It's been a while!

Christopher is now 6 months old. Time really has flown since he was born, I remember the first 6 months with Robert feeling like an eternity even though it went quickly, if that makes sense. It definitely feels like Christopher has slotted into our lives so seamlessly, that maybe that's why it has gone so quickly, it feels like he was never not here. I remember my sister-in-law telling me when Robert was very little that it wouldn't be long before I forgot what life was like without him with us. I kept feeling bad because I could, and kept thinking for a long time that I wished parts of it were back. It took a long time before it really did feel like he'd been here forever, that life with Robert was how it was "meant" to be. But with Christopher, it already feels like he's been here forever. I just can't imagine life without him, without both of them of course, but I am still so smitten with Christopher.



I think he is just so easy going, so bright and interested in things, eager for new experiences, and so connected with his world that he has grown to know so keenly already. He is happy to roll around on the floor for a while, watching his brother or playing with his toys, while I get a few necessities done, and when I come back, pick him up and talk to him, I always get rewarded with the biggest smiles. He seems quite serious in that while he smiles a lot, he doesn't laugh a lot, and often it's things we don't expect that make him laugh. He started laughing at Robert last week, as he was playing with a toy, banging it on the floor. The noise it made must have been very funny because he was in fits of laughter! And today, when Robert set his cars down what he calls his "car ladder", Christopher found it hilarious when they reached the bottom and the car rolled down and hit his foot. :)



We have started giving him practically anything foodwise, apart from the obvious no-nos for under 1s, mainly whatever we're having if it's lunch or a snack, or dinner. He's had spaghetti bolognese, pasta, jacket potato with cheese and beans, sandwiches, various fruits and veggies, slices of cold chicken, cheese sticks. Already he seems to have mastered avoiding his gag reflex. He hits it occasionally, but deals with it quickly. He's getting the hang of picking up food so quickly it's astonishing. He can already get at the food clutched in his fist! And he seems to make remarkably little mess compared to Robert. I am much less "anal" about the mess this time round though! Seeing as I am used to lots of washing, I think "meh" about a bit of food stain on clothes, it just goes straight in the washing machine for the next time it goes on. A sheet under the highchair and a big bib help in the process. But I am appreciating just how much easier it is to stick to milk feeds. Especially with a toddler to get ready as well!

He is getting on quite well physically. He can sit unaided for a few seconds, but mainly needs support. And he also rolls around a lot now, and pushes up on his arms which he's quite pleased about ;) He still seems so LITTLE to me. He is weighing less than Robert did, I believe he's around the 9th centile now, and was under 15lb still when I had him weighed last, but with his temperament and his nappies and his development I think that it is nothing to worry about. But it seems crazy how such a little person can be almost sitting and is reaching towards independance already!

Robert by comparison does seem huge, and week by week his articulacy grows. His sentences are quickly becoming more and more complex "Daddy innid eedin his dinner!" (Daddy finished eating his dinner!) being one of them. He is also asking questions now, which is so cute and sometimes so funny! At dinner tonight, Jonathan was taking photos of Christopher eating his pasta, and trying to make him look to the camera. Christopher however was set on staring at Robert. Jonathan took to making various strange and funny noises in an attempt to win Christopher's attention, and after about 10 seconds of this, Robert looked at Jonathan with a look of complete amusement on his face, and said in a tone of voice to match "What's Daddy doing?" while I was cracking up in laughter at the two of them. :)

He also asks "What's this?" which I heard him ask for the first time when we had a BBQ last Friday, he was holding up a piece of spring onion.

He will hold conversations between himself and his toys, which I think is absolutely adorable, and can't wait til Christopher is joining in!

It was lovely, yesterday Robert came and joined Christopher and I on the sofa, so I sat Christopher on Robert's lap, and Robert put his hand on Christopher's back, and peered into his face intently, and said "Ello, Ooover!" with a big smile on his face.

Christopher loves Robert, he often just watches him play with a big grin on his face, and particularly loves it when Robert pays him attention and talks to him.

One thing I am finding tough with Robert at the moment is the frequency that he wants to nurse. It seems to be more than Christopher most days, and I feel torn in what I want to do about it. All I know right now is that it can't be good to carry on doing exactly what I'm doing when I give an inward groan whenever I see Robert come over and start to clamber up on the sofa because I know, 95% of the time when he does that the next words out of his mouth will be "Gah-gee eeease Mammy". I have tried days where I say yes every time he asks, and he asks a LOT. I have tried days of trying to delay/distract sometimes, saying yes other times. I have tried "only til Mummy counts to 10".

But I think the main thing is that I don't KNOW what I want right now. I don't know if I want him to cut down nursing to just a few times a day (like morning, and maybe twice during the day), or whether I want to start completely weaning him. I don't know whether I am reluctant to do anything because I don't know what the cause of this increased nursing is. Am I failing to fulfill a need of his that he needs to replace with his Gah-gee? I'm just not sure what to do, but I don't think trying lots of different things is making anything easier. There's one thing I've not tried yet which I might start doing tomorrow, and that is say "we can have gah-gee, but only upstairs on Mummy's bed" and maybe he'll be less willing to keep going up and downstairs all the time to nurse. The only problem will be if Christopher is asleep, as he sleeps in our room, and Robert can sometimes be as quiet as a fairy elephant!

Before I sign off again, for my records and general musing, is that I had some cervical fluid earlier in the evening when I went to the toilet. I've had some before as well, but then while I was getting Christopher ready for bed I felt twangs low down in my belly, which makes me think ovulation pain?! I'm pretty sure I conceived Christopher in the first possible cycle after Robert's birth, even though I'd had 3 periods previous to his conception, and Robert was 13 months when Christopher was conceived. I wonder if in a couple of weeks I will see a somewhat earlier Aunt Flo visit? Either way, I'd better be careful if Jonathan and I get the urge soon!