ada charlotte {6 months}

My sweet baby girl,

How is it that time can move both so slowly and so quickly? I remember when you were about two months old and someone was telling me that maybe your sleep issues would work themselves out by the time you were six months old. At the time, all I could think was "I can't wait that long!" Now here you are, six months old. I made it! It's kind of like I thought the day wouldn't come, or at least not so quickly! But I've survived your short naps this whole time (though only just!), and I'll keep on surviving them for as long as they last, I suppose. I'm sure I'll look back a few years from now and wonder why I spent so much time and energy thinking about naps when naps are only a part of your life for 3 or 4 years! What can I say? It's a hard thing not to focus on right now.

But naps aside, I'm loving how much you're learning and changing each day. It's fun to see you discover new things and be curious. It's fun to see you reach milestones. It's fun to hold you close and love on you :) You are beautiful, inside and out. It's amazing how even though you're only six months old, your personality is starting to shine through. I can't wait to learn more about you as you grow and develop that little personality :) Stay my little best friend forever, okay? 😘 😘

Stats

You weigh about 15 pounds 4 ounces (35%), you are 26 1/4 inches tall (60%), and your head circumference is 16.5 inches (40%).
You are slowly outgrowing your 0-3 month things, but many of them still fit! I've started to break out some of your 3-6 and 6 month outfits now. Some fit perfectly, but others are still much too big!
We switched you over to size 2 diapers within the last week.

Notable events

We had Lacey, Jessie, and Eliza over for dinner one Sunday this month, so that was your first time meeting Liza and Jessie :)
You also met Auntie Caroline and Auntie Sarah! These are two of my very best friends, so it was fun to have you finally meet them :)

St. Patrick's Day isn't a big deal in our house, but I did dress you up in green and make you a super cute clover headband :)

And you finally met Aunt Chantry! We had a sibling dinner this last Sunday and she was visiting from Idaho so she got to join in!

Tricks/Milestones

You finally started playing with your exersaucer this month! It was like out of the blue, you one day realized that all the pieces were meant to be played with, and you spent the next few days discovering each piece. It has been so fun to witness your curiosity and playfulness :) You try to eat all the pieces, but most of them are a bit too far away to eat, so sometimes only your nose makes it. It's up for debate whether you're touching your toy with your nose on purpose, or if it's just because your mouth can't reach :) This was clearly a big part of your month, as there are several photos and videos below!

At about 5.5 months, I tried feeding you your first solid -- avocado. Although you stick everything you touch directly into your mouth, you didn't with the avocado. I couldn't really get you to eat it, so we stopped for a while. I just tried cooked carrots with you yesterday, but you still don't seem to get it! You would suck on the carrot, but one time when you actually got a piece you kind of gagged on it, and the next time you got a piece, you spit it out. I'll keep trying ;)

You've only done it a few times, but you're starting to push up sometimes when you do tummy time. Crawling could be on the horizon! A far off horizon haha
You also rolled from back to tummy once (and I missed it! Daddy was with you at the time.). You have rolled from tummy to back a few times again this month, but seriously -- it's rare.
You love to copy, so sometimes when I shake my head at you or roll my tongue, you do (or try to do) it back. One thing you almost always do back though, is click your tongue. You love making noise with your tongue!

haha the only proof i have that you can roll your tongue. you do it non-angrily sometimes, i promise!

We started putting you front-facing in the stroller! The straps are still way too big for you, but I think you like it better being able to see so much :)

I try really hard to get you to practice, but you're still nowhere close to sitting up on your own. However, you do kind of do sit-ups every time I go to pull you to a standing position, so you are working on your core strength at least!

My favorite things

It's still one of my favorite things to get you up from a nap or in the morning. You just give the biggest smiles, and it really makes me feel like you just love me so much because you're so happy to see me (you do the same for dad 😊 ). You've gotten so much bigger though! I feel like I'm picking up such a big baby out of that crib! You are seriously growing up, and it blows my mind.
I just love hanging out with you all day. You are so sweet and cute and I can't get enough of you!
Just in the last week or so, I've rocked you a little extra at bedtime on some days. I still don't rock you to sleep or anything, I just sing you primary songs while I hold you all swaddled up. I usually do it if you're still pretty awake but it's bedtime. It calms you down, and it's so sweet. Sometimes you have your head up and you're just looking at me with the absolute sweetest eyes and smile, and sometimes you lay your head down on my shoulder. It just melts me every time! I love these special moments with you :)
I also love watching you fall asleep on the video monitor. I love watching your eyes get all heavy and finally closing :)

