Happy Half Birthday Mattimeo!

6 Months Old Today!

Today is an exciting day for several reasons. The biggest reason is that our little Mattimeo turned 6 months today! I can't believe it's been half a year already. Yet, we have been making sure to enjoy each precious moment we have with him. At 6 months he is enjoying experimenting with solid foods, sitting up without support, prefers tummy time to lying on his back, can put his foot in his mouth (and does so often when he has his diapers changed), saying "ba ba ba", "mmmm ma ma MAMA", "pa pa pa", "boi boi boi", "fa fa fa" and other such sounds. He loves jumping in his jumperoo and looks a bit like a ballerina when he jumps because he does so quite gracefully. He enjoys peekaboo and being tickled with kisses on his neck and belly. He discovered his hands and can often be seen holding a hand in front of his face turning it about studying it. He also holds his toys up and studies them now too. He enjoys doing Yoga with Mommy, especially when she does poses that involve lifting him above her head or bending over him making funny faces while he lays an the ground. He loves books. Sometimes he will be happy reading six books one right after the other. He loves it when I pretend to eat his hands or feet. He is awesome in the car now and usually takes a nap and hardly ever cries anymore (thank goodness). He is fascinated with animals. Every time he sees one of our cats, or my parents dogs, or the birds Robbie's parents keep he watches them intently, reaches out to them, and sometimes giggles. He could watch our pets all day. He loves music. His favorite seems to be Disney music, but we enjoy listening to a variety of genres together including (but not limited to) classical, indie dance, Celtic, African drumming and rock. He loves being sung to and will usually reward the singer with a smile. He also enjoys listening to Mommy play the clarinet and penny whistle. Meo loves going for walks and will quietly take in the world as we stroll along. He loves bath time with Daddy and massage time with Mommy. He is a joy every day and this has been the happiest 6 months of my life.

In preparation for crawling, we decided to do some rearranging. Since it has proven impossible to get Meo to take naps in his crib, I've decided to try an alternative way to get him to nap in his own bed; we put his mattress right on the ground. This way I can nurse him right on his bed and roll away leaving him to nap independently. We are hoping that we can transition to having him nap there and still sleep with us at night so he at least gets used to sleeping on his own sometimes. His mattress is very low to the ground and we put a soft rug beside it so that if he does roll off he won't hurt himself (plus I stay in the same room while he naps). For a while, I didn't want to take the crib apart because it is a beautiful crib and my parents spent a lot of money on it for us. But eventually I gave in to my intuition and knew that it was more important to make an area that suited his sleeping needs; how were we to know that he wouldn't be the crib type? Anyhow, the crib is a convertible crib, so once he is big enough we will be able to put his bed back on a frame and have a beautiful toddler bed.  Having the bed on the floor comes from a montessori philosphy. Montessori is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development. I first learned about it from reading a blog post where I saw the following picture of a montessori room:

Montessori style room from Sew Liberated

Robbie and I have been working hard at rearranging the room, and so far this is what we have come up with for his sleeping/play area:

Meo's new sleep/play area

Not visible in the picture are also shelves low to the ground where we keep more of his toys and board books so that when he crawls he will be able to reach them.

So far Meo is a champ at napping in his little bed! We were washing our sheets last night when Meo was ready for bed so I gave his little bed a test run. He ended up sleeping in it for a couple hours all by himself until we accidentally made a loud noise and startled him to waking.

Napping in his bed for the first time

Soft, cuddly angel

Last night, after he woke from his nap we brought him into our bed and I tried something new. Instead of nursing him to sleep, I decided to try singing (because he was trying to chew on my nipple!). Amazingly, it worked! I fell into a deep sleep with his arms wrapped around my middle while I sang "La La Loo" from Lady and the Tramp.

Today he took his naps in his little bed and did a great job. He didn't sleep as long as he would have if I had been in the bed with him, but he still did a great job and woke up happy. I am pleased with the new setup!

Taking a nap in his little bed all by himself (6 months)

The sleep sheep helps drown out any annoying little noises I think

He also loves playing on his soft rug. We actually let him feel all the rugs in target and this is the one he liked best.

Playing with his toys

Watching Grandma talk on the phone

Cheers to an amazing 6 months and hopes of an amazing future *clink*.