6 Month Review

It goes without saying - I can't believe my baby girl is already 6 months old! Seriously.

Our smiley Little Bear.

She blows bubbles, makes raspberries, and fake coughs.
She smiles big, at her parents and strangers alike.
She likes being social, watching people's faces, and getting attention. At the grocery store she'll even make noises to get the cashier to look at her and smile.
She coos when she smiles.
She (inconsistently) giggles when her neck is tickles, when we pretend to eat her hands, or when her daddy says silly baby talk.
She grabs her feet and fidgets while nursing.
She has eaten yams, avocado, banana, and brown rice.
She farts when she wakes up, and while she nurses.
She cries if you take her toy, and is easily calmed when you return it.
She's got Michelin Man thighs. Or as Alex likes describe it, like an accordion that is ready for some serious limb growth spurts.
She cannot (does not) sleep through the night, or even "through the night."
She will roll from her tummy to her back - right away or after she throws a baby tantrum.
She doesn't roll from back to front, nor has she even tried.
She sits up on her own easily, reaches for toys in front of her, and likes to be included in all adult social interactions.
She is starting to favor her mama, at least in the evenings, and reaches for me. But she seems the most happy when she's hanging out with both her parents, making googley-eyes at each other.
She looks more and more like Alex - especially the round, rosy, apple cheeks. She still has very fair, fin hair, but it's starting to get a bit longer. Her eyes are still blue as the sky. Her eyelashes are blonde, and long. Her left eye is slightly smaller than her right. She still has bags under her eyes, and people always say, "Oh she's so tired."
She's wearing 6-month clothes, but with cloth diapers and all, she will likely upgrade to 9-months is just a couple weeks.

Her poop is gross. Really gross. It smells like real poop, and is well-formed enough that we have to dump it in the toilet.
She likes to be tossed in the air.
She likes both dogs, and reaches to pet them.
She loves to look at the trees, and to go for walks. She usually doesn't mind the car.
She still loves music - she most loves when we sing to her (Baby Beluga, Let It Be, You Are My Sunshine, She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain, Who's the Queen of the Jungle, Bean-O, etc), but also loves when Alex  serenades her with the guitar (Soulshine, Let It Be, Hotel Yorba, I've Just Seen a Face, Home, John Prine songs, Blackbird).
I call her Bean, and Alex calls her LIttle Bear. We introduce her as Francie.
Really, she's just turning in to a real little person.

Stuff we use regularly:
The boppy, if she's sitting on the ground unsupervised it works great to support her in case of a fall.
A high chair that attaches to the table. Doesn't get any cuter than dangling baby legs.
Toys toys toys - G-Money (aka the giraffe Sofie), rattle thingies, chew beads, cloth napkins, my water bottle, etc.
The "day bed"." We spend a lot of our time together lounging in the guest room
The Beco carrier - she loves nothing more than facing out and going for a walk or running errands where people pay attention to her
The stroller, if she needs help falling asleep.
The grandparents - what would we do without them?!?

At this weeks well-child check-up, Francie clocked in at:
15 lbs, 11 ounces, 25-50th %ile
26.25 inches long, 50-75th %ile
16.25 inch head circumference, 10th %ile

In a typical day, I wake her in the morning to eat before I have to get ready for work. She usually wakes up a happy girl, smiling, and content to eat her feet while lying in the bed as I get ready. Her Grammy comes to hang out with her from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. or later, depending on Alex and my work schedule. She typically eats 2-3 4-oz. bottles of pumped breastmilk, and eats about 2 tbsps of some solid, likely banana, avocado, or yam. She likes to catnap, so will sleep during the day anywhere from multiple 20 minute naps, or one solid 2 hour nap in the p.m. She naps better with Grammy or Rachel than she does with me. She nurses on and off in the evenings, usually about 3 times. She shows signs she's tired about 7 p.m., will sometimes doze on our evening dog walk. She then wakes back up, hangs out with us, and I nurse her to sleep sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. Depending on the night, she wakes 2-3 times to eat, and is usually squawking in her crib, half-asleep, so ends up sleeping cuddled up next to me in our bed. Some nights she stays in our bed all night, nursing as she pleases, us both asleep through it all. So it's kind of like: wake, eat, play with feet, vocalize, sleep, eat, go for a walk, eat, cat-nap, play, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeat.

And seriously, 6 months really IS my favorite!

Looking at her self in the mirror - a favorite past-time.

Gangsta lean. Snoop-o-loop, you better watch out.

Smiles!

Bundled up for an autumn walk.