Wow. My baby is six months already! How has half a year passed? I didn't used to feel like time was flying by, but now I do!
So here's what's new with my not-so-little girl:
1. She's sitting up unsupported (for the most part). She's still wobbly, but she's getting really good at finding her balance. Most of the time I try to sit by her to catch her in case she decides to topple over, or I place pillows or blankets around her. However, if I have her on our bed, then I just let her lean and fall which ever way she will go, to get her to practice balancing and righting herself into a proper back-laying or tummy laying position when she flops to one side.
2. She finally got a Bumbo, and she loves it! The bouncy seat just isn't cutting it anymore, because it reclines, but she wants to be more upright. I love that I can just plunk her in it anywhere, and as long as I attach the tray and give her a bunch of toys, and as long as she can see me, she's pretty happy! Of course, she also loves to throw those toys around, so I am constantly picking them up and giving them back to her. It's good way to ensure that I still spend plenty of time playing with her.
3. She's talking. A lot. No decipherable words yet, but I still love to listen to it. It sounds like "bwa bwa bwa, ya ya ya." And then I ask her, "Can you say 'Mama'?" And she just grins and carries on with her babbling.
4. She definitely leans towards and/or reaches for the things she wants. And when she can't grasp those things, she whines. It's funny that you don't have to teach kids to whine and complain, they just seem to know how to do it! Of course, that makes me wonder just many times Art and I have demonstrated impatience and frustration in front of her. I shouldn't just assume that she doesn't notice these things. It's got me thinking that I need to practice being more joyful. It would do us both good!
The first person who can tell me what she's watching here on YouTube gets 100 internet points.
5. She eats solid food nearly every day now. New foods that she tried are chicken, carrots, mango, and pumpkin cookies (so much for not giving her sugar!). She LOVED the carrots. And I think she enjoyed the mango too, but then my doctor told me that mangoes tend to be a common allergy for babies, so I'm not allowed to feed that to her, which makes me sad.
I've started mashing foods and freezing them, so that I have small portions to give her every day. Right now it's just carrots and bananas, but I'm going to try to do sweet potatoes, squash, pears, and apples. And maybe peas.
She also tried drinking from a cup not too long ago. She always watches intently when I drink from my water bottle, so I put a tiny bit in a cup and let her experiment with sipping. She did alright. I should probably let her try more often. I bet she could be a pro at it in no time.
6. She weighs over 16 pounds now; she's almost tripled her birth weight!
7. She chews on everything. And she's starting to bite me when she nurses. It makes me wonder if she's going to cut her first tooth soon. My first breastfeeding goal is to make it past those first teeth, and we are rapidly approaching that test. I feel like if I can survive her cutting teeth, then I'll have no worries nursing her well past her first birthday. [One year of breastfeeding doesn't seem nearly long enough, but two years seems too long, so I'm thinking maybe 18 months? But we'll see. Maybe it will be longer, maybe it will be shorter.]
8. She is no longer sleeping through the night. In fact, in a few short weeks she has gone from one night waking to four or five! I'm not sure if it's a growth spurt, or teething, but I'm going to give it a couple of more weeks, and if nothing changes, then I'm going start implementing the sleep training methods to get her to sleep more during the night.
9. Speaking of sleep training, her naptimes have improved a lot! I put up curtains in her room to make it darker, and I put a fan in there for white noise. I've also started waking her at the same time every morning, and waking her early enough for her to have a decent bedtime. I think all these things are helping her nap better. I've also implemented a bedtime routine (yes, believe it or not, I did not used to have a nighttime ritual). I think it's helping her go to bed earlier than she used to, which is good. But yikes, the rest of the night? Not so good.
I don't know if it's this age, or if it's because she's napping better and has more consistency in her from day to day, but in general she's a much happier baby.
10. She still can't roll over yet, but she tries. She rolls from her back to her side, and sometimes during tummy time, she looks like she might roll from her stomach to her back. She also has the crawling motions down, she just needs to figure out how to put them together. She either moves her arms or her legs, but not both at the same time.
Here she is surfing the internet for the first time. She seemed pretty engrossed by the political blogs.
It's so exciting to see her grow and develop in so many different ways. Part of me is anxious for her to show some mobility, but at the same time, I'm afraid of all the things she's going to get into once she can get around. We need more elevated surfaces around here... :)
Have a great weekend!
