The Best is Yet to Come: Six Months Old

Caitlin,

Happy half birthday!! You turned 6 months old on Friday! Another month has flown by way too fast. We are having so much fun with you as you grow into an amazing little girl! You are still a little peanut, but we can definitely see that you are growing. We won't know how much you weigh until we go for your 6 month appointment next Monday, so I'll update the blog with that info next week. You are still wearing size 1/2 diapers and have graduated to size 6 months in pretty much all your clothes. Your 3 month clothes still fit you width-wise, but the arms and legs are getting to be too short for you. I think your hair has stopped falling out, and it's starting to grow a little bit. It is definitely lighter than when you were born. I think it's mostly light brown with some blonde highlights. Your crazy cowlick is still there, but it's not as apparent as it used to be. Maybe we are just getting used to seeing you with it! We're still trying to figure out what color your eyes are. They are definitely not brown. We think they are a dark blue or grayish-blue. No matter what color they are, they are big and absolutely beautiful. They are even prettier when you smile because they completely light up. All we have to do is look at your eyes and see that twinkle, and we know that you've got a big ol' smile on your face. You also have really beautiful thick eyelashes.

I am still breastfeeding. While I'm at work, you're still getting 3-5oz. bottles a day from Daddy with about a tablespoon of oatmeal or rice cereal in it, and you usually nurse 2 times, once in the morning and once before bed. The morning is my favorite time because you are so happy and refreshed in the morning! I have also stopped pumping in the middle of the night and now just pump after you go to bed. After a few days of having bottles from Daddy, you get kind of frustrated when you're nursing because it's such hard work and the milk doesn't come fast enough. During the evening feeding before you go to bed, you usually fuss and/or cry, and it breaks my heart. I think there are a few things that cause this - the milk is too slow, your gums are hurting and/or you are just really tired. I find that when I get the bedtime routine started a little earlier, you don't fuss as much. Right before you turned 6 months old, on November 20th, we started introducing solids. We did oatmeal (on a spoon) for 4 days and then moved on to avocado. You weren't a huge fan of oatmeal, but towards the end of the avocado rotation, you seemed to like it a little more. If anything, you have learned that you like chewing on the rubber part of the spoon.

What are you up to this month? You finally rolled again from your stomach to your back around the middle of November. You are a pro now. We are still waiting for you to decide that you want to roll from your back to your stomach. You are sitting up all by yourself now. You can't get yourself into this position on your own (we have to put you down so that you're sitting), but you are pretty good at sitting for a while, especially if you're trying to get something in front of you because your head is over your center of gravity. You love to stand with one of us helping to support you. Most of the time you prefer standing over sitting or laying on the floor. Even though you are able to roll, you are still not a fan of tummy time! I'm starting to wonder if you are getting frustrated because you want to get moving. You still love to eat your feet and hands. You especially love to take a break from nursing and try to chew on your feet. I've starting telling you that you can eat your feet later, but for now, you have to finish eating and most of the time you start to eat again. You are distracted by anything and everything. We can be upstairs in your nursery and Daddy can be in the family room and sneeze and you'll have to turn and look for him. You even get distracted by my hair now that it's not pulled back in a ponytail all the time. You love to reach for it and pull it. You are really good at holding things with 2 hands, and you've started passing your toys from hand to hand. Speaking of toys, your favorites these days are your teething toys (the green ring, the frozen hands, Sophie, and the vibrating strawberry), your exersaucer, the monkey that Pop Pop gave you, and let's not forget the "Silly Dino" book that roars and giggles from Grandmom! You are definitely teething. You are a drool machine. We go through at least 3-4 bibs a day because of all the drool on them. We can see 2 white bumps on your bottom gums and are just waiting for them to break through. You have your fussy days, but you seem to be handling it pretty well so far. When you're in the exersaucer, you try to bite on anything you can find. You also love to hear the music that it plays and even kind of "dance" when it comes on. You have definitely found your voice and are much more vocal now. If we aren't paying enough attention to you, you will certainly let us know! You try to blow raspberries all the time, but haven't really gotten that one down yet. It's really cute to hear you try though. You also like to play "Where is Caitlin?" with your monkey. We'll give you the monkey and tell you to give him a hug and say "Where is Caitlin?", and you move the monkey away from your face so we can see you! It's really cute. We put the Christmas tree up, and so far, you are not interested. We have a couple toys that play Christmas music and dance, and when we play those, you just stare at them. You just aren't sure what to think about them.

There's not much new to discuss when it comes to sleeping. You're in bed by 7/7:30 every night, and you sleep for 11-12 hours. It is amazing, and we are so proud of you. You sleep with your bunny lovey, and you usually talk yourself to sleep. We think you love to hear your voice and it's really cute to listen to you (which we usually do while we eat dinner each night). While you're talking, you roll back and forth and wrestle with your bunny and once you get settled, you suck your thumb and hold onto either your bunny or your sleep sack. We love to check on you to see all the crazy positions that you end up in. You're doing ok with naps during the day. You usually take 3 naps a day, and lately, they've all been about an hour to an hour and a half each, but some days, you take 30 minute naps and some days, your naps are longer (up to two and a half hours). Occasionally, you'll take 2 naps a day when you take long naps. You still seem to like bathtime, and you're sitting up in your tub a little longer each night.

We've had another amazing month with you and can't wait to see what the next month brings! We love you so much and are so proud of you!!

Love you like no other,

Mommy

Here are your 6 month pictures with your bear. There were so many good ones, I just couldn't choose! You are such a happy girl, and it helped that Daddy was there to make you smile!