Six Months Old!

I cannot believe it has been 6 months since this little guy joined our family.  This past six months has flown by, but it seems like Clayton has always been here too.

His stats:

weight: 16 lbs, 13 oz (about 35th percentile)

length: 25 1/2 inches (about 20th percentile)

head: 42.5 cm (about 20th percentile)

Just some updates on what he's up to these days (since I'm pretty sure I haven't done that very much yet)...

-He's sleeping at night!  This is a huge improvement and I am so happy about it.  We've been working on it for about two weeks now.  On day 3 of letting him cry it out I thought we'd had a breakthrough and were home free...for the next week he told me otherwise.  Just when I was ready to give up (after spending the entire night laying in bed listening to him cry and wondering if he'd ever stop) we had a great success the next day.  Since then (the past 5-6 nights) he's done well.  He goes down around 7:15 without much fuss.  He may wake up and cry for a few minutes around 10 but goes back to sleep by himself, and then he usually wakes up and I feed him around midnight and then around 4 am.  Yes, he could probably go longer but I am happy with this progress.  Now to work on naps... He only naps for 45 minutes max unless I'm napping with him.  Sounds familiar? Yes, Jackson did the same thing.

-He's sitting up!  As of today.  Just this past week he's been getting better.  Fewer faceplants and flops lately.  But he's doing really well now...he can sit for 10-15 minutes and play and catches his balance if he starts to lean too much.  I love this stage---happy because they can play easily but not yet moving around and getting into things.

-He hasn't rolled over yet, though he's close.  He gets to his side and gets his lower body over, but that arm gets in the way every time.

-He loves his big brother.  He gets so excited and smiles & laughs when Jackson talks to him.  Jackson is great at giving him hugs, putting his soother back in, and telling him, "It's ok, baby.  You're ok Clayton" when he's upset.  It is really fun to watch them interact and I hope they continue to be great friends.

-He's eaten solids a few times but I haven't been all that consistent in giving it to him.  I blame this partially on the napping issues.  He doesn't have the patience to eat food if he's overtired.  But if he's not too tired or too hungry he enjoys the rice cereal.  He's gummed on watermelon and raw carrots, celery, and apples before and likes that.

-He likes his dad and gives him some pretty good smiles.

-He knows and will let you know that he knows when he's not in his mom's presence.  Apparently he's a momma's boy.

-He loves to jump in his jumparoo most of the time but he likes to have someone else in the room with him too.

-He likes the bath and enjoys splashing and playing in there especially when big brother is in there with him. I can't let him play in there too long though because it dries out his sensitive skin.

-His skin is sooo much better than it was a few months ago.  The excema still is an issue so I try to remember to slather him in vaseline once or twice a day and use hydrocortizone cream or his prescription on him when he needs it.  Mostly he has rough spots on his tummy and legs and red itchy patches on his head.  The impetigo is gone and he's looking so much better.

-He went through a phase for a few weeks where he didn't like being in his car seat but that passed, fortunately.

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