Butler, Party of 4: Kade Update: 6 Months

Here is Kade’s 6 month update! He officially turned 6 months on December 14th while Jonathan & I were out of town. Kade is still the sweetest, most charismatic little guy and we are so thankful for how he has already blessed our family. It is a JOY being his mama!!

We are working on him sitting up completely unassisted. He can do it with pillows and can sit up without falling over when he has back support (like in the high chair). He is definitely getting better and I think he’ll have it mastered soon.
Still no teeth! Jase had a mouthful by this time. We keep waiting for them to bust through because he is the drool monster, but nothing yet.
We started Baby Led Weaning about a week after Kade turned 6 months. And holy moly, I forgot how STRESSFUL it can be in the early days. He gagged multiple times, even to the point of throwing up. Jonathan was super stressed about it (he wasn’t home full time yet when Jase was learning to eat) and I almost decided to throw in the towel because it made me feel so anxious. I’m tellin ya, the first few days were such a doozie. (I’m not sure if it was worse this time or I just forgot having that anxiety with Jase.) But, I believe in BLW. And I know that gagging is not choking. After a few more days, he really started to get the hang of it and I started to feel more confident. He is still learning & I feel like he gags more than Jase did, but he’s definitely doing much better. The first food he has was avocado and the second was broccoli. Since then he has had asparagus, pears, sweet potatoes, bananas, chicken, squash, green beans, carrots, apples, mango, oranges, steak, zucchini, an orange slice, scrambled eggs, and toast. His favorites are definitely pears, squash, & asparagus. (Every thing is boiled/steamed/baked so it’s soft enough and then cut into fingerlike strips. DEFINITELY read the book if you plan to try this.) Kade loves eating and likes being a part of meal time. I know as he grows that he’ll be a good eater like Jase, and it only makes sense as our family continues to grow that they eat what we eat and are able to feed themselves.

I forgot how much fun poopie diapers become when they start eating solids!
He LOVES water out of sippy cup! I have to hold it for him, but he drinks from it really well. In fact, I have to be careful he doesn’t get too much water so it fills up his belly and he won’t want milk. Of course I only offer it after he has already nursed.
He HATES to be on back and is always rolling over to his tummy as quickly as possible. This makes changing diapers interesting.

He has the strongest neck and best head control of any baby I’ve ever seen.

He is SO ready to crawl! Ihave some cute videos of him rocking back and forth. He wants to be up running around playing with his brother.

I still use a Swaddle (I use the Woombie because he has control of his movements, yet it keeps him contained enough that he doesn’t flail and wake himself up. He also takes a paci to sleep but spits it out after he falls asleep. Kade started sleeping on his tummy a good bit and that helps him sleep more soundly. We always start him on his back (he goes right out if we cover his eyes up) but he sometimes rolls to his belly.

His sleep is so inconsisent. I think it’s a combo of that grey line on the Wonder Weeks & his 6 month growth spurt.

When we first got back from our trip, he was sleeping GREAT for us! He takes 3 pretty good naps during the day- the first two about an hour and a half, sometimes 2 hours, and the 3rd about 30 minutes or so. I’m thankful for that because it gives me some alone time with Jase, and plus their sleep is so important to their growth and development. He goes down for the night between 8:30 and 9 and sleeps for about a 6 hour stretch, wakes up to eat, goes back to sleep, and then wakes up with a full pee diaper at about 6 am. He screams when I change it so I nurse him long enough to soothe him back to sleep. I know he’s able to sleep fully through the night, but I can’t bring myself to do any CIO because his room is right next to Jase’s and I don’t want to wake him up.
He is talking/squealing!! He is always smiling and seriously the happiest little guy! He is very easy going, but I feel like he is going to be super charismatic and have a magnetic personality. His dimples are seriously irresistable!

He is long and lean. I’m a little concerned about his weight gain and wondering if that’s part of why we’re having sleep issues. My supply is good, but I’m wondering if he’s getting full feedings? I can pump a pretty good bit even after he eats, which leads me to believe he may not be getting enough during the day (thus the reason for the night feeding). At his 6 month checkup he was 15 lbs 5 oz at the beginning of the appointment. I fed him a bottle I pumped on the way over and he weighed jumpeed on the scale to 5 lbs 11 oz, which put him at 20%. At home he is weighing consistently around 16.2.
He has the sweetest bond with Jonathan. He’ll smile at pretty much anyone, but he LIGHTS UP when Daddy walks into the room or talks to him.

He is such a wiggle worm and constantly moving. I think that might be part of why I can’t keep weight on him. He burns off all his calories!

He got a little runny nose on 1/6 and we had a rough few nights. He was having a tough time falling asleep and wanted me to hold him, so of course I did. (Although Jase had a yucky cold at the same time and wanted me to hold him too, so I had to split time with both of them.) I busted out the humidifier, saline nose spray, and Jonathan got some handy dandy little booger sucker thing that is way better than an aspirator but doesn’t make me wanna gag like the nose freida. He is doing MUCH better after a couple of days!
Kade and Jase are the sweetest brothers!!