to do it a few weeks before that but he just couldn't sit still long enough to sit. Even now he will sit for a bit, and then move into a crawling position and try to crawl. He can kind of scoot himself around right now so basically we have a mobile baby even though he's not full on crawling yet. I think watching Max he just really wants to GO!
Speaking of Max, he has become even more interested in Jack lately. He likes to give him hugs and play with him. He also likes to steal his toys. Interestingly, if Jack takes one of his toys, Max grabs it back immediately. It's so fun to watch them play and interact.
I may or may not have bought them some matching outfits for the summer. I just love these boys!
Likes: watching people (especially his brother and dad), eating, playing with toys, going for walks (either in the stroller or baby carrier- likes both), blowing raspberries
Dislikes: being tired, sitting still,
Eat: still not really on a schedule, usually eats around 7:30am, 11am, 3pm, and a few little snacks until 7:30pm his last feeding- solid food is TOTALLY random, just whenever we happen to be eating and he is awake and not otherwise involved in something else, lol #secondchildproblems
Sleep: 8pm to 6:30-7:30am, nap around 9am, 1pm and a cat nap later (or a normal nap later if one of those other naps were short because we were out)
We are looking forward to a fun summer together as a family. Hopefully Jack won't mind being dragged on many, many adventures!
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He is so cute! My favorite picture if the one of him on the boppy or whatever that round thing is, where he is grabbing his toes! He seems like such a sweet-natured, easy going baby (although I am sure he has his moments, like every baby does!). I imagine doing this a 2nd time really helps as you have less anxiety about what you are doing and know that things will just work out. I love that Max is such a sweet older brother to him and is interested in him! It will be fun to watch them grow up together. And I like the matching outfits!!
ReplyDeleteYou have such adorable kids! I think Jack looks a lot like you!! So glad the sleep training is working out as I'm sure that's been a HUGE relief for you and allowed you to get a lot more rest too!
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