6 Months

Abby is 6 months old today. It has gone by so fast that I have to stop and think about how old she is some days. I keep thinking she’s only about 4 months old. The funny thing is, though, that I already can’t remember her being teeny. While we were waiting at her doctor’s office, there was another baby there for his 2-week checkup. I kept thinking, “Was Abby really that small once?!” It’s hard to believe since she’s so big now! She has grown so much this month too.

• She has become a great sleeper. She has slept from 8-6ish 6 out of the last 10 nights, although last night doesn’t really count because Damon didn’t get home until 2:30am, so her schedule got out of whack. He was supposed to be home a little after 10, but they ended up having to reschedule his flight due to mechanical problems with the plane. Poor guy. His luggage got lost on the way to CO, then this happened on the way home. Anyway, back to Abby.
• She’s become a great napper too. She had a week stretch where she would take a 3-hour nap in the morning, then a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. Growth spurt maybe? She didn’t eat any more than usual during this time. I thought she was beginning to transition from 3 naps to 2 longer ones, but I found that what she really needed was a short nap in the late afternoon and an 8pm bedtime. Before, we’d put her down any time between 6:30-8, depending on when she woke up from her last nap. Now, I let her take one more nap, but she’s not allowed to sleep past 5:30pm, then put her down at 8. This is what’s helped get her to sleep through the night.
• She loves to eat solids. Bananas are her absolute favorite so far, but she’s like everything I’ve given her. She loves chewing on the spoon. She’s up to 2 oz. of solids twice a day.
• Peas constipate her. Peas were the vegetable of the week last week, and she never pooped once. Do you have any idea how much fiber was sitting in that little belly of hers waiting to come out in one huge explosion! All she’d pass was a little nickel-sized hard pellet every couple of days. It’s been roughly 10ish days since she pooped, so we bought some liquid suppositories today and those did the trick. When people dream of becoming parents, they never think about times like this! That’s true love there.
• She tried diluted apple juice for the first time today. She wasn't impressed. The pharmacist suggested feeding her lots of liquids, especially apple juice to help with the constipation as well.
• It’s impossible to leave the room anymore while she’s on the floor. Abby rolls away so quickly that within minutes she’s across the room. She can also roll to us on purpose now.
• She moves around so much while she sleeps that I never know where in her crib I’m going to find her. She easily wiggles and turns completely around on her belly.
• She can sit up really well now. She loves the different perspective that sitting up offers her. She still can’t bring herself to a sitting position, but it doesn’t take an hour to sit her just right anymore. I just plop her down, and she stays for several minutes at a time.
• Crawling is definitely in her near future. She can get up on all fours and push herself back.
• She can imitate us. Earlier today, Damon was blowing raspberries with her. He’d stop, she’d laugh, then do it too. They went back and forth like that for quite a while.
• She makes a lot of noise, but no real consonants yet. Sometimes, she does say “hi,” but she doesn’t know what she’s saying. I say “hi” to her all the time, so she’s imitating me.
• What a great laugh Abby has! She is such a happy baby these days. She’s hilarious. She loves to make weird noises to make me laugh.
• She’s feisty too. She is perfectly happy to play by herself for awhile, but once she gets bored, watch out! She will let you know right away when she’s dissatisfied with the toys in front of her, and wants you to pay attention to her.
• She is quickly outgrowing all of her toys. The Exersaucer? We’ve raised it as high as it will go. The swing? I can’t fit the tray dealy on her lap anymore because her legs are in the way. The bouncy chair? Her feet hang over.
• Some of her 6-9 month footed pajama-sleeper things don’t fit already. Why are those always the first to go?
• She loves to hold her own bottle while she eats. Unfortunately, she tends to grab it from the top, so she pulls down on it and can’t angle it to get milk yet. She can pull it out and put it back in her mouth, though. She loves to pull it out and squeeze the nipple.


First self-feed. Teething biscuit. Taken 6/6/05.