Dear Gabriel,
Somehow, you are already 6 months old!! That is simply
unbelievable!
This month has been full of changes for you. Right around
Thanksgiving, you added consonant sounds to your repertoire. Now you babble all
the time and make sounds that I know will be recognizable words in the near
future. Something about hearing you make syllables has turned you into more of
a little boy in my eyes, instead of a baby.
We also did some sleep training with you right after
Thanksgiving. Your dad and I decided that it was time to get you into a good
routine for bedtime and to try to get more sleep for ourselves. We decided on a
bedtime routine so that we could help you learn your sleep cues. We start with
a bottle (so that bedtime isn’t dependent on mommy to nurse you), take a bath,
get on pajamas, read a book, turn out the light to sing a song or two, and then
put you in your bed awake. We also decided (with back-up from your
pediatrician) that you were old enough and weighed enough that you did not need
to eat overnight.
We did a progressive waiting method of sleep-training that
meant you did have to do some crying for a few nights. That first night was
kind of difficult for all three of us (and probably the cats, too), but it was
not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Within 4 nights, you were consistently
sleeping 8 straight hours a night. You’re eating enough during the day to get
you through 8 or 9 hours of sleep, and you very rarely cry when we first put
you down in your crib. I am so proud of you for doing this so quickly.
To continue talking about food…you must have hit a growth spurt
in the last couple of weeks. Last month you graduated from 15 ounces at daycare
to 18 ounces. Then in the last couple of weeks, you were drinking more and
more. There were a few days in a row when you drank 30 ounces or more. I was
not sure I could pump enough to keep up with your intake! I figured we needed
to focus on spoon foods more so that you could start getting some of your
calories from something other than breast milk. So, we made a stronger effort
to get you eating oatmeal and fruits and vegetables in the evening and you
finally took to it.
You had been introduced to pretty much all the single food
baby foods, so I told Elizabeth to start feeding you solids at daycare. You eat
really well for her! And you have decreased your milk intake to about 20 ounces
per day while with her. This is a much easier goal for me to keep up with. I
think I’ll keep pumping as much as I can so that maybe we can build up a store
in the deep freeze in case my ability to make milk for you wanes sooner than I
want it to.
Right now we really only nurse in the morning when you wake
me around 5 am. I pull you into the recliner and we nurse, sleep, and cuddle
for a while until it’s time to get up. I really like that I still get a little
bit of cuddle time with you everyday. I’m glad I don’t have to sleep with you
on me or right next to me for most of the night, but I would miss having a
little special time with you each day.
Your personality is developing more and more each day. You
are adjusting more and more to playing by yourself, or at least not needing us
to hold you all the time. You play in the jumperoo or on the floor mat for a
bit each day. I keep trying to put you on your stomach. You will often roll
over onto your back. I still have not seen you roll from back to front. Silly
boy. We’ve been trying to practice sitting up, but you still lack the control
to hold yourself for longer than a second or two. You reach for things and
bring them to your mouth pretty easily. Sometimes you help me bring the spoon
to your mouth. You’re such a good helper.
I can often tell what you need by the type of fussing or
crying you’re doing. You were fussing the other day and I could tell it was
your tired cry. I can tell when you’re about to lose your grip and blow your
lid, so I can either scoop you up or brace myself for the wailing. You actually
don’t scream very much. You manipulate us by fussing just enough that we’ll
pick you up. Then you immediately stop the crying and smile. You pretty much
have us trained. We’re working on it.
You are this incredible being. You smile and laugh. You
study things intently. You watch people’s faces and try to be part of the
conversation. You recently got very interested in the cats…you follow them
across the room with your eyes and you reach out to pet them when they come
near you. Oh, and you sometimes reach your arms up toward me to get you out of
the jumperoo or the high chair. I love seeing you reach for me.
Everyday your dad and I turn to each other and say how much
we love you. It’s not always easy being a parent because you have to wake up
when you don’t want to and you have to deal with dirty diapers and crying and
whatnot, but the joy that comes from having you in our lives outweighs all of
that by so much. So much
I love you,
mama
