Five Mo...Wait, What? Six Months?!

Hello everyone!

In psychology we learned about intermittent reinforcement, (i.e. receiving a reward at random intervals), and how it creates strong motivation to perform an action that elicits said reward. If so, our sporadic updates have surely trained you all well to keep pressing whatever button it is that gets you here! Were we supposed to get consent forms before we started?

Harrison is now six months old! And somewhere in there he was five months too! He's been going through lots of changes, so let's dive right in!

When we last reported in, Harrison had just started rolling over. Previously he had been sleeping in a swinging chair (the soothing rocking gave us the most hours of sleep) and we were worried weening him off would be a battle. Nate was already talking about plans to build a rocking crib. But one night shortly after learning to roll, Harrison suddenly decided sleeping in his swing was the worst. He'd try turning on his side and the curve of the swing's chair made that uncomfortable for him. So after a few exasperated tries to get him to sleep, we tried putting him in his crib, (well, pack-n-play, but heading in the right direction), and he rolled over, stuck his fingers in his mouth, and fell fast asleep. Once he could roll onto his stomach we were fine with letting him stay there to sleep. Each night we put him in the crib on his back, he rolls over, pops his fingers into his mouth, and lo and behold he started sleeping through the night! What a great early Mother's day gift!

Tummy time has gone from a periodic accomplishment, to Harrison's preferred way to take in his surroundings. He can hold his head and upper body up much longer without getting tired. Originally this involved him looking around and then collapsing when he suddenly jammed a hand in his mouth, but lately he has started grabbing objects while holding himself up. He still doesn't have the coordination to hold himself up and push himself forwards with his legs (he still tends to scoot forwards on his head), but he can roll where he needs to surprisingly fast. In the last couple weeks he figured out how to hold himself up in a crawl position (on hands and knees with stomach off the ground), but he hasn't figured out how to take the first step. Instead, he rocks back and forth like he's trying to work up enough momentum. We fear (and are delighted that) the time to begin babyproofing the house is nearly upon us!

Harrison and Daddy at 6 month check-up!

At four months Harrison got his first taste of real food, and since then his pallet has been expanding. We bought a bunch of fruit and vegetables from the store and made single ingredient baby food for him. We started with sweet potato, then squash, pears, apple, banana. He loved them all! He has always been a voracious eater, and solid food is no different. Before the next spoonful is even ready, he has his arms stretched out to his sides and his mouth open, ready for the next bite. He'll usually made a constant content noise while he eats. Everything was going down great until he got his first taste of green beans. "Whoa there", said Harrison, "what was that? Let's back that out and try again. Nope! Second bite is just as bad!" Green beans were a no go. At least his disgusted face is delightfully funny! We tried giving him one bite of something sweet, like banana, then alternating with green beans. That didn't work at all, and we think we just taught him eat bite of food might be suspect. Now when we feed him anything, even foods he loves, you can tell he's ready to spit out the first couple bites just in case.

First foods!  Banana, Apple, Squash, Avocado and Green Beans

Since then we've started mixing his foods together. We combined apples and cherry (chapplesauce, his favorite) and sweet potato, blueberries, and kale (sweetbluekato, looks like chocolate pudding but most definitely dose not taste like it). He really enjoyed these mixtures, so we're going to try some new ones soon. Our plan is to start slipping some green beans into the mix. We're not sure we'd eat apples mixed with green beans, but if the ratio favors the foods he likes he seems happy enough with them. Our other plan is to start growing these foods at home. We planted a small orchard; two apples, two cherries, a peach, and a hybrid plum with two different grafts. It'll take a while for them to get established, but we're hoping he'll have the chance as a child to wander outside and pick some fruit straight from the tree. Until then, our established apple tree is on a two year cycle and should produce fruit this year, so we'll be (fingers crossed) blending lots of apples come fall.

Digging orchard post holes - neighbors with tractors are the best!

We bought Harrison a walker so he can toodle around the kitchen. At first he was a bit too short and wasn't moving terribly far, but more recently he has started directing himself towards areas of interest. Lately, his favorite distraction is to roll up to the fridge and start pulling things off the front. When the walker gets boring, (and we've noticed he's getting bored with activities he's used to), we have a new infant backpack that he loves. He outgrew the moby wrap, (both in weight and no longer wanting to be held against our chests), but the backpack gives him a fun way to observe the world. He's a heavy boy, so it feels like a workout to carry him for extended periods of time, but the backpack does a great job of distributing the weight. Now that it's warmer, we'll strap him in, plop a wide brimmed hat on him, and go do chores outside, and he's happy as can be! Sometimes he'll even fall asleep in the backpack, despite the activity or rough ride.

Well, speaking of Harrison sleeping, it's time to start getting him ready for bed. We hope this post finds you well and we'll be back in a month(ish) to share the latest news!

Love to all,

Nate, Justine, and Harrison