The Loflands: SIX Months!

Liesl Penelope, you are SIX months old!!!!

I can't believe we have been a family of four for half a year now. It feels like you've always been here, but at the same time you still feel like my teeny tiny little baby. I don't know where the last 6 months have gone.

Maybe you feel like my little baby because you are turning into a peanut! Your stats have gone WAY down, but you're still healthy as can be. Your pedi just thinks you're going to be petite like me - sorry bout that. I promise to always get your jeans hemmed :)

At your 6 month appointment the other day you weighed 14 lbs. 10 oz. (25th %) and are 26.5 inches long (also 25%). However your head circumference did not disappoint measuring in the 75th percentile! You are wearing 3-6 and 6-12 month clothing depending on the brand and I guess a size 1 shoe. Your jellies that you wear nearly everyday are 0-3 month and fit perfectly - you have tiny tootsies! I think I need to hoard a size 3-6 for the summer though because I love them so much. You are in a size 2 diaper.

You are still exclusively nursing. I introduced a sippy cup to you the other day because after trying 6 different bottles and various nipples of different size, shape, material and flow, the doctor has confirmed that you are indeed a little miss stubborn-pants. Many, MANY attempts by many different people have all yielded the same results when it comes to giving you a bottle, so we are moving on. You nurse 5-6 times a day and can go as long as 4-5 hours in between but it's usually right around 3.

You eat one meal a day in the evening, but I'm going to try and introduce a morning meal pretty soon. It's been hard making it a habit with our busy schedule, but I need to expand your palette and that will only happen by eating more often! Right now you scarf carrots, tolerate pears, and like to gnaw on whole bananas. You also prefer all your food to be slightly heated. #diva

Sleep has been WORLDS better this month! You are now sleeping and napping in your crib, unswaddled, in your room and nights are going wonderfully. You go to sleep around 10pm and will sleep until at least 9 on your own, but typically even later. I've had to start waking you up this week to get Liam to school, so we will need to do some adjusting here pretty soon.

Naps are a different story. You take a morning nap if I have to wake you up, and that just happens wherever we are. If you sleep in late, then you skip that nap and just take your afternoon nap. I try to always be home for that one so you can get a good chunk in. On a great day you and Liam sleep at the same time and you will nap 2-3 hours. On a good day you and Liam sleep at the same time and you will nap about 1 hour. On a bad day you sleep 20 minutes and cry before and after and sometimes wake Liam up from his nap. Thankfully, we mostly have good days. :) You also always take a cat nap in the evenings and 90% of the time it's in Daddy's arms.

This month has been a big one for milestones! I wrote a more detailed post HERE, but this month you rolled back to belly (3/9) and are now fully sitting up! Your pedi was very impressed with your sitting skills at your appointment and predicted you will an early crawler. I am PRAYING she is wrong, ha! Not because I don't want you developing, but because my mama heart can't take it and I feel like time is just racing by. If I could go re-live one week of newborn Liesl I so would! Your Daddy and I do love watching you grow and learn new things though, and we are so, so proud of every little thing you do!

You are also sleeping in your crib starting 3/6. We still have your empty cradle in our room, but will be disassembling it very soon.

You are SO SMILEY! You are in the phase right now where it's so easy to get a smile out of you and you smile with your WHOLE face. I love it and so does just about anyone that meets you, ha! You are also blowing bubbles galore and have been blowing raspberries with your lips for a while, but are now sticking your tongue out and really going to town.

You are grabbing and examining everything even more now that your coordination is getting better. If I put my face in front of you, you will reach for my nose and cheeks and just explore. Nothing is safe if it's even remotely within your reach. (My spilled glass of champagne is proof of that...)

Not only are you reaching for your toys, Liam's toy's, my hair, and alcoholic beverages, but you are reaching for ME! According to Daddy you've reached for him a time or two as well, but mostly it's for me and you lunge with your whole body!

You are still babbling up a storm, and I am starting to recognize some consonant sounds. I've definitely heard bababa, gagaga, maaaaybe a dadada once or twice but the verdict is still out on that one, and a mum-mum-mum which is pretty darn close to mama! One of our favorite things about you is that you sing yourself to sleep just like your brother did. It's our biggest cue that you're ready for sleep because you will start humming to yourself and will sing yourself to sleep in our arms. We both think it's just about the cutest thing our babies have ever done.