Reed says Good Morning to Dodger the Dog

Reed has really started to love his Big Brother. He constantly watches what Dodger does, reaches out and tries to pet him all the time, and knows to look outside when we ask where "Dodger the Dog" is.

6 Months

I haven't been really emotional as Reed has reached his monthly milestones. Each month seems to bring something better than the last, but this month it has really hit me that our baby is turning into a little boy. He is eating solid foods, sitting-up, getting teeth, drinking from a sippy cup, developing quite the personality, and becoming much more predictable. I think we've also realized this month just how much our lives have changed now that we have a child.

The last week has been a little rough for the McClarty household all three of us had a nasty cold, on top of that Reed is continuing to teethe, and had his six month check-up which was accompanied by his next round of vaccinations. So I'm a bit wiped and therefore this will be a fairly brief "Monthly" post.

  

Monthly Statistics

Weight: 17 lbs 15 oz (I think he actually lost a little weight during his cold and had been over the 18 lb mark)

Length: 27.25 inches

Head Circumference: 17.125 inches

Clothing Size: I can squeeze him into a lot of his 6 month outfits still, but he has quite a few 9 month, 6-9 month, and 6-12 month ensembles in the regular rotation.

Can't live without: Baby Bjorn, BOB stroller, Baby DeeDee Sleeping Bag, Vulli Sophie Giraffe and Teethers, Mam Pacifiers, his bedtime books, Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder, Fisher Price Baby's First Blocks , Hyland Teething Tabs

Nicknames: Reedster, Reedcito, Baby Bear, Buddy Bear, Honey Bear, or just "Bear" in general

Where/How Reed is sleeping: I always lay him down on his back but he almost immediately rolls to his left side or onto his stomach.

Eye Color: Hazel with a thin ring of blue on the outside

Favorite Moment: Each month Jon and I decide together what our favorite moment(s) has/have been, it's going to sound weird but we were both in such awe of our little trooper while he was sick. There were definitely moments of fussiness, shorter naps, and a lot more sleepless nights, but for the most part he remained our happy little camper through all of his coughs, sneezes, and wheezes. He was smiling and laughing even when Mom and Dad weren't!

Milestones:
03/06/12  First tooth (front/bottom right) breaks all the way through the gum line
03/09/12  First drink from a sippy cup
03/10/12  Finally rolls from tummy to back!
03/12/12  Reed holds himself sitting-up (unassisted) for over a minute
03/15/12  Gets his first cold

Embarrassing Picture: I couldn't stop myself and had to post a few of . . .The Bumsicle!!!

Did you look close enough to get a glimpse of his teeth?

Introducing the Sippy Cup

Last week we gave Reed a sippy cup for the first time. We figured he would think it was a toy and, at best, happily play with it. He surprised us and put it straight to his mouth and started drinking!!! He wasn't too sure about the taste of water at first, but now loves having some after he eats his "dinner."

A Day in the Life of Reed

It's been about two months since the last one of these so I thought it would be a good time to check in and see what a "typical" day in the McClarty household is looking like these days. We are definitely falling into a much more predictable routine. Wake up is usually between 6:30/7:00, with a nap coming about two hours later. Reed nurses 5 times during the day and once overnight. While his naps are still all over the board we usually get at least one 1.5 - 2 hour sleep session at some point during the day. He gets solids after his second to last nursing session of the day and bedtime is almost always around 7:30/8:00 preceded, of course, by his favorite things . . . his bath and story time with Dad.

6:20 Reed wakes-up we do a diaper change and I get my morning hugs

6:45 Reed nurses
7:15 We feed Dodger breakfast and Reed intently watches him eat while practicing sitting-up

7:30 Diaper Change
7:35 Play with toys out in the living room with Mom
7:50 Check on Dad
8:00 Watch Dad brush his teeth, Reed is in awe of Jon's electric toothbrush and stares at him the entire time he is brushing every morning

8:10 We say goodbye to Dad, and Mom and Reed head out to go on a run

8:30 Start down the running trail
9:00 Reed falls asleep
9:25 Back to the car and headed home
9:35 Reed awakes as we pull into the garage
9:40 We do a diaper change
9:50 I put Reed in his jumperoo so I can start a load of laundry and mix a big batch of dough for the yummy bread I've been making

10:05 I put on the Baby Bjorn and Reed's sun hat and we go into the backyard to get Dodger for his walk

The sight of Reed in the Bjorn and me saying "Walk" causes Dodger to do this . . .

