Elizabeth is 6 months old! And getting so big so quickly. Even just in the last 4 days since she turned 6 months she seems to have made some additional leaps forward. So here is a snapshot of Elizabeth at 6 months:
- She is sitting up on her own with no support. And just in the last week she has gotten sturdy enough that we no longer put cushions around or behind her. In fact I'll now sit her up with some toys and work on something on the other side of the room, far out of arms reach.
- She is starting to try to figure out how to crawl. She is nowhere near having it yet, but she gets her feet up under her and seems to know that there is a way to move from that position, given that she gets very mad that she isn't moving.
- She is eating soft table foods (small pieces of banana, canned yams) and the baby finger foods (puffs, yogurt melts, rice crackers) and she much prefers these to being fed with a spoon (which she tries to steal). Or a bottle. Or nursing. Nursing is becoming more difficult because she wants real food or to just be looking around. If she keeps this up much longer she won't have a choice because my supply will adapt. But she really should continue to get the bulk of her calories from breastmilk for the next few months. She just wants to be a big kid so badly! But with no teeth there are limits to what she can actually eat.
- She loves her family so much! She gets so excited to see us when we come to pick her up at daycare and it absolutely melts my heart how happy she is to see me and how clearly she asks to be picked up (by panting and wiggling her legs frantically). And she worships her big brother.
- Speaking of wanting to be a big kid, she likes Nicholas' toys more than most of her own. She still plays with them the same way (by chewing on them). Her favorite toy right now is Nicholas' doll house and the Little People that go with it. And, actually, Nicholas has outgrown it and never plays with it anymore so it may be time to start referring to it as her dollhouse. Given how far apart they are in age it surprises me how many toys will actually just transition from one to the other. That is probably a sign that we left toys out longer than Nicholas was really playing with them. But it has come in handy when we've had friends with younger kids over.
- She has liked to sleep on her side for awhile now and usually ended up that way even though we put her down on her back. In the last week she has started sleeping on her belly instead. This of course sends me into a panic but I'm not sure what to do. I rolled her over a few nights when I found her that way but then that wakes her up, I spend somewhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours getting her back to sleep, and then she rolls back onto her stomach almost immediately anyway. Have we mentioned that this girl is stubborn? I do sneak into her room with a flashlight to check on her quite often, but I'm not sure what else to do.
- In just the last week she has started sleeping much longer stretches. The first night I thought it was a random night, but she has now done 4 of the last 5 nights only getting up twice. We shall see.
- Elizabeth loves jumping! Nicholas loved the jumper but he mostly used it as a place to hang out and play with toys. When he jumped it was almost accidental. Elizabeth jumps up a storm. I am contemplating getting her one of the jumpers that attaches to the doorframe and put it in the kitchen doorway in the new house so she can jump and I can keep an eye on her while working in the kitchen. Of course by the time we move in she may be on to a completely different phase.
- She is constantly in motion. She is incapable of being still. Joe says she gets that from me. She wants to be held but spends the entire time she is in your arms leaning to get to things. When on the floor she is constantly twisting and rolling. We have given up putting her down on a blanket because she doesn't stay on it. This was all sorts of fun when travelling.
- We have started putting her directly in carts at the stores since she has become such a good sitter and she loves it! So much to see! And everyone talks to her!
- Everyone comments on how smiley Elizabeth is and she really is super-smiley and happy, but that does not equate to easygoing. She is smiley but she is also spunky and strong-willed and feisty and independent. She knows what she wants and she is determined to get it.
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