Happy Half a Year, Emmeline!

Emmeline is 6 Months Old!

October 26th, 2011

Wow. Time sure flies when you're having fun...or busy with a baby! What a crazy rollercoaster ride we have been on for the past 6 months. Well, it was a rollercoaster, but thankfully it leveled off quite a bit in the past couple months! I know everyone says life with a baby gets better and better, but it really does. 6 months old is by far my favorite time so far. I love how alert you are and how much you interact with us. You are so smiley and laugh all the time. It is a great laugh! You act like you "know" what we are saying when we talk to you. You are so smart. Obviously.

At 6 months old, you are still a little peanut of a girl. You are still wearing some 3 month clothes and some 3-6 month and 6 month things. You hair is growing like crazy lately, so that's fun -- and it's coming in BLONDE! What?! Your daddy had white blonde hair when he was little, so I wonder if you will have the same. You still have that patch of dark brown hair at the base of your head from when you were born. I am hoping we will have enough hair on top of your head by Christmas for you to wear a little bow ;)

You are such a funny girl. You love to entertain us and do funny things. Your favorite is a game you have played for quite a while with your bib. You love to pull it up over your face and "hide" from us. In the past, we used to have to pull the bib down from you face, but now you can do it yourself. You put it over your face and I'll say "Emmeline?! Where's Emmeline?!" and then you pull your bib down and I say "There she is!" and you just laugh and kick. Speaking of kicking... you NEVER stop moving. You are always kicking your legs and flapping your arms, yet you do not roll around much or try to crawl. You just like to be in motion constantly. You now do a "bucking bronco" move while in your Bumbo seat like you are trying to jump out of it backwards. It's funny and quite scary!

I finally bit the bullet and bought you an exersaucer this month. Those things are so expensive and I just couldn't bear the thought of spending 100+ dollars on a big pile of plastic, so we went to Bubble's Kids consignment shop in Greensboro and they had plenty to choose from. I got you a Bright Starts brand that isn't too obnoxious looking at the toys looked fun. You are kind of hit or miss with it right now, but are enjoying figuring out how all the toys work.

You are still quite chatty and love to talk/sing and blow bubbles. You are such a ham. You talk when you get tired and first thing in the morning. I tell your Dad that you are the best alarm clock I've ever heard. You are all "lalalalala" first thing in the morning. When I go in your room to get you up and say "Good morning!" you just start waving your arms like a mad woman. I love that you are excited to see me!

You aren't quite sitting up on your own yet, but can sit for a bit sometimes if I prop you up just right. Like I said, you are always in motion and looking at things, so you tend to topple over pretty quickly. I am sure you will have it perfected soon!

In the world of food, you have tried rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, and pears. You are typically having 4 bottles a day with 6-8 ounces in each and then I give you oatmeal in the morning and rice cereal and a veggie in the evening. I am still working on introducing you to all the foods. You seem to like everything I've given you so far, without much preference for one or the other. Obviously you liked the sweet pears more than the veggies.

As far as your schedule goes, you are waking up around 7, taking 2 good naps during the day and sometimes one cat nap in the evening. You get your bath around 6:30 and your last bottle between 7 and 730 and go right to bed. (All thanks to http://www.momsoncall.com/)  You are sleeping in a sleepsack now with your arms free. The transition to this was pretty seamless and I think you enjoy having your arms free. I was afraid you would have too much freedom and just play all the time, but that's not the case. We love to look at you on the monitor with your arms just flailed out to the side. You look like you are sleeping SO good.

This month we have taken you to some football games. Yay! We went to Homecoming to tailgate and see lots of our friends. You did pretty well other than some moments of fussiness because you were missing your catnap and it was chilly and mommy didn't dress you appropriately. Daddy went in to the game, but I took you home because it was past your bedtime. You got to actually go into a game when Wake played at Duke. I figured this would be a good venue for you and you really did great. You sat for almost the entire first half and just looked around and let us hold you. At the half, I took you to the parking lot to ride you in your stroller since it was nap time.

You always like to be part of the action. If we are out and about doing something, you want to be awake so you don't miss anything. You are an absolute joy to be around. I think you are such a good/easy-going baby, but I really have absolutely nothing to compare you to. You really go with the flow and are pretty flexible with what we are doing. I could go on and on about the fun we are having with you this month. I know it will just keep getting better!

We go to the doctor tomorrow for your 6 month well visit and shots. EEK! I will update your stats then.

Dear Emmeline,
Thank you for teaching us to relax more and enjoy life every day. You bring so much joy to us and we can't imagine a life without you. With that joy also comes plenty of fear at the same time. I always want to protect you and keep you safe. I can't imagine if anything ever happened to you. You make us realize how precious life is!! We can't wait to see what the next 6 months has in store.
Love,

Mommy and Daddy

6 Month Stats:

Weight-15 lbs 4 ounces

Height- 25"

3-6/6 month clothes

Size 2 diapers

**ETA: You did great with your shots. Of course you yelled and did the "silent scream" when getting the shots, but then were fine once they were over. You are napping peacefully now!**