Almost two weeks ago our little lady turned six months old!  I can’t believe we’ve been parents for half of a year already!  Dusty took Annabelle to her 6-month checkup and came home with all kinds of information for me.  I had written a list of questions for the doctor about food, breast feeding, sleeping, etc. and Dusty was so great about asking all of my (somewhat crazy) questions.  Annabelle is 15 lbs, 6 oz and 27 inches long.  She’s in the 34th percentile for weight and 88th percentile for height.  In the past 2 months she’s gained 7 oz and grown 1.25 inches.  The doctor said she’s just perfect and I must agree with the man!

Our doctor told Dusty this is the best time, 6-months.  And I really have to agree.  She’s so inquisitive, expressive, and just plain fun.  She jabbers to me in the mornings while I’m changing her and smiles such big smiles when she sees her daddy.  She’s making so many developmental changes it’s hard to keep up.

She’s sitting, almost! She sits just a bit longer by herself than she did last week but I can’t, in my heart, officially say she’s sitting yet.  I dropped her off at daycare this week and some of her friends were sitting, playing with a couple of toys.  I sat her down so she was sitting near them and I just couldn’t leave her there, knowing that she would plop right down seconds after I left.  I was a little sad to lay her down on her back but know she’ll start sitting anytime now.  Her teachers say that she is sitting well enough that she sits at the small tables with her friends to eat her yummy lunch though.

This week Annabelle tried bananas.  I had bought some bananas, wanting to give something sweet to Annabelle.  Really, she’s been eating butternut squash and sweet potatoes, which are pretty darn sweet, but this was her first official fruit.  It’s so much fun to watch her eat.  The first spoon full is always the best.  She’s eager to put anything in her mouth but then she has this moment of “What did I just put in my mouth? Am I going to like it?” and then “Yes, please, more, now!”

I really enjoy making baby food for Annabelle.  I didn’t know if I would like doing it and if I would have the time but most of the time I whip some up when we’re cooking on the weekends.  I’ll prep my food, steam it, puree it, and then separate it into small portions to be frozen for the week, right along with the other cooking that we’re doing and it doesn’t end up being a big deal.

Sleep was one of the questions I had for the doctor.  As much reading as I’ve done on sleep, I thought asking the doctor would be a good idea.  He said that a 6-month old should be able to sleep 9-12 hours without being fed.  I think this gave Dusty and I both encouragement that feeding her just once during the night will be okay.  She goes to sleep at 7pm and often times sleeps until 2 or 3am when I feed her.  If she wakes up before then we just rub her on the back and give her a kiss before heading back to our beds.

We have such great parents and siblings! I feel very lucky to have so many of them close to us.  I know each family is different and dynamics can be difficult but to have family calling us, asking, really telling us, “You should go out on a date, I’ll watch Annabelle.”  Or my sister offering to take Annabelle on a Saturday night when she has an otherwise empty house (and all four kids are out).  It means so much.