6 Months Old

Sallie Cate is 6 months old!!! That blows my mind. I keep thinking I will get used to how quickly time is passing, but I just can't believe I don't have a newborn anymore! I am just loving every second with this sweet girl. However, my poor baby was sick for half of her 4th month and ALL of her 5th month. :( She just couldn't seem to shake her congestion/cough, and she finished off the month with two ear infections and a terrible virus that caused persistent fevers of 101-103 despite Tylenol. We went to see the pediatrician so much this past month I was afraid they were going to accuse me of Munchausen Syndrome. :) She was out of school all last week but seems to be feeling much better this week.

Anyway, despite all the sickness, Sallie Cate seems to remain in good spirits most of the time and is our happy, smiley girl! She weighs 14 lbs 6 oz {30th percentile} and is 25.5" long {50th percentile}. She wears a size 2 diaper and can wear a wide range of sizes, but mostly 3-6 month.

She has been practicing sitting up and is getting pretty good. I think C was a little more stable at this age than SC is, but she'll be sitting independently pretty soon, I think. She rolls and scoots all over the place. She can scoot on her back all the way across her room {backwards}- she's like an upside inch worm. :) It's almost impossible to keep her from scooting off the top of her changing table. She's a squirmy worm these days.

She's very into grabbing my cheeks and going in for an open-mouth "kiss". It seriously makes me melt every time she does it, and Curran gets a big kick out of it, too. She is also pulling hair these days. Curran doesn't think that's as cute but takes it all in stride and still gets pretty tickled at most things SC does. Lately she has started to reach up her arms for me. She mostly does it when she's in the exersaucer, and they really just go out to the side and not straight towards me, but you can tell what she's trying to do. :)

She has always been a talker but is starting to add more consonant sounds to her repertoire. After she's done nursing, she'll lean her head back and say "a duhduhduh, a duhduhduh" over and over in the most content little tone of voice. She has started saying mamama some as well as some other g and b sounds.

Speaking of eating, she's gotten to where she becomes very distracted while nursing if she hears Curran talking or even if she just hears her playing outside the room. I hate having to close the door and keep C out, but that's about the only way SC will eat. Unfortunately Curran has learned how to open the baby gate, so she doesn't stay out for too long. And forget about trying to feed SC in a room where a TV is on. She cranes her neck to try to catch a glimpse. She's still nursing every 3 hours at home {sometimes 4 if she takes a long nap} and getting a 5 oz bottle every 3 hours at school. I still offer her a 3 oz bottle after nursing before bed most nights, but lately she hasn't needed/wanted it. We tried rice cereal a few days ago, and she seemed to do ok with it. I started C right after she turned 4 months, and in retrospect I think that was a bit early for her. Plus SC just started showing interest in food recently, watching us eat and reaching out for things we're eating. I mixed about 1Tbsp rice cereal with breast milk and heated it up, and she did pretty well. A lot ended up on her bib the first day, but then the next day most made it into her mouth with just a little on her face. We'll try other solids in a few weeks.

She loves playing with toys, especially this Baby Einstein musical toy that C loved too, as well as her plastic keys and soft rattles. She has an obsession with her lovies! I have been letting her have them in her car seat for several months now, but I recently started letting her have them in bed. Please don't judge. This kid is a cuddler {like her daddy and very much unlike her mama} and needs to be holding onto something. I watch the monitor VERY closely because I am super paranoid about it. If there is even a question of it being too close to her face, I go in and move it. She mostly just cuddles them as she's falling asleep and then they end up on the other side of the crib or I move them. She has also been known to cuddle with her bumpers.

Speaking of sleep, she has been doing very well with going to bed awake for her naps. As long as I time it right, she is very easy to put down. If I miss the window and let her stay awake too long, it takes a little more work to get her down. At night, she goes down awake if it's a day she has stayed home with me, but if it's a school day, it's impossible to keep her awake after she eats. I have been putting her in a sleep sack for naps and bedtime, and she seems to like them. She still mostly prefers to sleep on her side although she occasionally sleeps on her stomach. She takes 3 naps per day, and sometimes she'll get a little cap nap in there at the end of the day. She still goes to bed around 6:30pm. She has been able to find her paci a few times by rolling around in her bed. I can't wait for the day she can just reach out and plop one right back in her mouth! :) She's still not sleeping through the night. I would let her cry it out if she ever gets well! Mama needs to get her sanity back!

Still no teeth on the horizon. I can't believe it.

Ok, I know this post is long, but it drives me crazy how I included so little info with C's posts around this age.

Happy half birthday to our precious baby!! We love you, Cakers!