6 Months

I really cannot believe that my baby is 6 months old! I know that I literally say it every month... but this one has been my favorite by far. I love getting to know Lydia more and more each day; to catch glimpses of her personality, to be able to discern what she wants or needs, and to experience her affection towards me. As sad as it sometimes makes me that she is halfway to being a year old, and further from a newborn each day it truly is a miracle to see her grow and develop.

Her stats: At her 6 month appointment on June 18th Lydia was 25 1/2 inches long (30th percentile), 15 lbs and 14 oz (45th percentile), and her head was in the 75th percentile! It is that big brain in there :) No teeth have broken through but her gums are so hard. Hopefully there will be some teeth there soon so she can really start eating. She is moving quickly into 6-9 months clothes, but 3-6 month stuff can still fit.

Eating: Lydia still really loves to eat. She nurses every 1.5-2 hours for 5-10 minutes. I love this breastfeeding schedule - it really beats her eating for 45 minutes straight! We are getting so much more comfortable together and nursing feels easy and natural at this point. I am so, so glad that I stuck with it through the hard times. She eats about 7-8 times during the day and usually only once at night.

After we talk to the pediatrician we will get serious about introducing some solid food. This past month I read the book Baby-Led Weaning and absolutely loved it (Thanks Katie G.!!) Basically the book talks about how if you wait until 6 months to introduce solid food there is no real need for purees (aka baby food). The idea is that you can start them right away with table food - as long as it is the right size, shape and texture. This allows them to learn to grab the food themselves, bring it to their mouth, develop their chewing skills and decide how much food they want. I like the idea because of convenience, and I love the idea that Lydia can just eat what we do! Over the past month we have started to let her taste some things and she has loved melon, strawberries, banana, asparagus, broccoli, yogurt, bread, and ice cream. My brother thinks it is hilarious to give her lemon, but she doesn't care for it, and she hated the 2 times when we tried rice cereal. As we venture into the Baby-Led Weaning approach you can count on an update :)

Sleeping: You can read about how we got Lydia to sleep in her crib here. Now things are going very smoothly. If we are being good, responsible parents we start Lydia's bedtime routine at 7. She is sleeping by 7:45 and might wake up around 9 crying, but she is easy to put back to sleep. On good nights Lydia wakes up once to eat (around 3) and on bad nights she wakes up twice (1 and 5), and she is usually awake for the day around 8.

She takes three naps during the day and together they total about 3.5 hours. Naps are somewhat random - sometimes she nurses to sleep, for others she takes a pacifier and for others she falls asleep in the car. They are taken in her swing, crib, car seat and in the extra bedroom at Nana's house just depending on the day.

What she loves: Rooney, Jasmine, sitting on the floor and playing with toys, music, being outside, food, drinking (or mostly spitting out) ice water from a glass.

What she hates: Being sleepy, her car seat (sometimes), her stroller (most of the time), being held facing in, having to wait to nurse.

Personality/Milestones: Lydia is sitting up very well now, although just this past week she fell forward onto a hard floor and I felt terrible! In general though she holds herself up wonderfully and it is so nice to be able to set her in her room as she grabs at her toys. She has so much more control over objects and everything she picks up goes straight to her mouth. She is fascinated by tags and tries to grab them in between her thumb and pointer finger (which apparently is a bit of a milestone as far as grabbing goes). Her giggles come more often now and she smiles all the time which is so, so sweet.

Lydia isn't very interested in rolling over still. She has done it a few more times but it isn't consistent. When we put her on her belly she seems more interested in maybe starting to crawl. She straightens her arms and tries to pull her knees up under her. As exciting as this is I must say that I am in no rush for her to become mobile.

In the last 10 days or so Lydia has really started communicating in her own way. She growls, opens her mouth wide and smile-laugh-coughs when she sees someone she recognizes, and our girl is starting to make different noises and shapes with her mouth. When we talk she studies our mouths closely and I am trying so hard to get her to say "mama"! It is amazing to see her desire to communicate with the people around her. She studies anyone and everyone and loves to be around new people and new situations (until she is sleepy - then she wants mommy and her crib). Lydia is very... particular, and when she isn't getting what she wants she definitely lets you know. It is so funny to think that this little 6 month old baby has preferences, expectations and a little bit of a temper.

Heaven-sent baby items: Muslin blankets!! They are breathable, light swaddle blankets. We have the ones found here. I love these blankets; they are perfect for summer and they are what I use to swaddle her for her naps when we are somewhere warm or as a nursing cover.

A stroller/car seat fan. We found one at Babies R Us and even though it isn't super powerful it definitely helps to give Lydia some much needed circulation while she sits in the back seat or hangs out at the pool.

Words from Daddy: It's cool because I have been actually getting some smiles this week when Lydia sees me. Also, yesterday morning I was acting all goofy and for the first time she thought it was funny, rather than staring at me thinking, "I guess this is just how people act..." She is sitting up like a pro and it has been neat to see how she is gradually getting better at all of the little things that she is able to do, like picking up blocks, reaching for object, and catching herself when she is about to fall. You often hear that dads find it hard to feel close and connected with babies, because their mothers are so important. But it has been a lot easier than I was expecting to feel close to and excited about Lydia, which is awesome.

Such great words from Daddy on the eve of his first Father's Day. I hope that you enjoy tomorrow and that you celebrate the dads in your life well!!