So my little boy turned 6 months old on August 21st. What a milestone! Not only did Mason reach half a year but Clayton and I have been parents for half a year....crazy!
I still spend many moments staring at the little wonder and have realized that he's no longer a newborn (I know, funny me saying that when he's not that old) because he looks like a little man! He's still 'little' but very long and now that he's on the move, even more so. Mason's eczema has improved by this weekend and the rash is almost gone. We are 90% confident that it's heat related and now that the weather is a lot more cool, we shouldn't have any more flare-ups (we hope). Mason is fully stocked up on cream, aloe vera gel, baby oil gel, you name it! We are almost done the round of HC which is really drying out his skin. Our next Dr. appt is tomorrow so it's another round of shots and Mason gets weighed! As I know his weight is roughly around 15lbs, I am curious to see how long he is. I guess I could go get a measuring tape but I'll leave it for something to look forward to tomorrow. Lil Monkey is now eating 'solids' on a daily basis and has been enjoying the following:
So far he's liked everything and we look forward to trying new foods! I am still continuing to breast feed however my milk is more like a 'snack'.
Aside from food, Mason is continuing to learn how to crawl and is pretty much mobile by wiggling and rolling around. He just figured out how to 'rock' back and forth on all fours but has yet to figure out how to move forward! He also launches himself forward in this position, which is absolutely hilarious to watch.
Needless to say, gone are the days where he sits in one place. Mason can also sit on his bum for extended periods of time but still likes to flop backwards so we have to watch him a bit while he sits. I started to give him my hands to pull himself up in a sitting position but monkey decided to bypass that position and go right to standing. It's amazing the strength he has in his limbs. He can support his weight for quite a while with his arms. I make sure his feet are flat and that he only does it for a moment or two but he'd probably stay like that for as long as I'd let him. It's funny to see such a small baby stand on his feet!
As I've previously blogged, Mason was sleeping through the night at 4 months and along came the eczema and blew that out the door. I've started to research sleep habits etc a lot more and it seems common for good sleeping babies to cease at 4 months so by asking around I decided to contact a sleep consultant. We found one that we plan to go with and are just in the prelim stages, our consult will be scheduled soon. I know it involves saying goodbye to Mr. Binky so that should be interesting! I won't post who we decided to hire until we put her plan to the test. I've heard good things so I am excited to see results AND for Clayton and I to get some decent rest. Speaking of which, Clayton and I have modified our schedule to switch nights on the weekends. Clayton takes care of Mason from 9pm - 6am (like I do on the weekdays - he looks after Mason 6am-9am weekdays and after work) and I take over in the early morning. The pets are fed around 6am, I do the housework til 7:30ish when Mason wakes up. Masey has breakfast and then we take the puppy to the park. Sometimes Mason naps when we get home but today he's happily playing on the floor on his play mats. Clayton is still sleeping. I do plan to have a nap later on but I am surprised that I am so awake at this hour (I guess as a new parent, you are pretty much 'awake' around the clock!).
On Friday, Mason and I met up with Satri & baby Sienna for a play date at Confederation Park. Me and my Mommy brain thought our 'date' was at 1pm so I was an hour early and Hershey got the best deal of running around for a total of 2 hours. We walked around the track comparing notes and our experiences of being new Mums (Sienna is 3 months old) and had a great chat. We have plans to meet up again in the future.
I told myself that for the first 6 months, I'd let myself do whatever I wanted during the days with no guilt (sorta) and that meant if I was too tired to leave the house, it was okay to just stay in and do housework and watch court tv (lol) no, not great for fresh air but let's face it, the first six months are tough! So after Mason's birthday I resolved to make the most of the next six months as it'll be back to work before I know it! So that means getting busy (no, not that way) and get outside! I signed Mason up for Water Babies (hoping that his Eczema will tolerate the chlorine) in September and trying out a Gymboree Play & Learn class (the first class is free!) on Wednesday. I'm trying my best to find low cost/free things that we can do outside of the house but it's not easy!
We are now looking into daycares for next March and I was happy to find a great resource. If you are looking for a daycare in the Lower Mainland, visit Child Care Choices which allows you input your requirements and then they send you a personalized list via email. I received a list of ten daycares in our area however only one had a website but it looked really good so we are on their waiting list. No word on how many kids are ahead of us. Will need to sit down with Clayton and register for some back ups.
So to end this, Happy 'Birthday' to my little monkey who is finally growing more hair (blond!) and is cuter by the second. I never get sick of strangers telling us how cute Masey is (brag time!) and the girl at Chapters last night said he looked like 'one of those poster baby's'. Makes me proud :)
Side note - I just did a spell check (I can never spell eczema right, and Wordpress doesn't recognize 'blog, blogged or Wordpress' as a word). WEIRD!