10:40 We are back from our walk, Reed nurses

11:05 I change Reed's diaper and put him in his sleep sack. I give him a pacifier and his "Soft Sheep" and we read for about 10 minutes. He is acting really sleepy so I lay him down in his crib

11:20 He has spit out his pacifier and is crying. I plug him back up and rub his back for a few seconds

11:25 Reed is asleep. I clean out the dishwasher, prep some yams for Reed's dinner, make my lunch, and transfer my pumped milk from the day before to the freezer.

11:40 Reed starts coughing and wakes himself up (this adds to my fear that he is coming down with his first cold). He's really upset so I rock him for a few minutes to calm him down and he goes back to sleep. I eat lunch, do a weight workout, and work on placing two new raised garden beds I've assembled earlier in the week.

1:30 Reed wakes up and is a happy boy

1:30 Diaper change and then I finally get him into clothes for the day

1:40 We go out to the living room and play on his quilt again. He practices sitting up and putting toys in his mouth (both of which he is getting really good at).

2:00 I feed Reed
2:15 He's done eating we head back to the quilt and I get some good laughs out of the little guy

2:45 We go outside to check out the garden and then to do a photo session with Dodger. I make the Grandparents a calendar every year, when Dodger was an only pup he was the only one featured, but he's had to give up a few months to make room for the new star. I'm trying to, once in awhile, get pictures of both of them together, but getting open eyes, happy faces, etc on both of my boys is sometimes a tall order to fill. I think this is probably the best one I took during this session.

3:15 We go back in the house to do a diaper change and get ready for another nap. We read The Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss (our favorite)

3:30 Reed goes down for his nap

4:05 He's awake, he helps me finish folding laundry by playing peekaboo with his onesies and laughing at me making his cloth diapers dance around

4:25 I put Reed up on my knees for a modified airplane and then we do baby sittups and practice standing up

4:40 Diaper change
4:45 Reed nurses
5:00 Reed has his yummy yam dinner (he's really getting into feeding himself)

5:20 I cleanup the aftermath of his dinner while he is entertained by Dad playing guitar. Check out the fancy maneuver he does when we take the tray off his highchair!

5:35 Diaper Change

5:50 We get in the car to go to my parents' house. Grandma is hosting Bunco and is dying to have her girlfriends meet Reed
6:00 We get to my parents' house and I can tell Reed isn't feeling great. We hang out with Papa Jay for a bit and then the ladies start arriving. He is in a good mood for awhile, then has a complete breakdown. Papa tries to rescue him from the estrogen overload but all he wants is Mom.

7:00 I get Reed calmed down and he puts on a little show for the ladies

7:15 Reed has had enough and has no energy to humor me, so cries during our quick group shot

7:35 Because it is so late and he's grumpy we skip his bath and go straight for the PJs

7:45 Reed nurses

8:00 He's asleep

Video - Dad makes Reed Chuckle

I'm going to start posting the videos separately from the rest of the blog entry for the week. It makes it easier to import the blog into the photo album I'm working on and that way you get a double dose of the Reedster!

What Reed Wore

Back by popular demand is another addition of "What Reed Wore."  The last time I did this I was asked, quite a bit, if I took all of the pictures and did all of the costume changes in one sitting, the answer is NO WAY! I pretty much leave the camera in his room and anytime I put a picture worthy outfit on the stud (and he's in a good mood) I snap a few shots - really it is a week long process. Enjoy, round #2!

California Boy

The Farmer

The Scholar
(That's a Cal Poly Sweatshirt)

The Sports Fan

Little Sailor Boy

The Baby Bear

The Chippendale

The Nudist

Can you tell my child is obsessed with grabbing his feet?

Random Happenings

Last week Reed got to meet his Grandparents-inlaw (Tio Drew's parents Marty and Bueno), I had already planned on doing Reed's 5 Month post so I thought I would spare you a ridiculously long post last week and save their visit for this week. They came over to visit a couple times while they were in town and even helped Pepe and Nonna with babysitting duty one night so that Mom and Dad could enjoy a night out.

Grandma Marty made Reed a very special gift, a keepsake needlepoint with his name and Birthday that she matched perfectly to his room. Isn't it so special?

Also last weekend the boys let Reed sent in on part of their pod-casting session. He was a big hit and even got some laughs when he stole Karl's glasses!

Jon was out of town this weekend and the little guy is teething so I'm a little wiped out, but we did manage to have some fun while Dad was gone. On Saturday we got to check out Auntie M's new house and see all of the hard work she has put into it so far. Aunt Penny was there helping Melissa prime a room for painting so Reed got double doses of love.

On Sunday Lee stopped by for a visit. Reed actually slept most of the time she was over, which was nice because it gave us a chance to catch-up, but she got to spend a little bit of time with The Bear before she had to go.

Reed can only rollover from back to front and over his left shoulder (not the right shoulder), but he does it ALL of the time now. Here is a glimpse at his new skill: