Malachi is 6 Months Old!

Happy Half Birthday, Malachi! Our little boy is 6 months old today. He is healthy and happy, praise God. Malachi is 15lbs even and 24.5ins long. I think he is between the 5th-10th % for weight and under 5th % for length. Overall, he has gained over 10.5lbs and grown 7ins since birth. It is hard to believe he is the same baby when we look at pictures. He is still in 3-6 month clothes and will probably stay in them for at least another month. Malachi has been rolling tummy to back since 3month and can roll back to side but not all the way over yet. He is still working on getting his shoulder and head over. He can sit unassisted for a few minutes and loves to stand when we are holding him. The doctor said he thinks he will be an earlier walker. Malachi talks, smiles and giggles. No real words yet. He has been practicing drinking some water from a sippy cup and can get some out but gets pretty frustrated when he can't. Malachi has also become very interested in Chico the past couple of weeks and likes to look at him and smile or laugh. We started Malachi on solids on Saturday and so far he has tried Avocado and Plum. He seems to like them both but I think some of the plums have been a little tart for him. I am hoping to introduce oatmeal this weekend. He still nurses 5 times a day about every 3-4hrs. Malachi still does not have any teeth and doesn't appear to be teething yet.

Memo for me in the future, he only has a bowel movement once every week to 10 days.

Malachi is a great night sleeper. His ideal bedtime seems to be around 7/7:30pm with a wake up time between 6:30/7am. He usually averages about 11hrs of sleep a night. His naps haven't been very consistent lately but they are starting to get better. He still usually takes 3 naps. His morning nap is usually around 8:30,second nap is roughly at 12 and then a third nap in the late afternoon for about 30min or so. The first two can range from 40 min to 2 hrs depending on a 'good' or 'bad' day. Malachi is a very easy baby in our opinion. He rarely ever cries or fusses, even when he hasn't slept much. However, he is very strong and strong willed. This we have seen from the beginning. He will let you now when you are holding him the wrong way or when he wants something.  

We are thankful for God's goodness to Malachi in his growth over the last 6 months and for the joy he has brought to our lives.

6 Months

2 Weeks

Malachi's First Food

Malachi has not been sleeping much during the day and has been waking up earlier in the morning so we decided it might be time for some food! We started today with Avocado since it is nutritious and will be available in Mexico. Malachi seemed ready to start eating and was giving us some big open mouths for the food. I think he ate a good amount for a first feeding, probably a few tablespoons.

Before

First Bite

In the mouth...

...in go the fingers...

More...

After

I think he enjoyed it!

  

Tummy Time

Malachi is not the biggest fan of tummy time but it is so important for his development so we make him do it anyway. He actually did pretty well this afternoon and didn't fuss about it. He did roll over pretty much every time I put him on his tummy though, little stinker. I am hoping to see him roll from back to tummy soon. He can go onto his side but hasn't made the full roll over yet.

Going for the roll....

...and over

Sitting & Feet

This afternoon Malachi was sitting really well on my lap so I tried to put him on the floor unassisted to see how he would do. He actually sat for a few minutes by himself before falling over. I was very impressed. I need to make sure lots of pillows are around him because he hit his head and I felt really terrible.


Oh, and he LOVES his feet. In the past week he started playing with him and it seems to be one of his new favorite things to do.

Happy Mother's Day

I am thankful for my moms and all the wonderful mothers in my life. I feel even more blessed to have the privilege of being Malachi's mom. What a joy it is to have this little boy in my life! Happy Mother's Day!

Giving Mama Kisses

Happy Meeting Day

Four years ago today, May 12, 2008, is when Chris and I first met. This time of night 4 years ago we were chatting away at DD in Hillsborough, NJ. I would not have imagined that 4 years later we would be a month away from 2 years of marriage, moving to Mexico and enjoying the blessing of our son. God is good!

The Red Blanket

About a year and a half ago I bought a red throw blanket on clearance at Target. Its pretty soft and a nice throw to use over the couch and while laying around or napping. I use it all the time while lounging around on the couch. While I was pregnant I did a lot of that in the first few months when I was really sick. Around that time we got Chico and he would keep me company and curl up next to me. I think this might be why the red blanket has become his favorite.

We bought Chico his own blanket but he doesn't care for it at all and at night we put the red blanket down on the couch and he curls up and goes to sleep all night on it. 

This morning Malachi and I were laying on the couch waiting for Chris to get up. It was a dark morning as a storm was moving through and it was raining pretty hard. To my surprise another person in the family experienced the joy and comfort of The Red Blanket :-)

Malachi is 5 Months Old

Yesterday Malachi turned 5 months old! He has been kind of 'off' lately. I'm not sure why, possibly teething. He hasn't been sleeping as well and wakes up from his naps crying. It seems like something is bothering him because he wants to go back to sleep but is restless. He usually goes to bed between 7 & 8 and has been waking up earlier lately between 5 & 6. I am hoping to get him to sleep more like 11 or 12hrs again soon. His best nap is in the morning which is usually 1.5- 2hrs from 8-10ish. The rest of the day is not really regular and is basically me trying to get him to nap longer than 30min at a time. Up until we went to NJ he was sleeping and napping great. I am working on keeping him up longer, 1.5-2hrs at a time to see if that helps with the naps. Malachi has been a lot of fun this past month. He talks, smiles, laughs, yells and is just in general much more interactive.  He seems to be easily stimulated and is a very observant and intense. He is happy but compared to other babies he seems to be much more of a serious/thinker type. Malachi has really good head control and has been sitting assisted in his bumbo. He can sometimes is alone for a few seconds. His favorite thing to do is stand. He pushes himself up when being held. We think he might be and early walker like me. He has been rolling from stomach to back for a couple of months now but can not go the other way yet. He does bat at and grab toys. Malachi is around 14lbs and probably 23.5-24inches. When we went to his 4month wellness check up last month he was 13.5lbs and 23.5 inches. He was in the 20th percentile for weight and 5th for height. Not bad for a preemie. I am thinking of starting him on solids in the next month or so. I am not sure if he is ready and I'd like to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months so we are hoping to hold out until we get settle in Mexico before we start. We will see what Malachi is wanting.

Here are some pictures of him that I took yesterday :-)