Well, there’s nothing like being perpetually behind at, oh, everything, once you have a third kid. BUT! I’m very proud of myself for taking his monthly photos on time each month, even if I’m only sharing them now for the first time. Still, what could be better than a jam-packed post with 6-months of snapshots at this cute little guy and his growth?? This is more for myself than anything else, because I love being able to easily look back on my babies as they grow. So, without further delay….here are Leighton’s monthly photos from his first half year of life!

ONE MONTH

He’s grown 1.5 more inches since birth putting him in the 99% for height, is at 12lbs which is 85% for weight and his head also is in the 99%. He’s in 3-6 month clothes already, as well! Such a big-little-guy compared to his siblings but we love watching him grow. We didn’t capture it here, but he smiles a ton and overall is super chill and great at eating, passing gas, pooping, and sleeping. We’re doing some feeding therapy to help with his less-than-great latch and tongue tie issues, but clearly he’s compensating well and I’m grateful for that! He is absolutely ADORED by Llewyn & Margot and they love to help with any and everything they can. 

TWO MONTHS

He is so sweet and smiley. Laughs a lot and in general loves being engaged with you. Gaining great and weighs 14 lbs and is 24.75 inches long. He rolled once from his tummy to his back, but definitely seems to be a fluke because he hasn’t done it again. He tolerates tummy time pretty well, but only for a few minutes at a time. He’s sleeping great stretches at night and usually going at least one 4.5-6 hour stretch. Naps, on the other hand, only really happen when he’s being worn and the length is unpredictable between 30-90 minutes. But I’m soaking up the baby-wearing snuggles while I can.

THREE MONTHS

He still seems to be gaining & growing like a champ and is now fitting into 6-9 month clothing. He loves laying on his play mat, smiling at his siblings, drooling all over & generally speaking being a sweet, happy baby even if we HAVE hit the dreaded sleep regression which has him waking every 2 – 3 hours throughout the night. He’s throwing us some curveballs with a belly button granuloma we’re getting treatment for and a mild to moderate tongue tie we’re trying to decide about. But he’s so happy and sweet and we all love our baby Leight-weight so much!

FOUR MONTHS

It’s been an eventful month for this guy! He’s gained another solid amount of weight and is at 16 lbs and 27 inches long (99th percentile for height!) and in 6-12 months clothes. In the last month we’ve transitioned out of his swaddle & dock-a-tot, he’s started sucking his thumb which is adorable and helping begin to make some progress on self soothing for sleep, rolls to his side while playing on his mat and has now rolled from back to tummy a few times. He loves to babble, blow spit bubbles, play on his activity mat with music and lights and laugh a lot – though Llewyn by far gets the most consistent laughing reactions which is so fun & cute to watch. We seem to have the belly button on its way to being healed, but have developed some eczema issues. He’s lost a lot of hair, but what he still has is hilariously long, curly and out of control especially since I have to slather his head with cream for the cradle cap. Nevertheless he’s the cutest little thing, as smiley as ever and definitely getting more into playing with toys and putting things in his mouth.

FIVE MONTHS

He’s around 17 lbs and he’s cut his second bottom tooth which is the cutest thing ever (the first one popped through right after Christmas – just a week past 4 months old) and explains some fussy days/nights. He loves to bat at and play with my hair while nursing, LOVES bouncing in his exersaucer and still laughs the most consistently at Llewyn. His skin issues have been really aggravated this month so I’ve gone off dairy, eggs & gluten to see if that helps, we have some allergy testing scheduled and got some help from a dermatologist in the mean time. We are hoping for some more definitive answers soon. We have had some rooooough nights of sleep as he’s in a mental leap, could be teething and definitely has been bothered by his itchy skin. It’s been hard to deal with but naps have gotten a little longer and more consistent so that’s still a win! Overall he is still a happy, sweet, and chill baby boy and we love seeing his personality shine through more and more.

SIX MONTHS

He’s 17 lbs 5 oz, and unfortunately we’re noticing a trend that he’s been consistently dropping in his growth percentiles, even though he’s been growing overall. We are working to decide what we need to do about this (tongue tie revision, supply, etc) but grateful that we have experts helping us and margin to get it figured out before we are in a dire situation. Basically a day after he turned 6 months he exploded in his mobility. While he was already rolling from front to back and back to front, he now rolls allll over when playing on the floor and if you turn your back even for a few minutes he could be all the way across the room. He also lifts up on his hands and kicks his legs excitedly and then scoots himself backward. After a little gentle sleep training he is now doing much better and only waking for one feeding a night and a few times now has gone all night without one! I think both of us feel much better getting more solid sleep. His belly button is finally full healed from the granuloma and his eczema is doing much better too. It seems, at least for now with the recent testing, that he doesn’t have any food allergies which is also a win! He’s overall such a happy baby who loves bouncing in his exersaucer, being in the stroller and still laughing the most at Llewyn. He went on his first road trip all the way to Florida and did as well as could be hoped for with 14-hours in the car. He’s also definitely a thumb sucker and leaning more and more into that both for falling asleep and general soothing when fussy. He’s not sitting up on his own, yet, but he’s working on it a lot and getting closer and closer.

So very grateful for 6 months with this little sweety pie and can’t wait to continue watching him grow, his personality shine through and the skills he will gain in the coming months! <3