I can't believe our baby is half a year old! It really feels like just yesterday I was accepting the fact that I was actually in labor and telling Charlie to take me to the hospital because they had air conditioning.This month, Josie's big milestone has been learning to sit! She now sits alone and is relatively steady. If I put the boppy behind her for support she will sit for a while and play with toys within her reach. The problem comes when they are out of her reach and then she leans for them, falls over and then can't move from that position. She prefers sitting to laying down but doesn't seem too upset (yet) when I place her on her back to play.
She is also very grabby now. (See picture to the left). No longer can I sit her on my lap at a meal because everything in front of me is in jeopardy. At my work Christmas party she took a swipe at a mini cupcake I was holding, got some icing on it and shoved it in her mouth. I freaked out, grabbed her hand and fish-hooked all the icing I could out of her mouth. Well, she's obviously my child- going straight for the icing. She has also learned how to stick her tongue out and is pretty much the most adorable thing ever. She doesn't do it on command but she'll play with her tongue by sticking it in and out, I assume running it over her gums. For a week or so I thought she was teething (and maybe she is) but there are still no teeth in sight. Who really knows?!
This month has been a little more difficult, mostly from the combination of worrying about my supply and Josie's continuing short naps. All month I would think my supply is rebounding and then I'd weigh her and she wasn't as heavy as I thought she's be and the cycle would repeat. I think FINALLY my supply had mostly increased to meet her demands. Over the last week there have been significantly less times in which I need to give her a bottle after I nurse her and the past couple days she's only gotten one after I nurse her before going to bed (I think she really excepts this bottle now).
The naps have been equally frustrating. Half an hour to 45 mins at a time, occasionally a blissful 1.5 hour nap thrown in there but with no predictability or regularity. These are not long enough for her and by the end of the day she would be a tired, hot mess. In the late afternoon/evening I would not be able to put her down or leave her immediate side without screaming and tears. Just in the last two days she seems to be FINALLY getting past the short nap development stage. Yesterday and today (her 6 month birthday) she took a 1.5 hour morning nap and then a longer 2nd nap (about an hour-ish). Josie seems to be quite the textbook baby when it comes to her sleep as this is exactly how the development of sleep is described in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. This book has been really helpful to me in understanding what is appropriate for her age and how to help her get the sleep she needs. The book's author (a pediatrician) explains that first, babies' nighttime sleep pattern develops (done!) then the daytime sleep pattern develops, beginning with the morning nap and then the afternoon nap. So it appears she's getting her morning nap in order and then the afternoon will soon follow. Hallelujah! I actually prayed this weekend that her naps would get better soon because we had a few particularly bad, cranky evenings after she took a 30 minute nap and two 20 minute naps and THAT WAS IT. I was also very cranky by the time Charlie came home. Hopefully this recent napping development is the answer to my prayers. :) |
| Josie Caldwell is unimpressed |
We are also going to be introducing solid foods to Josie this week! Her 6 month appointment is on Thursday and I want to wait to get the final "go-ahead" from our pediatrician. At her 5 month appointment the doc noted that we should hold off on solids till we're sure the milk supply issue is under control. She didn't want solids replacing the essential nutrients in breast milk simply in the name of gaining weight. So on Thursday Josie will be getting her first food: avocado! I also have some winter squash and pumpkin already pureed and ready to go in the freezer. We received both through out CSA and I was running out of ways I wanted to prepare squash! Hopefully she likes squash because we have quite a few baby servings. Food and nutrition are both interesting and important to me so I'm very excited to be able to introduce Josie to solid food. I hope that we are able to give her a base for enjoying a wide range of foods. I was apparently a good eater as a baby but then became very picky as I got older. I have since greatly expanded my palate and there aren't many things I don't like anymore (I ate and enjoyed green beans at Christmas dinner. And I would now list kale as one of my top favorite foods). I hope Josie will learn to love many healthy foods and not inherit my previously picky palate.
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| Heart. melting. |
Our photo session for this month was a family affair as you'll see in the pictures. I love the one above and a couple we got with Paisley. Pais is so good with Josie and just takes the random fur pulls and lip grabs in stride, only occasionally "striking back" with a face lick.
6 Months
Milestones: Sitting up by herself, sticking her tongue out, saying more consonant sounds
Likes: Bath time, Paisley, funny faces (especially puffing out your cheeks), being kissed on her neck while making a "snarfing" noise (this almost always gets a laugh)
Dislikes: Being tired, being in the back of the car by herself, being in the stroller without something to play with
Weight: Around 13.5 pounds (will know officially on Thursday). She's a skinny mini!
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| There's that tongue! |
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| Sitting so pretty |
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| Mommy's got my foot! |
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| Our baby and our furbaby |
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| Face lick! |
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| "you said WHAT?!" |
1 comment:
The picture of Charlie kissing the top of Josie's head ;-)
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