CARTER'S ROOM IN THE CHATEAU

January 2003

Carter is 6 months old this month. At his six-month check-up on January 23, Carter weighed in at 18 pounds and 14 ounces, putting him in the 75th percentile. He is 27 inches long, which is also the 75th percentile. And his still-mostly-bald head is a whopping 18 inches around, the 90th percentile.

Carter can now sit up without support. With his new talent of sitting up came a new bathtub; instead of reclining in his bath chair, Carter now has a small inflatable tub that fits inside the regular tub. The first week or so was tricky with a slippery baby who was still learning to balance and was more interested in getting his toys in his mouth than in keeping his head above the water. But we've finally mastered it with only a few trips underwater.

This month Carter has enjoyed chewing and sucking on everything, including his toes, standing up (with plenty of support), and, of course, drooling. He's quickly warmed up to his super saucer and other Christmas presents. Carter is also just beginning to babble. We were awakened early one morning to hear Carter shout "Da-da" from his crib! Carter's other new wake-up activity is turning on his Fisher Price aquarium with his feet.

Although he is still nursing every 3 to 4 hours, Carter is now eating 3 solid meals a day in his highchair. And even though it is scary for Stacy, Carter has even added Cheerios and Zwieback toast to his menu. Carter will occassionally drink water or diluted juice from his sippy cup, but he's always much more interested in getting a sip from Stacy's glass.

Carter's schedule has undergone some major changes this month. First, Stacy decided she's had enough of getting up every three hours for feedings. So she gradually decreased the amount of time Carter was allowed to nurse at his 3 AM feeding. At about the same time we were down to just a couple of minutes of nursing at 3 AM, we noticed Carter was having more and more trouble going down for his naps and bedtime. Brad came to the conclusion that Carter was ready to drop his third nap and that we needed a more defined schedule. So we pulled out The Contented Little Baby Book that a friend had loaned us several months ago. When we were first given this book, we thought the schedule was far too rigid for us to follow, but now, in desparation, we pulled it back out and adapted its schedule for 6-month-olds to fit our days. Over the course of a long weekend, we implemented the new schedule and cut out the 3 AM feeding completely. The schedule worked like a charm: Carter is sleeping much better and our days are much less chaotic. Unfortunately, the majority of nights Carter still wakes up around 3 AM, even though he's not getting a meal anymore. At least now we can take turns getting up with him. Better luck next month!