Jackson is 6 Months old on Wednesday.
How did that happen?
He is not my newborn baby boy of the summer anymore. He is into everything and will, I reckon, soon be crawling – he’s already dragging himself around with his arms. He will be starting to wean on Wednesday, leaving the complete reliance of breastfeeding behind. He will soon be sitting in his high chair, throwing mushed up vegetables at my walls!
It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since I was hugely pregnant, struggling to breastfeed, worrying about taking him out and about, but on the other hand it seems like a lifetime ago. I am so used to him now I can normally tell what he wants and when he will want it before he asks.
He has grown so much – newborn clothes used to be too big for him, but now he’s firmly in 3-6month clothes, even outgrowing some of them! His once skinny legs are chubby and his face has filled out no end. He is now a properly handsome boy – even if I do say so myself!
He hasn’t started teething yet however they are bothering him as he dribbles a lot and is shoving everything in his mouth. I think this is also affecting his sleeping as he uses me as a comfort blanket when things get sore. I’m trying not to dose him up on teething gels and Calpol however sometimes it is unavoidable as he’s been screaming in pain.
He’s been rolling over for weeks, can pick up his dummy and put it back in his mouth and he started clapping on Christmas Day!
He’s always preferred being stood up since he was tiny, but now he stands up with minimal support and he bounces like mad too! His new nickname is Tigger!
I have bought him a ‘Baby Bud’ booster seat from Mamas and Papas ready for weaning which he has been enjoying with his activity tray since Christmas. It stores nicely on a dining chair thus taking up no extra room which is handy in a small house. He seems to enjoy it and manages to sit up with only a little support on his lower back. I don’t think it’ll be long until he’s sitting unaided.

Watching him grow and develop so quickly is amazing. He is fast becoming his own person. He hates being still – we started baby massage and while all the other babies are lying there quite happily he wants to be rolling over and seeing what’s going on and what there is to play with! It’s kind of annoying that he doesn’t like baby massage but it’s amazing to see him so much more into things than the other babies of the same age. Something tells me I am going to have my hands full with him, but he is still my little baby.
Being a single parent I think the bond is a lot stronger than it would’ve been necessarily as a family unit as it has just been the two of us. His dad visits a couple of times a week but obviously Jackson is more attached to me. It has its disadvantages too as night feeds are not fun when it’s you only doing them – I found that cosleeping helped in the early days, however I am finding it difficult to break that habit and get him into his own cot now. I see my parents quite a lot, be it them popping over for a cuppa and a cuddle or me going to theirs for a good square meal. Without them I would have gone insane a long time ago.
The last six months have been a huge learning curve. This parenting lark is hard. I would have been lost without all the help I’ve had from my family, but I think I am getting the hang of it. This little boy is literally growing before my eyes and it is scary and amazing in equal measure. But more than anything I love him with all my heart.