So much changes between 5 months and 6 months. She's now like a little person, well more like the baby she will be, and less like a lump who is oblivious to everything.
First growth. Our little bean is little, she's always been at the 50th percentile or lower and that's pretty much the same. She's just crested 15 lbs at 6 months and is only 24 3/4 inches. It's funny seeing her next to other babies because it is quite obvious that she is smaller than them. She's just a little nugget. She's always got one of the biggest heads though. Interestingly (for me anyways), she fits many of her 6 month clothes - they just must be the smaller brands. Really she's about 3-6 months in the body and 6 months in the legs.
Around 5.5 months we started introducing foods and it's been pretty lukewarm. She likes to feed herself but doesn't get much in that way and is still hungry so we've been doing purees too. I have this really great puree baby cookbook that tells me how to make the different purees (particularly meats) so that she has some variety and it isn't applesauce all the time. And while she's been pretty slow to pick up on eating and is picky about timing (she won't eat breakfast at all, lunch is her biggest meal), she has had some natural favourites. She love loves cucumbers. She can't get enough of them and will suck on them until they are pretty floppy. She doesn't really get chewing yet so if she gets a little bit off, she will often just spit it out. She also loves mum mums. I'm not crazy about them since they seem pretty nutritionally void and made in china, but I've not been able to replicate them at home (since I don't have a steam extruder handy) and she gobbles them up. So she's had a box or two of those in the last month.
We've also discovered that she's allergic to cow's milk, so no cow's milk formula (which is probably why she hated it), yogurt, butter, cheese, milk fortified cereals. She doesn't seem bothered by having her face covered in hives but best to avoid for the next while.
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| No so much into peaches today |
She loves music and making noise. She doesn't really like it when she's in a noisy environment but she's totally content to bang around toys and shake her keys with vigour. She's discovered how fun it can be to have a wooden spoon and hit it against everything. I'm surprised how long that can keep her entertained - like 20 minutes!
BeanBean is still a pretty giggly baby and loves when people tickle and nibble her. She's not so afraid of it and will pull your hair if you get close. She's starting to figure out who people are and I'm happy to be counted as one of her favourites (she loves her daddy too), she also likes her Grammie and Aunty who she sees quite a bit and is happy to play with Grandma & Grandpa and Tio Scott if Mommy or Daddy are close by. Actually she'll be pretty content to play with others if she has at least one familiar face in her line of vision. She also really loves other babies. Every Tuesday we get together in a mom's group and she likes to watch them carefully. Since she doesn't crawl or roll so she just watches them move about (though she is a very confident sitter). The other day she had her little friend Finn over (and his mom Teresa) and she got so mad when she saw Finn crawling around and she couldn't. We put her on her tummy but that didn't make her happier since she doesn't quite have the arms and legs figured out. It seems she's inherited her mom's weak shoulders and her dad's giant head, which makes for a troublesome combination.
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| Trying to steamroll Finn without much success |
Now that she sits really well, she hates being on her back which is making diaper changes a bit more challenging - though if you sing a song she'll be distracted enough that you can get it mostly done. In the bath she's having enough fun that she doesn't seem to mind being on her back so much.
Ellie's also getting a bit more independent about her sleep and often will want to fall asleep on her own. She wants nursing or cuddles until she's drowsy but then starts to wiggle and push away and will fall asleep the instant she is put down in her crib. It's kind of sad to be pushed away but I'm glad she's feeling more confident about falling asleep on her own.
Sleep, well that's not going so well otherwise. She's growing so much right now that I think she's hungry a lot, which means a lot of interrupted sleep for us. She's been waking up about every 2 hours to eat through the night. We've checked to see if David can put her down without feeding her (since he doesn't smell of milk) and she'll go back to sleep but will wake up 20 minutes later because she's still hungry. So I just go feed her. Once she eats more solids and isn't growing so much then I'm sure we'll get some longer stretches. We're lucky because she's not waking up to party, she just wants some food, so it's a quick wake up, but I am still feeling like a zombie.
Her nap schedule is fluctuating and I can tell we're going to get to 2 naps soon, but for now we're at 3 or 4 most days. Sadly, she's now taken to waking up at 7 am or 6:30 so I can't wait for her morning nap when I can get more sleep too.
I'm trying to figure out what to do with her now that she's awake for longer stretches because I feel bad just having her play on the carpet with her toys. I feel like I should interact with her more, but she's happy and I'm always around, so I try to be ok with it.
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| Shaking/eating her shaker at the Fringe |
To celebrate her 6 month birthday, we went to the corn maze and walk around there. She thought it was fun and cozy being in the carrier. She also ate a mum mum so that made it extra awesome.
We did get her a jolly jumper. Not so much as a gift (although I guess technically it would be) but something to help her exercise since she's not crawling or rolling around. She's started to figure it out and loves it. Though when she's done, she won't stop jumping so she'll be crying and jumping at the same time. It's pathetic and cute.
I'm feeling more confident as a mom and I'm enjoying that winter means lots of scheduled activities. We have baby wearing yoga and baby wearing ballet each week and then I'm going to try and take her to the library for songs once a week as well. I've taken some stuff to up my milk production so that's resolved too and I'm better at keeping up with her demands. Since she can't have other milk, I'm hoping to nurse for a while. Mostly I'm loving seeing everything that is new about her. And while I will hate to miss any of her firsts, I'm thinking that going back to work for the year will be good for us. I'm going to try and get some reduced hours (i.e. 8:30 to 4) but I've pretty much decided to go back for at least a year.
Here's a video showing a day in the life of being 6 months:
Until next month (which is coming so fast...)
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