Culhane McGeever! You turned 6 months old yesterday! You’re first ever half-birthday!

Colt developments: Handsome love, you continue to grow so beautifully. This month you have amazed your parents and many family members with your ability to grab things (and usually stick them in your mouth) and swat at things that are bothering you (i.e. me trying to get boogies out of your nose). You’re such a strong little man and you continue to enjoy standing up tall. If we stand you up beside a coffee table or something that you can grab on to, then you can hold yourself up for a few seconds. You can also sit up on your own very well these days. You topple over eventually but have gotten a lot better at keeping your balance. You are still not crawling but you do move around on your tummy, scooting and rolling around.

You are such a sweet, calm and happy little guy. You love peek-a-boo and patty-cake (especially your dad’s special version) and we have figured out that the easiest time to make you laugh is in the evenings when you’re tired. It’s totally the laugh before the cry, but your laugh is so sweet we just cherish every second.

You have been traveling all over the place this month and you’ve been a total star through it all. That being said, you have seemed a little more like a mama’s-boy this month. A couple of times over the holidays you got slightly overwhelmed in big groups and would cry if others tried to hold you. And even at random times too, I notice you being fussier for others and needing me more. I think it’s a normal phase to go through and we just continue to take you everywhere and pass you around, so I’m not worried about it. And even though I think I’m the most comforting to you, your dad is definitely your favorite person and gets the most smiles and giggles from you.

Health: I’m so thankful that you continue to be perfectly healthy. What an incredible blessing. We haven’t weighed you since last month but you’re definitely gaining (I’m guessing around 16.5 lbs) and you seem a lot taller to me these days. Earlier in the month you developed a little rash around your mouth due to all of the slobbering / putting everything in your mouth, but a simple cream from our doctor cleared it up in no time. Lately though, I’ve noticed that you’re getting little red marks on some of your fingers from gnawing on them so much! Be nice to yourself, sweet one!

Eating: For the past month we have been nursing 5 times/day and trying juices/solids when we can, once or twice / day in between feedings. I was originally planning on exclusively nursing for the first 6 months, but we decided to start introducing other foods at 5 months just to get you used to new tastes, textures, etc. We have tried freshly mashed (or small chunks of) mango, banana, strawberry, blueberry, orange and avocado, and, since we’ve been in the US we’ve tried some of the pre-made stuff. We have done freshly squeezed blood-orange juice which you liked but so far that’s been the only juice that you would take. We did rice-cereal once and it seemed to make you a little gassy, but we’ll revisit that again soon. I can’t say that you clearly love or hate anything though, since you generally just seem confused, but maybe you like bananas and berries the best. And you like gnawing on orange slices. It’s funny because when you eat, it takes a while, it’s a mess and doesn’t seem like you’re getting THAT much, but it has definitely changed your system — both in regularity and output — you’re turning into a little stinker!

Sleeping: Earlier in the month you were doing a little too much waking throughout the night, so we started letting you CIO (“cry-it-out”) both to fall asleep and in the middle of the night and I think it was definitely in everyone’s best interest. We also stopped swaddling you this month. We quit cold-turkey and switched the swaddle for a sleep-sack. Although it was tricky for a couple of days, you adjusted pretty quickly and it’s so funny to watch you move in your sleep now! You usually sleep on your side and often end up spinning around all over the place.

You have been an amazing sleeper on all of our flights and you instantly adjusted to South Carolina’s 3 hour time-change, staying right on schedule. We had a harder time when we arrived in Phoenix and it took us a while longer to get you on track. I think part of the problem is that we kept trying to have you sleep in your dad’s old cradle that your Nana had all redone (it is just so beautiful!), but you move too much now and would constantly wake yourself up! After a couple of days we moved you out of our room and into a pack-n-play and you did much better!

Schedule: We changed it a little right after your turned 5 months to eliminate your last nap so that you go to bed earlier. Right now, our (ideal) schedule is basically:

7:30 am Wake, feed & change, followed by play time.
9:30-11:30 Big Nap.
11:30 am Feed & change, followed by play time.
1:30-2:15 Little Nap.
2:15 pm Feed & change, followed by play time.
4:00-5:30 Big Nap.
5:30 pm Feed & change, followed by play time.  NO NAP!
7:45 pm Feed, change and get ready for bed.
8:45 pm Bed time! Down for the night.

I like to get you out of the house at least once and if it’s nice enough to have you play outside then that’s even better. Still giving you a bath every day too.

Mama: Nothing new with me. I’m always wanting to freeze time but then loving the next day even more. It’s so fun getting to know you and your sweet personality.

Thoughts: What a special month this has been, Culhane! It was such a joy to bring you to South Carolina and Arizona and introduce you to so many friends and family members who were just waiting to meet you. Your dad and I have felt blessed beyond measure to witness so much love poured out on you.