This post is loooong overdue, but here I am to report on Victor's 5th and 6th month of life (so up 'til he turned 7 months on Sept 26th...I know, it's confusing for me too!)  These past 2 months have gone by so fast, and a lot of things happened with him, so I'm sure I will forget something but it's important that I try to at least document the major milestones of this little bébé's life.  So here we go, August and September, according to Victor Emmanuel:

*Stats: Weight at 6 months: 14lbs, 12oz. Height: 28 inches. Weight at 7 months: 16lbs, 2oz. Height: 29.25 inches. Wearing everything from 0-3 month shirts to 12 month PJs and pants.

*Sleeping: Well, this has been all over the place in the past couple of months. He's gone from sleeping through the night a few nights in a row (8pm-7am kind of thing), to waking up every 2 hours like a newborn.  It's been hard!  On average I would say that he wakes up twice a night to eat. His bedtime falls between 7:30 and 8:30pm (now that it's getting darker it's been getting earlier), and he's been waking up on average at 7:30am, right when Dan needs to get up to go to work, which is good. He will nap about 2 hours after he wakes up in the morning for an hour (no more than 2 usually), then will sometimes nap in the afternoon, though not always.  He's not a big day sleeper at all!  Which makes it hard for me to get things done, but since he goes to bed relatively early I still have time in the evening to clean up from the day.

Having a nap with Papa...

*Eating: There has been major progress in the eating department these past few months, since he's now eating solids! I started him on them the first week in August (he was 5 months and 1 week). Just a bit of cereal to start, but then I started introducing veggies and fruit, and now we're on a steady schedule of introducing new things and getting into the routine of eating!  It's been one of the most fun things so far, and I'm trying not to stress about it, which has helped in the enjoyment of just watching him learn to eat.  He has had quite a few things so far, including oatmeal cereal, banana, apple, pears, prunes, sweet potato, squash, green and yellow beans, peas, carrots, beef, chicken, arrowroot cookies (via my mom), graham crackers (via me), baby Mum mums, avocado, peaches, and even a potato chip! haha. He definitely has favourites (prefers veggies to fruit oddly, and really likes meat mixed with sweet potatoes or squash), but for the most part he's a good eater. I've been making most of his food in the food processor, which has been fun and not too difficult, I just make a large enough batch to last him 2-3 weeks (which isn't a lot since he only eats one ice cube-sized portion of each thing).  He's had the jarred stuff too but he prefers what I make; I think it might be that he's used to thicker lumpier food, the jarred stuff is too runny I think.  He likes to play with his food of course, which can be messy but I try not to limit him too much since I know it's part of the learning.  He's also using a sippy cup to drink his water at meals, which is nice (and messy!)  Overall though it's been going really well and I can't wait until he can eat more 'normal foods' with us.

Trying cereal for the first time...

Mmm, banana...

Getting the hang of this eating thing...

*Breastfeeding: Still feeding about every 3-4 hours, but after we got back from BC I

started introducing a bottle of formula into his feedings since I needed a break, especially at night. I'll be honest, I don't love breastfeeding one little bit, but my goal is to keep doing it until the end of the year and then see what happens.  I still find it easier than making bottles and all that jazz, but I'm definitely ready for this stage of his baby-hood to be over.

*Travel: At the end of August Victor and I went to my friend Heather's wedding  in Kelowna, British Columbia...on the other side of the country.  I was pretty nervous about flying and travelling a 12-hour day with Victor but for the most part he did really really well.  People said he was a 'pleasant' baby and with the exception of a few minutes here and there, he didn't cry on the planes.  He didn't sleep much either (maybe only 1.5 hours on a 5 hour flight), but he was content to look around and play and eat.  My arms were dead by the end of the day though! Next time I will definitely use my carrier more.  He was also really good once we got out there, friendly with everyone (thank goodness since I had to be off doing things without him quite a bit!), he was so go-with-the-flow, it couldn't have gone better really.  Plus we had a great time :) (And now Victor has travelled just as much as his dad! haha)

Chillin' in the Okanagan...

With the beautiful bride...

