Half a Year

Growth

• 16 lbs 4 oz (25%), 26.5 in (45%), 42.5 cm (25%)
• Clothing: Mostly 6 months, some 3-6
• Diaper size: 2
• Can briefly sit up
• Has 2 teeth coming in

Likes

• Being thrown in the air
• Music
• Sleeping on his stomach (who is this kid?)
• Swinging
• Bananas, sweet potatoes, yogurt and cheese

Dislikes

• Not wearing his band (read more below)
• Waking up on his stomach, it's a love-hate thing
• Being woken up
• Purees and broccoli

General

Dan's company throws a party mid-busy season party every year and this year it was at Billy Bob's. I had never been there before and just thought it was a huge concert hall with bars. As I've learned time and time again, the saying is true, everything is bigger in Texas. It has a concert hall, multiple dance floors, probably 10 bars, arcades, billiards, fun exhibits to look at, party rooms and live bull riding at night. They catered lunch in our room and then we had a country dancing lesson. It was a blast!

It was a family party so Brooks came along and was loved by everyone. About an hour in he was getting pretty ansy but Dan just held him as we were line dancing and he fell asleep! I thought it was hilarious. I took a video on insta but forgot to save it, oops! We had such a fun time, good food and good friends.

Brooks favorite toys are things that aren't toys (water bottles, empty boxes, plastic cups) and he was all over the plastic shot glasses because they were just his size. He kept dropping them so I went to grab his bink. In all my coordinated glory I spilled my soda directly on my purse while I was trying to get it. I wasn't even holding him at that time, I'm just that awesome. The waitress tending to our room was so sweet and helped my clean my purse and shoes off so they wouldn't get sticky.

Breastfeeding

I can't believe I've been breastfeeding for 6 months. Lately we've run into 2 snags. The first is nursing and the helmet. When I take his helmet off in the evening he likes to rub his head on everything. So nursing him before bed is difficult because when I lay him down he's too focused on rubbing his head on the pillow. Which also plays into the second snag, distracted nursing.

I mentioned this in his 5 month update but it's gotten worse. I'm trying to feed him as often as I can because it's 5 minutes (if I'm lucky) and then SQUIRREL! Once he's unlatched there's nothing I can do to get him to refocus on eating. It's off to the next adventure. If Dan's in the room, there's NO WAY I'll get him to nurse. Dad is too cool. He still loves eating when I get him to eat but everything else is just too exciting.

Not breastfeeding, but in other food news Brooks has tried some food! The faces he pulls are hilarious. We're just tasting and playing with new textures. He mostly just gags and loves playing with the spoon. I'm not doing any specific way- strictly baby led weaning or purees. We're kind of doing whatever to see what he likes! He seems to gag less when I give him food he can feed himself (banana, sweet potato 'fries', cheese), not a fan of actually baby food yet but he likes yogurt! It's a fun time and a win for everyone.

Sleeping

For a while there I was joking that we'd have to send Brooks off to college with his Rock n Play. He was still sleeping in our room in his pack n play but when I would feed him in the middle of the night he wasn't resettling. I practically nurse him to sleep, set him in the pack n play and 5 minutes later he was crying. I tried to let him fuss and settle on his own but it's really hard in the middle of the night when he's 2 feet from me. AS SOON AS I set him in the rock n play he was snoozin. Just so cozy for him.

I waffled on whether to move him to his own room or not. One day I was like Ya! Let's do it! then the next day I was like What if I miss him? Mom hormones are weird. I was thinking about the AAP's recommendation- used to be 6 months but they just upped it to a year (wut?) and how convenient nursing him is when he's just right there, versus walking to his room (his room is the furthest from ours but still... first world problems). But I really liked the idea of being able to let him fuss and settle on his own a bit more and having our room back.

On a day I was feeling really good I did it. Dan installed the camera so we could clearly see him and I prepared myself for a longer night...but guess what. Everyone in the house slept better! He got up twice that first night which is normal and he fussed when I put him back to bed but then when I left the room, he stopped. I think the problem was that he could sense/smell me when we were in the same room. The next night he got up once and the night after that he slept for 10 hours!

Dan and I definitely sleep better! I thought the white noise was supposed to help you sleep? It does for Brooks, but not us! I actually don't mind walking to his room to feed him and now I get to use my comfy rocking chair! I think it's a win for everyone.

Fast forward a week and he's started sleeping on his stomach? Yes this is the kid who hates tummy time. I've had to save him a time or two when he's cornered himself or trying to flip into the rails.

Plagiocephaly

He's had his DocBand for 5 weeks and everything is going better than I expected. I can see visible progress every week and his head looks so much better than it did. His ears and jaw have evened out and I'm starting to see roundness in the back.

 Before VS 4 weeks in

 On the left (before) picture you can see where from certain angles it almost looks slightly cone-ish. The main flat spot is above and to the right of his ear, it almost looks like a dent. On the right you'll see it's much less noticeable and you can see a touch of roundness in the back. Don't be alarmed by the marks you see on his head. That's where the band's opening is and it's called soft tissue displacement. He was napping on his side right before this and it's just fluid. Comparable to the marks you get when you wear a ring.

I hope you can see as much change as I can. It looks so much better! 

This is where I think you can see the biggest change. On top you can clearly see the bottom left side of his head isn't as full. Now from about with the naked eye it look symmetrical!

I actually haven't gotten any rude comments about his helmet. Lots of nice comments and support. The only looks I've gotten are from children which is totally understandable. I don't mind when kids ask or stare, they're still learning. At the grocery store this little girl probably about 4 or 5 gasped, pointed at Brooks and me and was going to say something. I was prepared for a unfiltered comment 'from the mouth of babes' as they say and to reassure the mom it was totally fine but she said, " MOM! LOOK at that CUTE baby!" It was so sweet. I love how children can look past differences so easily.

As you know, I love lists so here is a categorized list of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly when it comes to his helmet.


The Good

C'mon he looks stinkin cute in it!
When I walk through doorways sometimes Brooks like to suddenly grab the door frame trying to eat it and ends up bonking his head. Now with the helmet, it probably doesn't hurt as much! [Sidenote: he did take a face plant off my legs the other day and I think the helmet helped cushion him! Mom Fail.]

Built in pillow when he falls asleep in the car seat

He'll have the most perfect head, I've already seen visible progress


The Not So Good
Brooks is always moving and is very observant so he likes to look around and whip his head around quite a bit. I think I have a permanent bruise from where he keeps whacking me in the jaw. Oh and hello, fat lip.

Wearing it 23 hours a day = stinky

Gives him helmet hair. JK He doesn't have any hair.

It makes him hot. 98% of the time he's only in a onesie. He never liked pants anyways.

The house is always freezing (in my opinion) in order to keep him cool.

The Ugly
Added to my skill set- getting poop off the DOCband and my bedspread