1/2 Birthday

We celebrated our little girl's 1/2 birthday two weeks ago.  Really this post should be entitled 6.5 months, and that would fit with my tendency to, as my husband says, "zag when others zig," but that title is blah, I'm running low on wit and creativity, and this title was already written from the 4 other times I tried to write this post, so I'll go with it.

I said we celebrated C's birthday, and of course by that I mean Mommy enjoyed a large chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing in recognition of keeping the three humans and one fur baby alive and thriving through the newborn phase.  I don't know when the newborn phase technically ends, but I feel like...at the moment (should I knock on wood?)...we are through the big  "I don't know if we're all going to make it to the other side of this" nights/days.

Caroline did receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers (her first) from her Aunt Julie and Uncle Zach.  She enjoyed pulling the petals off of a yellow daisy while I snapped her picture sitting next to them.

Yes, sitting!! At the 6 mo mark she was able to hold herself fairly steady in a seated position for a brief time. Of course, Mommy and Daddy were ready to catch at the slightest wobble.  Today, I would say C is fully sitting up.  She is much more stable, can remain seated for a good amount of time without tripoding, and is figuring out how to gracefully go from seated to lying on her back or belly.

Another big 6 mo milestone was the introduction of solid food!  We met my goal of 6 months exclusively BF.  We are also wanting to make our own baby food and skip the rice cereal, so C's first food was mashed avocado (not counting the piece of raw apple we let her gnaw on a few nights before).  We considered our first attempt a success; successful because she actually ingested a small amount of food without ending the feeding with us and/or her covered in green mush. 

We have now tried avocado, sweet potato, banana, and oatmeal.  I would say we are still very much in the discovery phase of solids.  She doesn't get much down at any given attempt (sometimes refusing due to tiredness at the end of the day) and even when she takes some in she likes to spit it (more like blow/spew) back out.  I have been surprised by her reaction to solids.  I was thinking/hoping that waiting until 6 months to start she would be very eager and receptive to the new flavors and the activity of eating.  It'll come....maybe avocado and banana just aren't her thing...I can't blame her.  I'm learning to like avocado but I would much prefer to leave the bananas for the monkeys.

C has continued to "talk" and "sing" regularly in the morning on the way to school and when playing.  She has added the "mmmm" sound to her repertoire, primarily when she is upset.  Despite my response of saying Mmm-Momma each time she would do make the sound, on Monday, Oct. 21, Aunt Julie recorded a video of C saying dada.  She's been saying it more and more over the last few days.  Sometimes it's proceeded by a little "hhh" sound so it's almost like she's saying Hey Dad.  It's really cute and I'm excited to see her consonant sounds expand.
 

 

At her six month checkup C had grown 1 inch (now 25 inches long) and gained ~3lbs, weighing in at 15lbs 10oz, more than double her birth weight.  I didn't get her percentiles but I think she's in the mid to smaller side.  If you could predict the size of a baby by the size of their feet like is sometimes done with dogs and their paws, C is going to be sized more like Mommy.  Baby girl has some TINY feet.  I've been trying to find shoes for her to wear during the cooler months (we live in TX, people might laugh if I say cold), but her feet don't even register on the size chart.  Socks it is!


Other misc facts...
Still in size 2 diapers but if we have many more blowouts at school we're going to have to go up a size
Nursing schedule is pretty much the same
Wearing 6 mo and 6-9 month clothing; 6-9 mo are generally a little baggy
The ring stacker and shape sorter are the new toys of the month. Cell phones, tv remote, and a tag on anything are also of high interest
Hair is growing and lightening in color
Still have blue eyes
More aware of Penny Lane now.  They have had a couple encounters...PL has gotten in a few licks and C got a pretty good fist of fur once




Caroline,
Mommy and Daddy are so in love with you.  We love spending our evenings watching you explore and take in everything around you.  Daddy enjoys your morning serenades in the car and I love our evening snuggles or talking to you while you bounce and I cook.  We are amazed at your development in six months.  You still have some of the same personality traits, looks, and sounds from when you were first born but now they are BIGGER and LOUDER.  This week you are getting very close to crawling.  While I am excited for you it makes me a little sad that time is passing so quickly.  But with each new milestone comes new experiences for us as a family.  We loved taking you to Ellis Pottery in Longview to pick out your first fall pumpkin and I am looking forward to dressing you up for the fall festival at church.  You bring so much joy to our lives and we are so thankful and proud to call you ours.

Forever and Always.

MmmmMomma