Six months old!!!

Our sweet girl turned 6 months old on April 13!!  That is half of a year people!!  

doesn't she look like such a big girl in this pic???

Firsts this month
Blakely's first time celebrating mama's birthday/St. Patrick's day

First time drinking out of a sippy cup

Blakely rolled from back to belly for the first time on 4-2-12.  She has only done this a handful of times.  She hasn't figured out (or doesn't care) that rolling can get her places.  

She started sitting up without assistance on 4-3-12.  Since then she never wants to be laying down...just sitting up.  

What mom?  I'm busy!

This is what happens when you try to make her lay down

First Easter

First boat ride!!!!

First time swinging

First time to go to church

First time trying solid food (besides cereal)

Feeding:  I am still exclusively breastfeeding.  She nurses 6 times a day, sometimes 7.  We were giving her one bottle a day, but now we are giving her one every other day or every third day.  I am doing this to help store up more milk...because you know I am total wreck about my milk!  There are many reasons why I want to store more milk, but I will save all of that for its own post.  I am pretty confidant that I will continue nursing her until she is one year old.  It is going so well I just don't want to stop.  I am able to provide this for her so I feel like I should.  I have lots of feelings about this but, seriously, I should save it for another post.  She is seriously distracted while nursing these days.  I have started taking her down to her room and feeding her in the glider and that has seemed to help.  If I stay upstairs she hops off the boob at every noise.  Then I end up spraying her in the face while trying to shove it back in her mouth.  Fun times....

This month Blakely has tried avocado, squash (acorn), carrots, and green beans...in that order.  She is doing much better now with the spoon and actually leans in to get a bite sometimes. I have been trying to be more consistent with giving her the solids and I think that is paying off.  We tried green beans last night and she LOVED them.  She still doesn't really seem to like cereal, rice or oatmeal.  I don't feel like her tastes are that developed yet so I am wondering if maybe it is the time of day I am giving her the cereal?  Anyway, the doctor said since she is breastfed she does need the cereal for the iron.  He said I could mix it with whatever veggie I am giving her.  So I think I will start trying that once a day.  

ehhh...not sure about it

I have been making all of her food and it is surprisingly SO SO EASY!  Yesterday I bought 4 acorn squash.  Then I baked then, smashed them, and put them in an ice tray.  Now I have enough squash for her for a long while!  Easy peasy....and cheap!  I also did green beans and carrots.  I actually enjoy it.  

Sleeping:  B is still a great sleeper, although we had a bit of a setback this month.  It is all my fault really.  I tried to change up her schedule and she let me know that was so not cool.  We had been putting her to bed at 9 every night for a long time.  She always took a cat nap...10-20 minutes...at 6:45.  Then she would eat at 715 and then 9 before bed.  Well she stopped taking that nap and was super sleeping at 8-830.  So I decided to start putting her down at 8. For the first 3 night she slept from 8 at night to 8 in the morning!  I was so excited.  Then all hell broke loose.  She woke up at 2 or 3 the next four nights, then again at 4 or 5.  Now, she has totally spoiled me, I know.  She hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night since she was about 2 1/2 months old.  I was dead tired and thinking omg what have I done???  After about 2 weeks she would sleep 8-4.  At 4 I would feed her and she would go back to sleep until about 630.  Well I am not a morning person and this was starting to wear on me.  So I went back to putting her down at 9...about a week ago.  She is sleeping great.  She will sleep until about 630 or 7, eat, and then sleep until 830 or 9.  Thank God...

Around that time I also started focusing more on getting her to take good naps.  When she naps good she sleeps longer at night.  I have been trying to put her down in the crib at least twice a day for nap.  She has started taking a great afternoon nap, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours!  Heck yeah!  Morning nap is so so.

