Olivia Dell: 6 months

 

Height/Weight: Olivia weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces at her 6 month appointment. I thought she may be a wee bit heavier than that, because I weighed her about 2 weeks before the appointment and she was already 15 pounds. But our Doctor told us that since she's becoming more active now, she is burning more calories. So, back to rice cereal we go, since it boasts more calories and girlfriend needs them. I didn't pay enough attention to her height, but I think the nurse said she was 27 3/4 inches (I had food poisoning that day and it was a miracle I even made it to the appointment).

Feeding: LW is now eating regular helpings of solid foods daily. I tried to mimic what I would want to eat and give her fruits in the morning and vegetables at night. She LOVES vegetables and it's usually more of a battle to get her to eat the fruits. maybe they are too sweet? I've heard this is a good problem to have. She is still eating 4 bottles, at 7.5 ounces each, and I've started giving her sips of water which she seems to like.

Clothing:  Olivia has nearly outgrown all 0-3 month clothing fits quite well into 6 month, and is even growing out of some 3-6 month Gerber onesies and PJ's. I'm excited for this hot weather to be over so she can wear some cute winter clothes, especially because she doesn't fancy hot weather at all.

Sleep: the past few weeks Olivia has started waiting til 4-6am to eat, and her fussing has subsided to about 2x per night. She has even weaned herself from swaddling, although we still put her in the sleep sack. She's starting to outgrow it in length, however, so we'll either have to get the next size up or start wearing proper pajamas. Her napping is a little inconsistent, but if we don't have a crazy schedule, she takes at least 1 GOOD nap a day. Since she's been more active, she is getting tired earlier in the evening and it going down between 7:30-8:15. Sounds good, until she wakes up at 6:30 with 11 hours of sleep!

Milestones: Olivia is now a solid sitter and only wobbles or falls backward when she gets too distracted. If we hold her hands when she is standing, she knows how to take steps like she's walking, but I'm not ready for that just yet! She is starting to put consonants and vowels together (dadadada) but not all the time. she also knows how to fake cry to get our attention, and likes to grab EVERYTHING off the table if it's within arms reach.

Firsts: Sitting on her own, Dad feeding her for the first time, celebrating both mom and dad's birthday, and sitting in a shopping cart like a big girl are all some firsts. She also fell off the couch, which I don't have a picture of, nor am I proud of. She went to beach for the first time and also got sunburned too :( (Rough month for mom!)

Getting her first feeding from Dad

Sitting by herself

Celebrating Mom's birthday for the first time!

First time in a shopping cart

first "real" time at the beach

First sunburn :(

6 Month Favorites

Seriously, half a year already? "they" weren't joking when they said that time flies. This month we got to try out a bunch of cool new stuff! Olivia is getting more and more fun with her curiosity and personality. Here are our 6 month favs:

Gerber/Nuk Graduates Soft Tipped Infant Spoons: now that we are well into solid foods, these are a must have. I've tried the Munchkin plastic spoons and don't like them. They are too deep and I feel like the edges are sharp. It's very difficult for Olivia to get all the food out of them. But with the Gerber spoons, she can easily get everything, and as a special treat, I give it to her when she's done eating to chew on!

Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Seahorse: Great Grandma gave this to LW and we LOVE it. when you squeeze it's belly, the light glows and it plays 5 minutes worth of classical music with some ocean-y waters mixed in. it's so adorable- Olivia loves to hold it and stare at the light. I can't tell you how many times I've gone in to her room to check on her and she's snuggling her sweet seahorse! I am convinced this is what helps her go to sleep on her own, since we usually put her in her crib when she's awake.

Avent Bottle Warmer: I don't know why it took me 5 months to get this, but I did.  This is a pretty basic warmer, and actually has more cons than I'd hoped, but it does the job. I like that it only takes about 5 minutes to take the chill off (we've never given LW warm bottles, and I'm not going to start now), but if you leave it too long it gets SCALDING. That being said, there is no timer, you have to manually shut it off with a switch in the back (easy to forget since you can't see it) and supposedly it hits a stopping point and maintains the temp. I haven't found this to be true, hence the scalding bottles. in spite of this, I still really like that I have this on hand.

Brica In-Sight Mirror: Since we are in the car a lot, this is a MUST HAVE. I like that I can keep an eye on LW, and now she's figured out how to angle herself to see me back in the reflection of the rear view mirror. No worrying now!

Munchkin Bath Letters & Numbers: I've had these since LW was born, but now that she can sit up in the tub, we've busted these out. we LOVE them. We mostly use them as chew toys because they are the right size and clean up easily. I like that they are small because I can even carry a few in my diaper bag for emergency toy duty!

Tupperware Tote-Em Pails: we received these as a gift and also just brought these out to play. Olivia particularly loves the 3 smallest pails and I've been known to put the largest, blue bucket on her head as a hat ;) I'm excited to take these to the beach one day soon!

I shudder to think what these posts will look like in the next 6 months. Please, little baby, stop growing!