Jeremy 6 months on

This time six months ago I was lying on a small sofa in one of the rooms in the Angrek ward and YPK Mandiri hospital Jakarta, with Yovita discussing the fact our son, Jeremy was 5 hours old and could almost fit in my hand. (Photos at end of blog).

6 months on and he is just a bundle of energy; alert and observant, always happy noisy and full of happiness. Jeremy has developed and grown so much and it is amazing to watch and see.

He is getting bigger and taller and the doctors seem happy with his progress.

As for vaccinations, he is still in the process of being jabbed for all. So far he has had the following:

BCG x1 (finished)

Hepatitis B x3 (finished)

Polio and Rotavirus x3 (more to come)

DPT x2 (more to come)

HIB x2 (more to come)

PCV x2 (more to come)

with the measles jab being the last major one at 9 months then a respite of a few months before more come. The offer of the influenza jab is also there but that does not need to be done straight away. The MMR jab is also required and that will be done at 15 months. 

Every jab makes him grouchy for the rest of the day and then he sleeps and wakes up the next day like nothing has happened.

Unsurprisingly, Jeremy is cow milk intolerant at the moment which means we are feeding him Hypo Allergenic milk formula. Yovita is no longer producing enough breast milk for him so he has been on formula for the past couple of months. However he is now at the stage where he can eat, Banana and other soft fruit, Baby food in a Jar, Farleys rusks and soft porridge which is great. We have also started him back on normal formula to see if he is now able to drink that. He can also drink juice and also water. Feeding time is always fun and messy and it won't be long until its high chair time. The Farleys rusks however seem to go well with tea and so we are always buying more than we should!!

He has some teeth on their way and they should be here before Christmas as well which will be something new for us all.

For clothes, Jeremy seems to be outside the scale out here in Indonesia. We are now buying by weight rather than age although if we go with age then its currently 9-12 months. Still, saying that everyone brand of clothing we choose is different in size. The clothing from England so far has been awesome and bang on but out here it is more pot luck. Happily there is Mothercare which does have the right size at the wrong price and Marks and Spencers has a limited range. Still he has enough clothes at the moment. Shoes on the other hand are still not something we are using mainly because it is too hot and he does not need them yet. 

His motor skills are improving and he is able to grap, pull, scratch, poke, kick, slap, punch, throw, splash, bang, suck his toes, and hands. He can also roll forward, backward, crawl in a zigzag and sit up and remain sat up for short periods of times. We are looking forward to him crawling and learning to sit up on his own and then walking. Plans are already a foot to make the house safe when he has mastered these skills. 

Then there is his voice. He can scream with joy/happiness louder than a whole class of students at my school and over a long period of time. He only really screams when he is hungry other than that he is either babbling or screaming. He laughs more and more now and can sit and laugh which of course is infectious. I am currently trying to encourage him to blow raspberries which he can do although seldom. When he speaks will be a great day. 

All that in 6 months. Our lives have been turned upside down with Jeremy and everyday has been a good day. I am lucky enough to spend 3 or more mornings a week with him before work so I can play and spend time with him which is great and then all Sunday is spent with him. 

The next 6 months will see even more change and I have no idea what that will look like or how he will continue to grow and develop but I know it will be just as exciting.

15 minutes old

2 weeks old

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old