back to school.

it seems to have taken me a little longer than i thought to finish that last update. so, i'll just write about whatever i can think of...

jude turned six months old on january 7th. his six months check up was the following monday, and he had to get three stinky, dumb shots. i hate his vaccination days. it never bothers him for more than 10 minutes, but i hate it. anyway, he weighed in at a whopping 22lbs & 9oz and measured 29inches. he's been in size 4 diapers for probably a month, as well as 12-18 month clothes. i hope that the growing starts to slow down a bit because he got a whole new wardrobe of clothes in that size for xmas and i'd like him to wear them for awhile. not to mention i realized that with each diaper size increase, there is less in the boxes. i don't suppose he uses as many as when he was say, a size 2, but nonetheless...

and along with his growing body comes a growing brain. he gets more intelligent and understanding everyday. the looks he gives throughout the day are hilarious. some things he can't quite figure out and so he knits his furry little brows together and then looks to me, then back at the source of his perplexion, then back at me, etc. he also holds objects out in front of him and turns them over and over, passing them from hand to hand, in order to get a closer look. he does this with his own hands a lot, which i think is quite funny. and he's finally gotten a little taste of his feet. he got one in his mouth while i was bicycling his legs in the tub and then every now and again during a diaper change.

speaking of which, i am no longer concerned with his constipation. he went about 4 days without a bowel movement and of course i called the doctor who told me it was perfectly normal. they advised me to switch him from rice, so now he is a barley cereal boy. it's a bit more grainy than the rice, but he seems to like it. and now that i've got the recipe down for that as well i don't even have to thin it out with milk. i am having such a great time learning how to cook... even if it is only simple purees and baby cereal. everyone has to start somewhere! i'm becoming so nutrition-savvy as well. i'm trying to step out of the box where his fruits and veggies are concerned. so far i've steamed and pureed green and red pears, mango, avocado, banana, yellow squash, and beets (that i admittedly mistook for parsnips until my hands were purple at the end of the disaster). waiting in the wings are some actual parsnips, carrots, a sweet potato, and an acorn squash. i've tried to be good about the 3 day rule, so all he has actually eaten have been the pears, mango, banana, and squash. i will say i've given him tiny tastes of everything but only hoping that such a small amount wouldn't spark any allergies. either way, he's shown no signs of harm! to help with my endeavor as a baby chef, mom ordered me a baby steamer/pureer and some freezer containers. i have been using my breastmilk freezer bags and if i keep that up it will end up being just as expensive as buying the store bought baby food.

aside from this, things have continued pretty much as they were since my last post. he's still only rocking on his knees, no crawling yet. he can still sit up for quite a long time by himself. he is still cramming everything into his mouth... and this has actually been better since he's started taking a pacifier regularly for the past three or four weeks. it's much easier on my conscience that he isn't licking the floors. i'll deal with the pacifier habit when we reach that point.

being a parent is insane. it's one decision after another. sure, we all turned out alright (in our own warped way) but things have changed so much since our parents raised us and their parents raised them. and medical opinion is constantly changing, so what/who do you trust? everyone has their ideas and everyone has their two cents to add, but it ultimately boils down to you, the parent. if i choose to let my child do this or that how is it going to affect him when he's 5, 15, 50??? so i try not to think about the implications of my decisions too much, and go with my gut or what seems the most right. i guess we just wait and see how it all turns out...