"C" is for Child (cont.)

6 months

It's been a month already? Sheesh.  I've written a lot of posts in my head, but sadly none of them made it to print.  I can't miss Tully's monthly update though, so here goes.

6 month stats (WHO Charts)
Weight 17 lbs 6 oz (48%) (49% last month)
Height 27.5 in (85%) (73% last month)
Head 17.13 in (55%) (49% last month)

He's right on track, happy, and healthy, but for some reason our pediatrician is strongly encouraging weaning.  Um, hold up!  We are nowhere near ready to wean--we're just getting good at this!  So now we're on the hunt for a new pediatrician.  This reminds me of my decision to change from my Ob-Gyn to a midwife at 34 weeks pregnant.  Am I the only person that does this?  My whole life I've gone to regular doctors and never had a problem, but these issues seem to be deal-breakers.  So I called a pediatrician recommended to us by my Bradley childbirth class instructor.  Unfortunately Dr. Ross is only taking maternity/newborn cases.  Boo.  My next thought was to see if my lactation consultant had a good recommendation.  I didn't realize she was in the same building with Dr. Ross, but she's offered to see if he'd make an exception and take Tully as a patient.  Fingers crossed! (Update: Dr. Ross took Tully as a patient!  My lactation consultant is truly an angel.)

While I've been busy worrying about which doctor we'll see, Tully's been busy with the following:

• Army crawling 
• Teething
• Laughing
• Grabbing everything and putting it in his mouth
• Babbling, especially when he first wakes up
• Playing and laughing at himself in the mirror (this never gets old)
• Continuing to wake up every 3 hrs or so at night
• Enjoying watching cars/trucks/buses/people

Here is his army crawl in action.  Check out the old man hair in the back too.

He got his first tooth while we were in DC in September, and the second one came in a week later.  And based on the lack of sleep we're all getting, I'm guessing #3 is going to appear any day now.  For the most part, Tully is a trooper with this whole teething business, but sometimes I can tell they really hurt him.  Poor baby!

Look, Ma, two teeth! And yes, he is standing in his crib.  Time to lower...again.
Oh, and see his little birthmark on his middle finger?  It's a dark spot where a ring would be.

We get the best laughs out of Tully when we hold him out in front of us, facing the ground and chase Zach around in the front yard.  I need to get a video of this, but he thinks chasing Zach is the most hilarious thing in the whole world.  He also went crazy babbling and squealing when he would wait on me at the top of the metro escalator on a recent trip to DC.  He LOVED the buses, cars, trucks, horns, and people.  I've never seen him so excited.  He had a great week with Grammy while I got work done in the office.  He even came to the office to visit me one day.  The only downside was the RIDICULOUS amount of luggage required to travel with a baby.

This was the luggage for all three of us, but still...that red bag on top of the black suitcase was dedicated to only diapers.  I used to travel to DC for a week with only the green suitcase and a purse that was large enough to carry my laptop.  (L to R) We had a large suitcase, small duffel with diapers, a roller-board carry-on, cooler with milk, carry-on for under the seat, infant carrier, and stroller.  In addition to all of that, I carried the baby.  Thank goodness Grammy was traveling with us!  We never would have made it.

Of all the stories I can think of from DC, the one that stands out the most was when "momma bear" came out on the plane ride home.  Tully and I were intentionally the last ones to board the plane, so Grammy had all the bags put away, and as soon as we sat down the plane took off.  As planned, Tully immediately nursed to sleep and was resting quietly in my arms.  Next thing I know he's jumping out of his skin because the lady in our row is opening her heavy duty double velcro bag.  Repeatedly.  Like 10 times repeatedly.   She would get out a pen and then put it back.  Get out chapstick, put it back.  Same for her ginger chews (two of them), magazines, kindle, cell phone, notepad, pen (again), and finally another ginger chew.  Tully woke up each time but luckily settled back to sleep for the most part.  My mom and I looked at each other like, "You've GOT to be kidding me."  I said to my mom, "If she does it one more time, I will say something."  Sure enough...RIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP!  I politely leaned forward and told the lady my baby was being so good and quiet, and asked her if she knew that each time she opened her bag, it was startling him.  Maybe she didn't know, right?  She looked at me with the most pathetic, snotty look I've ever seen and said in a high-pitched voice, "Well, I don't know what to do!"  I informed her that she could get everything out she needed the first time or not get it out at all.  (Hear my momma bear roar?)  She quietly put her bag down, left it open, and didn't make much noise the rest of the flight.  I don't expect complete silence on an airplane.  I mean, c'mon, you've heard the flight attendant announcements, right?  Tully is a champ at sleeping through most of those, but the velcro was just too much.

Read about Tully's other DC adventures with Grammy here:


Day 1 - New tooth, hotel room, and stroller rides
Day 2 - Bethesda Row adventure (Mmmm....cookies!)
Day 3 - Laundry day and tour of Bethesda in pajamas
Day 4 - Tully visits NRC, rides the metro and meets Ms. Virginia
Day 5 - Strolling in the rain
Last Day  - Grammy's version of the snooty velcro lady

Once we made it back home, we got into our regular routine again, and we introduced Tully to apples.  We're doing a "Baby Led Weaning" approach to introducing solids.  This was the first time he showed real interest in solid food, and it was pretty funny when he was smelling the apples.  Near the end of this clip, he actually gets some juice in his nose, and you can see his sour face.  This continued for about 20 minutes, which is an eternity on Tully Time. 

We've also tried bananas, which have been hit or miss.  The little net nubby thing keeps the mess to a minimum, but sometimes we just let him go at it and paint his high chair tray with food.  He also grabbed a baby carrot from my plate this week and enjoyed chewing on it.  Carrots aren't exactly on the top 5 list of first foods to introduce, but they're still a "whole food" so I figure I'll let him eat them.  Avocados aren't in season right now anyway, and we never have pears because I don't like them.  Here is a good website I've used for Baby Led Weaning: Momtastic.  The site lists readiness signs and gives good ideas for introducing solids, which are mainly fruits and veggies.  If you're interested in skipping puréed food and spoon-feeding, check it out!

Tully has also really gotten into jumping in his jumperoo.  He's always liked this thing, but he's recently taken it to a whole new level.

For comparison, this was Tully in the same jumperoo a couple months ago.

Time flies when you're having fun!

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