Six months!

I can't believe it's already been 6 months! Ok, well six and a half months... Since we are a little late getting this out there, there will be a couple of big things that have only happened in the last couple of days, but I have to include them or I'll forget by the time 8 or 9 months rolls around!

Cuddling!

Six month stats
Height: 26.25" (60th percentile)
Weight: 15lbs,6oz (25th percentile)
Hair: Still red, but the mohawk has changed to this one cute litle curl on the top of her head. I need to get some barettes just for that curl.
Eyes: No change, still a wide, light blue with a rim of dark blue.

Clothes: She is currently still in 3-6 month clothes, but I pulled her 6-9 month stuff out of the closet tonight to wash. Some of the 6 month stuff is getting a little short. Every time I pull out a new batch of clothes I get so excited; girl's clothes are so nuch more exciting than boy's!
Eating: Well, she is still breastfeeding, I'm nursing and pumping, but she has also had to have formula a few times. I'm trying to not beat myself up about it too much. I gave her cereal for the first time about a month ago, but she didn't get any more until yesterday. She does NOT seem to like it and will block or clamp her mouth down when she sees the spoon coming. We started with cereal made with formula, but since that's still a new taste I thought it might work better with breastmilk. We tried that today with no luck. I know it can take a few tries to get used to it, so we are going to give her until the required allergy period is up and try carrots or bananas. Although I'm thinking of going more the route of baby-led weaning (self-feeding). We shall see.

Maybe I'll have Nate feed her, he seems to have the best luck.

Sleep: Right around the 4 month mark we had about two weeks when every other day she slept through the night, but she hasn't done it since! In fact, she has had some really bad nights. But most of the time she's fine as long as I'm holding her. Needless to say I've been spending most of my nights in the chair. I'm pretty ready for this to be over, but still not ready to cry it out!
Moving: She is still not really crawling, more creeping (and climbing), but she is everywhere! She gets where she needs to go and quickly! She started sitting up "assisted" by her hand about a month ago, but this week she started doing it completelly unassisted. The last three weeks or so she has been enjoying "walking" with help, and TODAY, she pulled up to standing all on her own.

Time for a second baby gate!

Play: Now that she's more mobile, she is getting into a lot of things that aren't really traditional toys like door stoppers and the thing that covers the screws on the toilet (I try to lead her away from this)! She also really likes Nate's cars. Luckily in the past few days she's gotten a few toys that are all hers and she loves them! She also just really loves to use any person who will get down on the floor with her (or someone sitting in a nearby chair) as her favorite jungle gym.
Babbling: One of her favorite games is to start "talking" and have us mimic the noises she is making. Definitely gets her to laugh!
Signing: Since we have started food, and that was mostly what we used it for with Nate, I have started to introduce the basic signs of "hungry" and "all done". Of course, she's not picking up on them yet, but I'm sure she will get it.
Nate: Still doing pretty well with her, other than the day he kicked her head... But really, he is doing great! Yesterday he was doing something to make her laugh, then she would and he would laugh, and it was just a few minutes of each of them laughing. Of course, this made me laugh and my heart about burst! He is very good about playing with her, and has shown a lot of interest in her new toys!

What is wrong here...?

Food!

Mia had her first batch of cereal today! She has been so interested in food lately, trying to reach for our plates when we're holding her at the table and following our utensils to our mouths, so we decided to go ahead with the "food" a couple weeks earlier than originally planned.

Breakfast time!

She seemed excited enough...
(Notice the awesome bib!)

Mia's breakfast (there are two spoons because Nate wanted to try some too)
Looks delicious doesn't it?

Helping!

Nate wanted to help too

I think I'll stick to my blueberry pancakes!

She ended up only getting about 7 spoonfulls. She didn't seem to love the taste, but who can really blame her? Mommy's milk is so much more yummy than oatmeal mixed with formula - and easier to swallow! I'm sure after another few tries she'll be eating like a pro.

Memorial Day

Over Memorial Day weekend my friend Jacque came with her new (or new to me anyway) baby Collin. He is 8 months old, just about 3 months older than Mia, and since Jacque and I have been friends since our Freshman year in high school we were definitely interested in how the future couple would get along at their first meeting. Of course our get togethers these days, first with Nate and now with three kids, are very different than the days of grape stomping, horse races and weekend trips to New York!

Grape stomping in Temecula, CA

Winning at the races in Del Mar, CA

Seeing the sights in New York, NY

We started out with making sure we had a car that would fit three car seats (thanks Jack and Dianne!) and a shipment of a huge box of diapers to make sure Collin was covered for the weekend. After picking them up at the airport we had a quiet night at home with take-out Thai food and a movie from Redbox.

On Saturday we had a quiet morning with blueberry muffins before Peter headed to work. Then we decided to head to a local museum that has a new Cowboy exhibit that Nate would enjoy. Unfortunately it was actually kind of disappointing. The last couple of exhibits they've had (Pirates and Caves) have had at least some live animals in the exhbit, which because Nate can't read (yet!) aren't otherwise super interesting. This one didn't have any live animals, but did have a fake pony they could "ride" and dress up cowboy hats and boots. Then we went home for naptime!

Get me out of here!!!

I'm not so sure about this...

Well, everyone else got to take a nap, but since Peter's car decided to breakdown on his way to work I had to talk to him and the shop to try to get all of that worked out. By the time I was done, it was about time for the kids to wake up and me to go pick Peter up from work! Again, we had a quiet night based around the moods of the kids.

Mia, Nate and Collin playing nicely

Sunday we headed to church for our Pentecost Sunday mass that is held outside every year with a picnic and games/bounce houses for the kids. Then we headed back to the house for... you guessed it, naptime! This time I actually got to sleep for a few minutes. After an early (for me) dinner of leftover Thai, we headed out for frozen yogurt before Nate had to go to bed. We spent the rest of the night "watching" Harry Potter and talking.

Me and my babies

Monday morning we wasted away the morning trying to decide what to do. By the time we got around to do anything, we didn't have time to do much of anything before Jacque and Collin had to get back to the airport. After a quick lunch we headed back to the airport to say goodbye.

Jacque and Collin

It is kind of sad to think that last year I got to see her three times over the summer (every patriotic holiday - Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day!), but this year we will probably only get this visit. Maybe next year we'll both feel a little more comfortable driving the 10 hours between Florida and NC. But the kids all seemed to get a long pretty well! Even Nate was very sweet to the babies and was very good about sharing his toys with Collin. The lovebirds were kind of indifferent to each other though... Oh well, we all know girls have cooties! They'll get over it.

Checking each other out

After dropping them off at the airport we headed over to Jack and Dianne's for a Memorial Day barbecue with Peter's family and some of their neighbors. We had the famous Morris Family BBQ sandwiches, a bunch of salads and some yummy rhubarb pie. Nate got to run through the sprinklers and play ball with his uncle and cousin - a great way to end the first unofficial weekend of summer.

Yep, it's summer!