6 Months

 Look who is 6 months old???

 This sweet girl!

So here is what is going on with Sweet T!  She weighed in at 12 lbs 6 oz on her 6 month birthday and when we went in for her 6 month checkup a week later she weighed 12 lbs 8 oz.  Back at her 4 month appointment she was in the 5th percentile for weight and doc said if she didn't maintain that percentile we'd have to possibly look at supplementing her.  I knew she was falling in the percentiles because I weigh her every couple days.  I was right..she didn't even make it on the growth chart for this appointment :(  I've tried not to stress too much about this because she is a HAPPY baby, she's doing all the right things developmentally, and she sleeps great.  There is nothing concerning in her behavior at all...girl just can't gain weight and she'll appreciate that when she's older!!!  For now he wants me to feed her a small bottle every time after I feed her and see if she can't put on a little more weight.  Her head and length measurements are increasing just as they should (about 25th percentile) so it's just some lbs that she needs.  I have a small stash of frozen milk so we'll start with that but he also gave me 8 cans of formula (he was referring to it as muscle milk..haha) and I'll have to start using some of that as well since we'll be traveling in a week and I can't travel with my frozen milk.  I'm totally fine with putting her on some formula..I can't believe I made it this long without having to supplement.  We'll see how things go and if she starts to put on weight a little faster...for now I'm loving my little bean!!!  She's starting to grow out of the 3 month sleepers and is fitting a little better in some of the 3-6 months clothes.  She's still in size 2 diapers!

 She's still sleeping great!!!  She sleeps 10-12 hours at night...usually going down around 7 or 8 and sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00.  Shortly after she turned 5 months she started rolling over in her bed so I thought it was time to get her out of the swaddle.  We tried it one day and it just didn't work....she kept rolling over on her belly and getting ticked off about it.  So I decided not to mess up what was working and I put her back in the swaddle with both arms out and I put the wedge back in her bed to keep her from getting on her belly.  She can roll over both ways but in her bed she just immediately gets mad when she gets on her belly rather than just rolling back over.  Silly girl!  For now her routine is to have her legs swaddled, have her Wubbanub, and to be laid on her back at bedtime.  She likes to roll on her side and quickly gets herself to sleep!  She's mainly napping in her bed now...she hasn't been in the swing in a long time.  She of course naps in her carrier when we are out and about but she doesn't stay asleep well in there unless we are driving.  She often times falls asleep in the car and then as soon as I go to get the carrier out she pops up wide awake and with a huge grin...it could have been 2 minutes or 30 minutes...it doesn't matter!  Thankfully she always wakes up happy and she just goes with the flow.  When we are home she takes 1-2 hour naps but being the second child that doesn't always happen!  She usually gets at least one good nap in her bed every day and sometimes when we don't have a lot going on she'll get all three naps in there.  I think she's starting to work on losing that third nap but we'll see!

 I started feeding her solids this month since she did so well with her rice cereal all last month.  I started her a little early just to see if it might help her gain a little weight but it didn't really bulk her up.  She has enjoyed most everything she has had and I have made all of her food and it's been so fun!  We have a great farmer's market by our house with fresh produce and that's what I have used.  I still have just fed her once a day, in the evenings, and she has had apples, pears, bananas (not her fav), avocado, zucchini (her fav veggie), carrots, mango, and cantaloupe (hated it).  I have just been mixing her cereal in with whatever she has for dinner and sometimes mixing the foods up too.

She started sitting up really well earlier this month and now she's a pro.  I can sit her up with some toys and she's very stable.  She still topples every now and then but it never bothers her!  She still loves to stand and sometimes when you go to set her down it's hard because she won't bend her legs...silly girl!  She has also started really giggling and I love it.  She still chooses when she's going to have a giggle fest.  One day Riley and I got her going and then all of a sudden she just stopped.  She was still smiling and loving all the tickles but no more giggles.  It's a trick she just likes to pull out of the bag when she chooses...maybe signs of a girl who likes to be in control?? :)  She's scooting and rolling all over the place...changing her diaper is tricky!  She doesn't move far but she sure does move!  She is quite vocal...always making some sort of noise and most of the time it's her favorite high pitched squeal that could break glass!  The nursery at church doesn't take babies until they are 6 months old and we had to skip church this last week because she is just too loud.  They have a family area but it's so distracting and it just seemed like we were physically there but not mentally so we're ready to get back to church and let Tessa squeal away in the nursery!!!  She's not getting any teeth yet but is gnawing on everything so I'm sure they are working their way down.

She is just a joy!  Her smile lights up a room and your day and she gives out smiles all day long!  Riley is so sweet with her and many mornings wants to pretend that it's her baby.  That is fun but when Riley plays pretend she's serious so sometimes I have to step in.  The best times are when Riley gets her baby Sally and we play moms together.  She feeds Sally while I feed Tessa...sweet times with my girls!  Riley is so excited to see Tessa in the morning and Tessa is excited to see her too!  Riley still wants Tessa with us all the time and I love that! 

Here's the comparison pic of my two girls!