Diapers:  We are still in cloth all day and then a disposable at night.  We are going on vacation in a couple of weeks and staying in a condo that has a washer.  I am going to use cloth on vacation and I am a little nervous about it!  I'll let y'all know how it goes :)

Clothing:  Blakely wears some 6 month stuff but mostly 9 month clothes.  I think 9 month pants would probably be too big but since it is so warm she never has to wear pants!  Speaking of clothes, I made my first dress for her!!!  My mother in law is teaching me how to sew...not sure if I have mentioned that or not.  She got me a sewing machine for my birthday and I made her a dress for our vacation.  I am pumped about this!!

Weight:  15 pounds 15 oz.  I thought she would weigh more and was a little worried until I talked to the doctor and he showed me the charts.  She is right in the 50th percentile and doing just fine :)  

Height:  She was 26 inches long this morning.That is just above the 50th percentile.  


Hair:  It has thinned out quite a bit but she has a ton that is starting to grow back in.  It looks really light..maybe light light brown or strawberry blonde?  Hard to tell.  She still has some long hair in the front and then a big ole patch of dark hair on the back really low.  

Eyes:  blue blue blue!  This picture is the best one that shows her eye color.

Dr Appt:  We went today and he said she was doing perfectly!  A mama always loves to hear this.  She got her last round of shots until she is one!  YAY!  SHe did a great job with them too.  She screamed hen she was getting them, of course, but as soon as I picked her up she stopped.  When we got home she went to sleep and has been napping ever since.  Almost 2 hours!  Which is why I have time to write this post ;)

whiny face...

Daily Routine:  Our daily routine hasn't changed much.  Like I said, she eats about 6-7 times a day.  She takes a morning nap (30-45 min) at about 10 or 1030.  Then she takes and afternoon nap around 3 (1 1/2 to 2 hours).  She goes down for the night at 9pm.  

Favorite Toy:  This month, her favorite toy is, BY FAR, a damn red solo cup.  Who knew??She gets so excited when she sees it.  We give it to her in the bath tub and it just gives her fits!  

this is a good one of the dark patch of hair!

A few other things about Blakely at 6 months old that I don't want to forget...ever.  

• How when she gets excited she moves her arms and legs all over the place and gets this look on her face that screams...I AM SO EXCITED AND I CAN BARELY STAND IT, MOM!!!!  So cute...
• The noises she makes when she nurses.  I have taken quite a few videos lately of this because I want to remember what it was like.  Before my milk lets down she will whine whine whine.  Then when she gets the milk she is such a loud nurser!  Smacking away!
• How after I feed her she loves to play on my chest while we are face to face.  She gives me kisses, pulls my hair, plays with my shirt.  We usually take pictures or videos to send to daddy at work.  

• How much she loves her daddy and gives him the biggest grin when he gets home from work every day.  And then they sit like this for the rest of the night!  

• How she has really bonded with her Grand Di (my mom)

• How she sleeps in "the position".  Her head turned to the right with her right arm above her head.  Her left arm draped over her face.  
• How she puts herself to sleep by sucking on the back of her left hand.  Sometimes she will be so tired that her hand doesn't even make it up to her mouth and she makes a couple sucking noises and she is out!  
• How she can say mamamamamama, dadadadadadadada, bababababababa, gagagagagaga, and yayayayayaya.  Sometimes she will even say mamagagadada.  Her favorite is dadadada though.  I can't wait until she actually says it and knows what she means!  
• How she loves to play with my phone.  
• How she loves to watch videos of herself.  She laughs out loud at those!
• How she loves the Bonanza theme song.  Don't ask me why but she loves it for real.  
• How I just know that she is going to love roller coasters just like me.  She loves to be "dropped", thrown in the air, spooked, and startled. 

Dear sweet Blakely, 

I can't believe you have been in our lives for half of a year already.  You have grown up so fast.  You are a wiggly, happy, energetic baby.  Everyone always asks me if you smile like that all the time and I tell them YES!  You will smile at anyone...the checker at the store, the person behind us at the restaurant.  You just give them that grin and they start laughing every time.  You have changed my life in a way that I didn't even know was possible.  Thank you so much for that.  I am so proud of you, sweet pea, so so proud.  I am lucky to be your mommy and I try every day to be the best mommy I can be.  Love you bunches, my little pea pod.  

Mommy