Weight:  She is 14 lbs. We don’t go in for her check up until after Thanksgiving, so we’ll see what our doctor has to say about her weight. I am a little worried that she isn’t growing, although not for a lack of trying from all parties.

Health: She has been a happy and perfectly healthy baby this month!

Diet: We made it to 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding! After my experience with George, I never thought I would make it this long. She has been on a nursing strike this past week, but I was determined to make it work for 6 months. I really need to write about it because it has been a completely different experience this time. I nurse her once in the morning and once in the evening. She has three bottles during the day to coordinate with the three times I am pumping at work. Since she is a really good sleeper, I do pump one more time before I go to bed. This helps because she is eating 5oz bottles during the day, and I am only pumping 3 oz at a time. So this extra pump plus our stash in the freezer is making up the difference. On the weekends, I exclusively breastfeed her, and I still will pump at least once a day if not twice. In the past two weeks, we did start introducing solid food with her. We have done avocados, carrots, bananas, bread and sweet potatoes. She seems indifferent about the process most of the time. However, she is very grabby whenever she sees your food, plate, or cup in your hands.

Clothes: She is still in 3 month clothes. She is in a size 2 diaper (which we found a brand that she doesn’t blow through). She is wearing a size 1 shoe.

Sleeping: This girl is a sleeping champ. She loves her rest. She takes two naps a day. Her bedtime is 8pm. On the weekdays, she will sleep until I wake her up at 6:30am. On the weekends, she doesn’t wake up until around 7:30/8 am. Bless you child. We do have to have her in the magic sleepsuit otherwise she is all over the place. She does not nap in your arms at all. It’s a miracle that she snoozes at all when I have her in the baby wrap carrier. She does cry a little bit at night when we put her down, but she is usually asleep within minutes.

Likes:  She started using a pacy again this month. I think this is mostly because she uses it as a teether, but it has been helpful. She does not use it to sleep. She likes Tom’s voice. She loves me the most to hold her. She loves to chew on cloth; her favorite teether is a cloth giraffe. She adores Crosby. She is still obsessed with football.

Dislikes:  She still hates a dirty diaper. She hates to be still. She is always rolling around, and I am pretty sure she may be crawling soon.

Milestones: She has her first two bottom teeth. We saw a little extra fussiness right before they broke through, but the teething wasn’t too bad this first go at it. She had her first road trip this month with a trip to Iowa, and we are currently coming back from a trip from Texas. She also had her first Halloween, and she went as Amelia Earhart. She has figured out how to manipulate things with her hands, and she sits up super well.

Nicknames: Sister Friend, Daphie, Daph. Most of the time it is still Sister. 

Quirks:  When she is nursing she likes to scratch, whether it is me or the cloth on the chair we are sitting in. She is extremely aware of her surroundings. She is super smiley, but it is not predictable so it can be hard to catch on camera.

We parents are:  doing alright. It has been a busy month with Tom on evening shift, and with our trips. I am constantly feeling like I am behind at work, but hopefully things will slow down with the breaks coming up. We have also had some serious student issue this semester that I have been in the thick of which can be difficult on my work time but also mentally to deal with. I have pretty much neglected working out, and I am really feeling it. Hopefully after this week of traveling, I can get back into it.

George is:  seriously the best. He is so sweet to Daphie. He wants to hold her all the time, but he loves to fall back with her while doing so. He also loves to pick out books for her to read, and he wants to play with her except she can’t play with his cars. 

The dogs are: good. Crosby is kind of a nut right now with his barking. Daph is starting to notice them more and more though and reaches out to them. And of course they are already circling around her for scraps of food or extra spit up.

These past 6 months have gone so fast, but at the same time I feel like I have known her my whole life.

This next month will be big I have a feeling, so I can’t wait to see how she reacts to life.

Here is George at six months.