Grady- 6 Months

Grady in the 12 month onesie

Grady next to his birth length golf club

6 Month Grady & Layla picture

Grady @ 6 Months

Weight: 20lb 2oz (90th percentile)

Height:  26 inches (25th percentile)

Clothes: Grady is in a mix of 6-9 month, 9 month and 6-12 month clothes right now.

Diapers:  Still cloth during the day and disposable at night.  We have found that for trips overnight, cloth is tough so disposable is what works best for us in those situations.  Grady is in a size 3 disposable diaper.  He should definitely be in the 4's but Ryan accidentally bought a HUGE case of 3's so we are trying to get through those first. 

Sleep:  Grady is a very consistent rough sleeper....like how I put that??  He is up multiple times during the night.  On a good night, he wakes up to eat 2-3 times and then goes back down.  On a bad night, he is up and will not go back to sleep.  Those nights are really tough.  Layla was such a good sleeper that this is so different for me.  I am thinking that the early teething has a little to do with it and the rest is just Grady.  He does nap pretty well during the day.  He takes 2-3 naps, depending on what time he is up for the day.  Grady is sleeping in his crib at night and is still in the rock-and-play for naps.  I need to work on naps in the crib.  Maybe by month 7!!

Eating: Grady started food!  We are offering him both pureed foods and finger foods.  His doctor is not a big fan of rice cereal (it can be a bit binding on baby bellies) and is a huge advocate of finger foods (tiny pieces of sweet potato, avocado, banana, etc) from the beginning.  I know it is a completely different way of feeding a baby, but for Layla it worked really well.  She was a good eater and developed a nice pincer grasp from self-feeding.  We are offering both options, pureed and solids, so we will see what Grady takes to better.

 Likes: Grady loves kicking on the ground, having his diaper changed, baths, being held, playing peek-a-boo, his big sis and teething toys.

Layla is always a good helper during the monthly pictures.  She is my smile assistant.  She can get Grady to smile very easily!

Dislikes: He really does not like being set down in the evenings.  He also can be a bit of a unhappy camper in the car.  I am hoping this will diminish once his Doc Band is put away in the memory box.  He was much better in the car pre-helmet.  Grady had a big dislike day today.  He cut his 2nd tooth and received four shots, it was a rough day for a six month old.

New tricks: Sitting up (with a toy in front of him he does really well), eating solids, started a sippy cup, sleeping in his crib, reaching arms out to be held, growing teeth (two now!) and rolling from back to front

Doc Band update:  We were told last week that Grady has only three weeks (which really means three weeks of head growth) left in the band.  I know he has only been in the band for five weeks, but I am very ready to be done with it.  Honestly though, the whole process has not been that bad.  The toughest part has been regulating Grady's body temperature.  The Doc Band tends to warm up the entire body and Grady gets little hot flashes.  You will often find him in minimal clothing, especially for long car rides (lots of Baby Legs!!).  His head looks great and very improved, it is pretty amazing how it has improved with the Doc Band on.  I am very anxious see Grady's face again all of the time.  I cherish his hour out of the band a day and the pictures we have of Grady out of the band.  It is always a shock to me when I see Grady across the room or when I see pictures of him without his helmet on.  Grady looks so different and pretty smushed in the band.  I know it is just temporary and that things could be much, much worse but I am still ready to say "sayonara" to the Doc Band. 

A half a year already.  I cannot believe it. 

Happy 6 months to our sweet Grady!