Lvl Up: 6 Months

Dear Baby,

I've been seriously neglecting my correspondence with you! I have a list of posts I want to make; however I've been very busy...with you! You're so much more interactive now, and you sleep a lot less. This means you're getting more mature; and since you're now 6 months, this makes complete sense!

Achievement Unlocked:

Food - You've been doing great with your rice cereal, and you've made the transition to Stage 2 formula with no issues. Guess what time it is now! Time to start baby food! In a few weeks, I'm going to the Farmer's Market to pick up a yam (aka sweet potatoe) for your first meal! Momma and Daddy have worked out the routine: Momma will cut and steam your foods, then Daddy will puree it in the Baby Bullet the Nans bought for him at your shower. We're all very excited to start this next step in your eating evolution. You're probably the most excited: You love to watch Daddy and me eat!

Vocalization - Daddy got scolded for all the groaning he does, because you've now picked it up too! I understand that you want to practice all your sounds; so I don't stop you when you groan, but after hearing it 348927398473 times Momma gets slightly annoyed. But I'm more than happy to let you groan all day long, because I know that every new sound needs to be practiced to help you develop your language skills.

I Love You - Speaking of, well, speaking: Your Uncle Josh has been trying to teach you "I love you", and you've even started saying it back (in baby-talk of course). When you want to tell someone you love them, you say "Ah-oo" or "Ah-loo". The way we know that's what you're saying, is because you say it with the exact same inflection as Uncle Josh does. One day, you and I were chatting while you dozed off for a nap, and you looked at me and said "Ah-loo, ma ah." Since you were obviously trying to say "I love you, Momma" I excitedly said "I love you too, Baby!"

Mimicing - Also, under the vocalization category, you're starting to do well at mimicing sounds other people are making. Sometimes you like to sing (and by sing I mean yell), so Momma is trying to teach you "La la la" and after I repeat it a couple times, you usually start saying it too. You also like to make funny "brrrrrrt" sounds with your lips that Momma taught you. You're a good little parrot!

Toys/Hands - You have pretty much mastered your hands! You now hold toys, turn wheels on activity sets and have even tossed a couple toys at your feet. You still love to play with Momma's hands as you fall asleep, and you're very good at being gentle but confident when you're handling things. I guess you don't like tags on your toys, because you try very hard to pull them off. Your eye/hand coordination is excellent!

Mobilization - Even though you hate tummy time, Daddy and I still have you do it for a few minutes every once in a while. We don't like making you do things you hate, but tummy time is very important for developing your muscles. Daddy does tummy time the best, though, so Momma lets him do it as often as possible (you don't fuss nearly as much for Daddy's tummy time). Yesterday you even started doing very deliberate crawling motions. You didn't get very far, because your arms still aren't incredibly strong, but you seem to understand the concept now. Now that you have a goal, perhaps tummy time will be more enjoyable to you!

Choices - You're now able to make choices! That's a major mental development! A little while ago, we went shopping to get you a sippy cup (among other things). Momma couldn't decide between three, so you got to pick! I held up all three, but there were only two that you were focusing on. I put down the one you weren't interested in, and held up the remaining two. After a bit of deliberation, where you focused on one then the other, you reached for the green and purple one. That's the one we bought, and you love it. Sometimes Momma and Daddy will hold up two toys, or two pairs of socks and let you choose which one you want. Whichever one you reach for first, or focus on the longest, is your choice. You're actually very quick in your decisions; just like we suspected, you know what you want!

Sleep - You're so close, so close, to sleeping a full 12 hours at night. You sleep from 8pm to 8 or 9 am with only one or two interruptions. Lately it's just been one, at about 5am, for a big feeding. If you wake up twice, the second time is around 1am for a quick feeding. When you wake up in morning, you only stay up for an hour or two. Right around 10am (just as Daddy is leaving for work), you get super cranky and go down for your nap (this is anywhere from 2-5 hours). Then you're up for the rest of the day (with only 1 or 2 quick, 20 minute cat naps thrown in). At 8pm you're ready and willing to go to sleep for the night. Now I just have to make sure I go to bed at 12am at the latest (not the earliest, which is what I have been doing!), and we'll both be well rested for the days!

Those are all the developments I can think of for now. You had your 6 month boosters, and took them like a champ! You are now 15lbs 1.5oz! This means you're caught up to your fullterm counterparts. You're not at the 50th Percentile on the growth charts, but you're very close: This means that you're at a healthy weight for a 6 month baby that was born fullterm. Good growing, Princess!!!