Six months?! How is Oliver already six months old?!

Six months is when things are starting to get fun! For the first few months a baby is just kind of … there. They’re cute and wonderful and we love them of course, but they don’t really do anything. Now Olly is giggly and ticklish and looooves to play.

He could spend hours watching his sister Joey or our dog Ruby run around!

He’s also finally becoming a great napper. It was just a matter of us figuring out what he needed. We mentioned last month that Oliver was an awesome night-time sleeper, but he was struggling to take naps during the day. He would spend his days grumpy, fussy and miserable. Some days he would cry all day until he’d finally cry himself to sleep in the afternoon, which was making the whole family stressed out and miserable, too. We were trying to have him sleep in the swing in the living room, where we could keep an eye on him and where he wouldn’t be lying flat on his head — which can be bad for his neck and head (he went to a physical therapist for tight neck muscles, which is all better now). But he just could not sleep in the swing. He’d get distracted by Joey running around, by Ruby running around, by whatever was happening outside the window…

About a month ago I decided to focus on and commit 100% to his nap needs above everything else. I tried taking him up to his crib in his own room for naps, and he LOVED it. Not only did I learn that he needs to nap in his crib but he needs A LOT more sleep than I thought. I was waiting too long to put him down to nap, which was making him overtired, overstimulated and unable to relax enough to sleep. Now he is usually only awake an hour between naps and takes about three naps per day, plus still sleeping through the night.

He’s SO MUCH happier. He’s a totally different kid. He has more fun and he’s more fun to be around. He plays hard when he’s awake and he doesn’t cry all day anymore! Obviously I’m going a little stir crazy at home with him sleeping so much, but I know this won’t last forever, and his needs are the priority right now (we’re still able to make Target runs or go out to dinner, just not every day, but it’s also like 5 degrees out, so there’s not much reason to leave the house anyway). Of course, there’s still the issue of his slightly flat spot on his head, since he does sleep so much, but we’ll deal with that as necessary. His pediatrician agrees his sleep needs are more important.

AND look! Solid foods! That’s the other big news this month. His first food was sweet potatoes, and he was actually pretty chill about the whole thing… despite making such dramatic grossed out faces, ha. He’s also tried apples, which he hated. But have you seen those cheeks? This kid will love food! I’m not worried.

Six adorable months of Oliver! I just noticed that the doctor’s office had him at 27 inches at four months and again this month, so who knows. He’s definitely way taller now, so one of those numbers is wrong! He’s already outgrowing his 6-9 month clothes!

Also, I know this is Olly’s post, but how cute is Joey in this photo?

P.S. Oliver’s romper is from Primary (only $9!!) and Joanna’s dress is from Hanna Andersson. She’s wearing my hat!