For all the major milestones and firsts in a child’s life, perhaps none of them are as big to a parent as the day of birth and the short time between then and the first birthday. But, between each of those two major milestones, are dozens of big milestones and for each of those dozens more minor events. For instance, the first night the kid sleeps through the night, or the shock of the parents’ when he suddenly can drink nearly twice the amount of milk in a bottle than he did the week before. And then there are the little things that are hardly milestones but make a parent proud.
Six months is a pretty major milestone. We’re just far enough past the newborn stages that much of the daily aspects of raising him no longer seem nearly as laborious. He’s far from independent, but at least a few times a day we’re able to give him a toy and he can keep himself occupied for a few minutes while we eat dinner or gather stuff for an outing. He’s also strong enough now that when you pick him up or are holding him, it’s far less of a chore since he’s able to assist in the process.
While most parents seem to wait until their child hits the 6 month mark to begin introducing food, we tend to be over achievers and decided to start trying food early. The little man was showing all the signs of being ready for solid foods early. His constant chomping while we were eating, not to mention his extreme interest in our food, were just a few of the initial signs that told us he was ready to start. Rather than start with sugary and processed “baby food” that is based on rice, we started on fruit, or more specifically the single greatest berry (at least to Californians): the avocado.
The first few attempts were real small amounts, only a few teaspoons, and I’m pretty sure more of it ended up on him then in him. His second food was pumpkin, and while I expected to have a bit of an uphill battle with the new food, it seemed the only thing that got him to eat pumpkin was if it was mixed with twice as much avocado as pumpkin. I’m sure we’ll have a few foods that require a little avocado comfort mixed in, but so far he’s taken to eating solid foods far better and faster than I anticipated. In fact, he is already to the point where he misses it if we aren’t able to give him some avocado because we are out. The next few foods we try and give him will hopefully lead us to some easier to carry with us foods, and we’ll begin ramping up how much food we give him.
It’s hard to believe that only 6 months ago we were in the hospital getting the news that he was coming early, and now all these months later, I couldn’t imagine what we did before he was here. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Crazy Stats:
- Milk consumed: 6.71 Gallons
- Diapers Changed: 265
- Solid food consumed: 1.7 cups
on of household labor (or maybe more appropriately the lack thereof) is one rooted in expectations. The expectation used to be that a woman stays home, and therefore would naturally be the one to raise the kids, and performed the other duties of running a household. But, as time has changed, the “traditional” picture of a family is no longer the one you’d see in a Normal Rockwell painting. And I think that is for the better. Children, and I’d even say especially little boys, though I’m sure girls benefit from it as well, need to have a strong male role model that does more than read the paper at night after dinner and dole out the corporal punishment. Not only are many families more or less required to be a dual-income family, but that has also meant a new division of labor around the house.