Six Months Old!

I can't believe it's been half year already. The first four months felt about right, but these last two have just flown by. I remember being amazed when Henry rolled over because it was the first time he could exercise his free will. Now he is rolling, scooting, picking up, chewing, and throwing all day long. All the sudden I have a big boy, not just a little baby. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. He is still my little man, but before long he will be a big stinky boy. Will he still take naps in my lap when he is 12? (I understand that if he does that will have serious implications for his social well being in middle school, but I still want it to be this way forever.)

We are off to visit the in-laws this weekend, but as soon as we get back Henry will start solids. I waited until six months for a variety of reasons. Honestly, my primary reason was that I just didn't want to mess with it. Once babies have solids (or formula, I hear) they have real people poop. Breastfed baby poop is not my favorite thing, but it's better than being up close and personal with the real deal. Especially because we use cloth diapers and I will soon have to rinse of poopy diapers instead of just throwing them in the pail. Not sure how I feel about that. Also, it's just one more thing to do. More dishes to wash and one more thing to run out of, necessitating a last minute run to the store. MFF has been doing solids for awhile and she says it's like a flashback to the newborn days because she is always feeding her little man. At first you are supposed to maintain their normal breastfeeding routine and work up to three meals a day. That's a lot of mommy time!

Thanks to the WHO and the AAP for justifying my laziness. They both recommend that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months. The guidelines for formula fed babies are different. I have been very fortunate that I have never needed to supplement and at first I was sad about the idea of him having anything but breast milk. So far he is entirely my creation, all 18 1/2 pounds of him.

So I was all gung ho about waiting until six months, and a little conflicted about starting solids then. I was even considering delaying a couple of months longer until our upcoming travel plans are complete. Then about two weeks ago Henry started a never-ending growth spurt. He has been eating at least every two hours during the day and getting up again at night after giving me a brief taste of sleeping all the way through. He also took a bite out of a piece of junk mail and chewed it like gum a few days ago. This kid is ready!

So this past weekend we went to IKEA and bought Henry a high chair. I was going to get a traditional high chair from Babies R Us but I am mad at them. They have sent me a non-stop stream of 15% off coupons since Henry was born, but now that I want to buy something expensive they have cut me off! So instead I bought the Antilop High Chair in white ($19.99), a tray attachment ($5), and a machine washable cushion to keep him from slumping over ($3.99). So, for about $29 I got a good basic high chair. It doesn't take up too much space, Henry sits in it just fine, and the tray is pretty easy to get on and off with one hand. My only complaint so far is that it pulls up to our dining room table but not under it, which would be nice when Henry starts eating meals with us. It is super easy to put together and take apart for storage or to bring along to my in-laws. I think he likes it: