Doctor Hankenstein- A Double Feature

Hank-Five Months Old:

Five month old Hank took a trip with us to California.  Hopefully someday I can blog all about that trip but for now let me just say that the sweet California air turned my baby into the best sleeper ever.  Never mind that it took us over 16 hours to drive an 11 hour trip.  He was awesome once we got there.  He would sleep a good 8-10 hour stretch every night.  I don't know if it was because we were constantly on the go and he was just totally exhausted, or if it was the later bedtime, or if I managed to feed him more during the days, or some other factor, but I got more sleep there than I had in the last five months.  A couple days after returning home he started to wake up all night again.  I realized I had to limit his nap time during the day and put him to bed a little later.  That has helped quite a bit, but it's still not as good as Cali.

His bottom two teeth finally poked out right after the trip.  They came on the same day, July 10.  He was super happy and not fussy for about a week and then I think he started "teething" again.

I started feeding him solids this month.  He had started to become impossible to nurse at some point after our vacation.  He would try but then get so miserable.  Come to find out all he needed was a dosage increase for his reflux meds.  But, the point is, I started solids when he wasn't nursing well so I think he was super hungry.  I pureed some sweet potatoes for him and he scarfed them down like he'd been eating for months.  I had to cut him off after a good quarter cup.

At about 5 1/2 months a friend asked me if he could sit up yet.  I said no, and thought he was simply too young for that.  After all, I had never even TRIED to see if he could sit on his own.  That's what happens when you're too busy taking care of other kids.  You forget when babies should do things and completely forget to help them develop.  So after she asked me that I thought I may as well try it.  Turns out he could sit perfectly.  I think his chubbiness gave him a really wide base because he just sits like a rock.  At his doctor's appointment the day before he turned six months even the doctor said he was really surprised with how well he was sitting.  Oh, the things we can be proud of as parents.

I'm not sure what else he started doing at five months old but I think he started rolling more purposefully to get to places, and maybe he started scooting backwards a bit. Oh, and he likes to chew on his feet.

Hank-Six Months Old:

At his six month check up he weighed 19 lb. 7 oz., which was around the 80-85 percentile.  So, big, but not enormous.  His height, however, they said was only in the 40th percentile.  So that could explain his cankles, luscious rolls and deep creases I can't quite keep clean.

This month I realized he could sit up in grocery carts and the bath tub.  We put away lots of newborn baby type stuff like the baby bath, activity mats, and a bumbo seat, and I started to get really excited for the older baby stage.

And since he was seeming like an older baby all of a sudden I decided it was time to break him of his various sleep crutches.  First I went cold turkey from the swing to the crib.  He was still swaddled like a straight jacket though.  He cried, but I went in every ten minutes and picked him up and calmed him down.  Then laid him down again.  The crying only lasted a few nights, and then he was back to waking up as often as he did with the swing (2-3 times a night).  I wasn't sure if I was imagining it but I felt like I could tell Hank was wanting to be able to move around at night instead of being swaddled.  So I went cold turkey with that too.  He did much better than the first time I attempted it a couple months prior.  It helped that he could quickly roll onto his tummy, which is how he likes to sleep.  So there was some crying for a couple nights, but not too bad.  And now he wakes up to eat about twice a night.  He wakes up at other times too but is able to go back to sleep.  I know this because he's in our bedroom and he pushes up on his hands and stares at us through his crib bars.  I'm usually too afraid to breathe until he eventually lays his head back down and goes to sleep.

I kiss him all the time and tell him how happy I am that he's in our family.  He's the best.  And he doesn't even mind being the kids' plaything.

Lots of babies kick their feet when they get excited but Hank flaps his arms up and down.  I hesitate to use the word flap because I'm afraid you'll think his arms are loosely flapping around to his sides. But it's a very forceful, straight-armed, up and down movement right out in front of his body.  It's pretty funny. It's exactly like a dog wagging it's tail.

He gets really excited to see Matt come home from work.  So immediately he starts wagging his arms and smiling.  Then, a lot of times, if Matt has to walk out of the room after greeting him, Hank will look around frantically then start crying.  He's usually in this table chair when Matt comes home.

At six months he started rocking on his hand and knees.  He's a bit more graceful about getting out of the sitting position.  And he's better at using a combination of scooting backwards and rolling to get to where he wants to go.

Hank is such a happy chap.  He is my laughiest baby from what I can remember.  Here he thought throwing and catching a ball was HILARIOUS.



Love him!