*Movement: Another big step for Victor this past month...he learned to crawl! Albeit it's commando crawling on his belly, but still, he can move! It happened shortly after we got home from BC, he just rolled and started to drag himself across the floor using his arms, then he started using one leg (just one), and now he's even attempting to get up on his knees from time to time (though he can't crawl on them yet). Now that he can move though it's so much better for everyone, before he would get so angry being on the ground because he couldn't move, so he always wanted to be in your arms, but now he can play and explore on his own, it's so much better! The downside is that we have to be more careful (he fell off the bed a week or so after learning to crawl, I was in the kitchen for a moment and heard a thud...he was ok though.  Anyway, now he's all over and it's very fun for everyone!  He still loves to stand though and is slowly learning to stand leaning against furniture, and taking steps with our help...I don't think it will be long before he walks.

Hanging out by the computer...

He has learned how to escape his chair...oh boy.

Trying to let us know he wants out...

Teeth: Oh, the joys of teeth.  All those months of drooling finally lead to 2 little bottom chompers popping their way up through his gums (in two weeks, poor kid!) I have no idea if the necklace we bought him works or not, but he didn't have a fever or seem super irritable during the breakthroughs, just a bit fussier and restless during the night, so maybe it is working.  He looked kind of silly with just one but now that he has two he looks quite cute :)

Routine: We're finally starting to get a routine down now that Dan is back to work (started in September). We wake up, he nurses, then plays for a couple of hours while I check the computer, then goes back to bed (sometimes I try to get him to eat some cereal before he goes down), then he wakes up and we get dressed and have some lunch, then we have the afternoon to do pretty much what we want.  I try to get out for a walk at around 3pm, usually to my mom's place, then come home in time to make supper for Dan (like I mentioned above, sometimes he'll nap in the afternoon but sometimes not.) Once Dan gets home then we have supper, he plays for a bit, then a bath (if bath night), PJs, a bit more play, then a bottle of formula and bed.  It's nice to know what to expect now, I can try to plan my days a bit better because of it.

Random fact: We cut his 'wisps' of hair off in September, they were getting crazy long...and I admit it was a teeny bit sad (I kept them in an envelope).

Activities: We took Victor to a few things in August and September, including a trip to the zoo and the Balloon Fiesta.  We also try to go to Musical Moments at the resource centre on Mondays and usually have 1 play date a week with his buddy Eli.  Then there are walks with my mom 2 or 3 times a week, the occasional visit to my sister's...we're not super busy, but I like it that way.  Dan and I also had our first night away from Victor for our anniversary in September and he handled it really well.  He has been to my mom's, Daphné's and Sara's a few times for a couple of hours without me and I think enjoys the change of scenery.

At the zoo with Papa...

At the Balloon Fiesta with Papa...

Personality: Up until Victor turned 6 months (from 4.5-6 months I'd say), he was super friendly with everyone and quite independent.  This was a huge blessing when it came to our travels out West because otherwise I would have been exhausted and wouldn't have been able to do everything I wanted to do.  But pretty much as soon as we returned home from BC, the classic 'object permanence symdrome' kicked in and we couldn't be out of his sight and he couldn't be out of our arms.  It has gotten better since then, but he's still quite attached to us and prefers to be near us all the time. If we're on the computer he crawls over to see us and if we leave the room he whines a bit.  I suppose it's not a bad thing, it's just tiring when he always wants to be touching you and crawling up your legs and in your arms...oh well.  Besides that he has become much more 'talkative', his favourites words being 'adadadada' and 'oooh'.  He babbles with us quite a bit, it's cute.   He's very curious about everything around him, still startles easily at loud sounds or sudden movements, is still a bit wary of strangers (but recognizes and enjoys the people he knows), has developed a 'whine' which can drive me a bit nuts, and smiles almost every time you look at him and loves to laugh.  Overall, still a happy baby :)

A 'happy' photo on a particularly rough day...

Our handsome boy...

I can just imagine how the next few months are going to fly by (he actually turns 8 months in a couple of weeks!), but I am going to really try and stay on top of his updates and remember all his milestones, because he seems to be doing something new almost every day.  Sometimes I miss the simpler days of when he was small and all we needed to do was hold him to keep him happy, but for the most part I'm really enjoying this older baby phase and all the fun/challenges that come along with it.

Until next time,

G.

(And I know this post is insanely long and won't be interesting to anyone besides me and maybe some family, so I apologize for adding another useless post to your Google Readers! haha)

Flynn Family-September 2010