The Brannan Life: Z at 6 months

There have been a lot of changes this month! First off, Jeff and I had a lengthy discussion about our lack of sleep. Some nights, Zachary would wake up every 2 hours. It's insane. During the day I feed him every 3 hours, so I decided a long time ago I wouldn't feed him any sooner than that at night. If he wakes, and everything is ok (meaning no spit up or diaper leakage or anything), then he has to wait until the 3 hour mark. So far, it's usually been ok. In discussing our parenting of the Z-man, we realized there was one glaring thing we hadn't tried…. a consistent wake time. I've been so tired that if it's 8am and everyone is still asleep, then so am I. However, we decided we needed to try waking him up at the same time every day in an attempt to regulate his body (we started that very early on with E & S, but hadn't yet done it with Z because of the craziness of life). We've always done a 3-hour routine (eat, change diaper, play, sleep) but not at the same time everyday. It always depended on when he woke up in the morning. Since we tried everything else, we thought we'd give this a whorl. And it really isn't bad. I get to start my morning slowly, with the big guys still asleep. So when they do wake up, I'm more awake and prepared to handle everyone.

We did this for three weeks, trying to be consistent and only had the wake time vary by 30 min or less. Then, magically after Thanksgiving HE DID IT! He started consistently sleeping through the night!! Not sure if it was the consistent wake time OR that he was just growing up…. whatever the reason, we'll take it! He also had a growth spurt in there, in which he relapsed a bit, but is back sleeping through the night.

So, in the week he turned 6 months, the following are the major changes that occurred (in this order):
1. Started sleeping through the night
2. Started eating lots of solid (well, mashed) food
3. Started dropping his 4th catnap of the day that he took around dinner time
4. Started drinking formula again

I specified the order so that we can't blame his sleeping through the night on food. I had been giving him oatmeal, but I forgot it when we went to Fresno for Thanksgiving. Thus, he only had breast milk for a few days and still he slept through the night.

Let me explain the rest…

After his 6 month appointment (at which he weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds), Doc said he needs to get different kinds of food and lots of it. So, I bought some veggies, roasted them, pureed them, and BAM! Baby food. He's had oatmeal, pears, peaches, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. So far, he likes it all. He makes a face the first few times you try to give it to him, but then he eats like a champ. He's getting better at eating too, with more of it ending up in his mouth than on his face now. I also like to put cut up fruit in those net-food-thingys (I have no idea what they are called, but Baby can sort of suck on it and the fruit squishes out the net, thus giving them food but not in big chunks for them to choke). That's been a lifesaver at meals. He can suck away on his pears while the rest of us eat. He gets a bit messy, but nothing a change of clothes and a quick wipe won't fix.

So, Z has never been a good sleeper (as you've probably gathered). His naps are inconsistent and his night time sleep was sporadic (past tense!!!). So, I've never really counted on him sleeping tons during the day. But when he started to not show signs of sleep around dinner time, I tried to have him stay up. He was fine. He got a bit tired, but went to bed for the night in the 7 o'clock hour.

And because of the above mentioned growth spurt, I gave him a bottle a few times, just seeing if he would take formula. He hasn't wanted to drink formula for a few months now. He drank it fine when he was teeny. But since it's so much easier NOT to use a pump and bottle, I didn't give him a bottle and formula on a regular basis. Thus, he refused it on a number of occasions and insisted on yelling about it (and even refused a bottle of breast milk a few times). So I wasn't holding my breath that this time it would work. But as in all things with Z, I was surprised. After making few faces, he drank like a champ. I'm not sure if it was because he was so hungry from the growth spurt or because he has tasted other foods now and his palate is broadening. Whatever the reason, I'm happy. I'm still nursing him, but will use formula in the middle of the night now if he needs to eat.

A few other noteworthy items:

Zachary likes to suck on his toes. It's hysterical and very loud. But he often gets his big toe in his mouth and goes to town.

He (sort of) became a hip rider this month! You know… when I can carry him on my hip instead of over my shoulder. He can totally do it, but for some reason, he always ends up leaning over and staring at the ground. He does that when he sits in his Bumbo chair too. I don't know why. Maybe he likes the look of our carpet.

He had a small fever for a few hours early in November. He had no other symptoms except the fever and fussiness. After giving him some meds, it never came back. Not sure what it was, but it's gone now.

Phew! That was a lot (and there are even a ton more pictures)! Zachary Ryan has never been a predictable child. God has used him to show me how much I don't have it all together and how much I need Him on a daily (hourly) basis. I'm so blessed that God chose to teach me this in such a handsome boy! What a great way to be humbled. =) I'm blessed to Zachary's mom and I pray (daily) that I am a good one to Zachary, Samuel, and Ethan.