6 Month Milestones



Another month has gone by, bringing with it even more changes and developement in our sweet baby girl.  Is she really six months old already?!  Where did the time go??  It seems like every day Addyson is doing something new that makes Brian and I laugh.  Watching her grow is the most incredible experience - I just LOVE being her mommy!!



The 'growl'

Addy started sitting up on her own without anyone holding on to her around 5 months.  Now she sits and plays like a big girl on her "play mat" (aka grandma's quilt), raking various toys towards her and, usually, into her mouth.  Everything is now fair game to suck on, gnaw on, bite down on in her eyes, even (much to my dismay) mommy during eating time.  OUCH.  Thank GOD her teeth haven't come in yet!  But they are not too far away...she is teething like crazy and we're just now starting to see a few little tooth buds swelling in her lower front teeth area.  We just started sticking water-filled binkies in the freezer and that seems to help, at least while she has the patience to use it.  Patience is not our daughter's strong suit...  She learned how to 'growl' at us and uses that technique to let us know she is bored or generally not pleased with something.  It's especially in full-force whenever she's constrained - stroller, car seat, bumbo - she doesn't discriminate.  If it holds her in place, she wants no part of it.  This goes for cuddles as well if she's not in the mood.  We get the shake of the head and the hand to the chest, pushing us away.  I can almost hear her saying, "Moooooommmm, stooopppp!!"  But one of the most heart-melting things she has started doing is actually cuddling back.  She'll bury her head into our shoulder and wrap her arms around our neck.  Absolutely the most amazing thing in the world!

Addyson finally started sleeping 'through the night', which actually means until 3 or 4am but apparently that's considered 'through the night' when she goes to sleep at 7pm.  Hey, I'll take it!  She'll start rolling around in her crib and we get her up for a mid-night meal.  When she's done eating, she immediately reaches up and starts touching my face and cooing at me - makes waking up in the middle of the night soooo worth it!  She continues to coo and talk to daddy as he changes her and puts her back to bed - I just listen to her on the monitor and Brian and I get a good little giggle when he comes back to bed.  "She's so frickin' cute!" is spoken by one of us at least once in the middle of the night.  Faces are a new facination for Addy.  She loves to play with our cheeks, noses, ears and lips, most of the time just touching and exploring but watch out when her nails need to be trimmed and she decides to grab a fist-full of your face!  She's actually pretty good at night.  We have a bedtime routine that we do each night and she definitely knows it's time for night-night.  We feed her her 'people food' (solids), followed by bath time, then singing around the kitchen island with mommy.  We end the night with a feeding and then read a book or two before daddy changes her diaper and puts her down in her crib.  Not a whimper comes from her, she either goes right into what we call 'baby Jesus mode' - arms spread, straight on her back - or rolls around and talks to her stuffed animals for a few minutes before falling asleep. 

Our nighttime routine is so much fun. :)  No surprise that she is a great eater - there hasn't been a food she's turned down yet!  We started with avocado, then rice cereal, followed by peas, green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes in that order.  Last week I gave her some avocado, which she hadn't had since she first started solids.  When she first tried them they were a hit.  Not the case this time!  She decided she didn't like avocado and proceeded to gag when I tried to give her another bite.  It was pretty funny.  She does, however, love her some sweet potatoes!  Let's hope that doesn't mean she inherited my sweet tooth.  Fruits are next on our list and we can't wait to see her reaction to something sweeter!  Bathtime is becoming increasingly entertaining.  She helps me turn the water on and gets really excited when I start undressing her.  Now that she is sitting up, she really enjoys playtime in the tub and has learned she can splash with her feet and hands.  No matter what nifty bath toys I offer her, the washcloth remains her favorite thing to play with and suck on.  Getting her in her jammies is one of Brian's favorite things, and I laugh watching them talk to each other while she gets ready for bed.  Playing with and holding her feet is a constant thing when she is on her back - those are the best toys ever as far as she's concerned!  Makes getting a diaper on her pretty difficult though!  Once she's ready, mommy takes over and we sing around the kitchen.  She's definitely got a love for music and has started singing with me, cooing along and kicking her feet in excitement.  Absolutely adorable!  Singing is definitely our go-to technique when we have grumble goose on our hands - this is our name for her when she growls at everything and just wants to be fussy.  Singing always makes it better. :)  After she nurses, we read a book...or two or three...  She is really starting to enjoy reading books and lays with me and stares in wonder as we read, reaching out to help me hold the book and flip the page.  Last night, in fact, we stared reading earlier than normal so I read multiple books to her to kill time before she went to bed.  We read Huggle Buggle, Plant a Kiss, My Very Own Name and then Peek-A-Who, our final book each night, 3 or 4 times.  I put Peek-A-Who down and started to get up with her and was given an indignent cry immediately.  I sat back down and asked if she wanted to read it one more time...as I opened the book she laughed!  Definitely the first time I've seen her do anything like that and I couldn't help but laugh myself!  We read it one last time and this time when I got up she was perfectly content and ready for bed.  Just within the last week she has figured out that she can roll onto her belly and thinks it's a good idea to roll over and try to sleep with her face pressed into the mattress.  The first night she did this Brian and I got ZERO sleep, constantly checking the monitor and going in to flip her onto her back multiple times throughout the night.  I'm sure she would be fine if we left her alone but it totally freaks me out thinking she might not be able to breath.  She hasn't quite figured out that she can flip back over, even though she's done it a few times, so when she gets stuck on her belly and we haven't caught it on the monitor yet she lets us know.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time before she's rolling all over the house... Time to start baby-proofing! 



the scrunchy face


Addy is just such a joy and so much fun!  Her little personality is coming out more and more each day.  She makes it known when she's hungry, growling at us to let us know it's time to eat.  She has started doing this new scrunchy face, scrunching up her nose and sniffing multiple times, almost like she's imitating a rabbit.  I have no idea where she got that from but it's pretty hysterical.  Just within the last few days she has learned how to actually bounce in her bouncer and loves to play in it.  It's also MY new favorite toy since it actually keeps her occupied for more than 30 seconds so I can get something done!  She continues to be facinated by Lucia more each day, always wanting to 'pet' her, which usually ends with her having a fist-full of Lucia's hair, poor dog.  Lucia takes it like a champ though and is just as smitten with Addy.  If Addy is squaking in  her crib, Lucia will come get us and stand at the door, pawing at it until we open it so she can run in and check on her sister.  Those two are pretty darn cute together.  We had Addy's six month pictures done and did a family photo shoot last weekend and I am DYING to get the pictures back!  We are just loving every minute of being parents and can't wait to see what's in store next!