Your kisses! I swear you get the concept, so I'll often kiss your cheeks over and over, and then you'll put your mouth on my cheek next. It's so cute!
That laugh of yours! It's still kind of hard to get you to laugh, but when you do, it is just the absolute cutest :)

Random tidbits

You are obsessed with your mouth. You used to be obsessed with your hands in your mouth (still are sometimes), but now you're obsessed simply with your mouth. You suck on your lips or on your tongue and it's so funny :)

When we hold your hands when you're standing, your mouth is like a magnet to our thumbs! You just want to suck on those thumbs so bad! If we trick you and remove our thumbs leaving only your hand in your mouth, you always notice 😂
Whenever I eat in front of you, you just stare at me. It's like you're so intrigued. And like you want to take part! Yet, as I mentioned, when I actually try to feed you, you are not that interested haha :)
You love it when we blow in your face -- you always break into a huge smile :)

You recently started doing this salamander move -- when you're lying on your back, you'll just wiggle back and forth like a salamander while smiling. It's so silly and cute :)

You really stare at the patterns on your burp cloths these days.
You love it when I sing :) I used to sing more nursery rhyme-type things to you, but lately I'll just sing whatever is stuck in my head, and you love it. Sometimes you even sing along!
You do this smile with your tongue sticking out now. It's cute :)
One day, I had a bridal shower up in Sandy (for Auntie Caro), and I also had a bunch of errands to run. Between the travel, the shower, and the errands, I was gone for a total of seven hours. Holy cow, baby girl, I missed you! I've never been away from you for so long, and I literally could not concentrate on the tasks I was doing. I eventually just had to come home because I wasn't making any progress on my last errand. I can't even really explain it -- it was like I knew I was missing a whole day of your life and I hated that! I don't know how I'll ever go on a vacation with just Daddy . . .
Your hair is still falling out, and I'm still so sad about it. It's at least twice as long as when you were born, but probably less than half as thick, not to mention all the bald spots! The tips are very dark, but it's growing in a lighter brown, maybe even with some blonde and red hints.

We quit the sleep expert this month. Not because I don't believe in her program, because I actually still do, but it was just proving impossible to get you on it. For some reason, you just really don't like to sleep past those 33 minutes, so I've just been trying to work with that. It's proving stressful in its own ways, though, as your schedule from day to day can be wildly different. You also seem to be much fussier lately, and only able to handle about an hour of awake time, which is just crazy for six months. I'll never give up hope for longer naps, but I am giving up going to all extremes to get you there. I'm also just feeding you every three to four hours now, which seems to work a lot better than sticking to the feed-play-sleep cycles when your sleep just isn't long enough. So you often eat-play-sleep-play-sleep or even just eat in the middle of a wake period now. You take four to six naps a day, and (thank heaven!) you still sleep about 11 hours at night.
When you meet new people, you usually just stare at them for a long time. It's hard for new people to get smiles from you, but you don't cry or anything, you just sorta examine them.
I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but we stopped using binkies at the beginning of February. We'll occasionally use them to calm you down momentarily if you're hysterical, but you usually just spit them out now. I really kind of love it because it means your binky is never in the way of your super cute smile.
When the weather is sunny, we go on walks almost every day :) I love taking you to the park and just getting out in the sunshine with you :) You love talking to yourself (or maybe me, but you can't see me) as we stroll :) You're also liking the swing more :)

Because we leave the house more frequently, I dress you up more frequently! And it's fun because you sure look cute in clothes :) But the funniest thing was that one of the first days I dressed you for the park, we strolled past a house, and a girl who is probably like 4 or 5 said, "Oooh, that must be a fashion baby!" And I legit laughed out loud because I know that you've worn pajamas for like 85% of your whole life thus far :) See below for your "fashion baby" outfit :)

Recently, you've started doing this thing anytime you're laying on your back. You move your wrist/hand back and forth as if you're leading music or doing a Miss America wave. It's so funny! You even do it if you're holding something. Sometimes when you do it, I do it back but to say "hi" and you sometimes wave back correctly! :)

You also recently started doing this adorable thing where you pump your legs in and out. It's usually after we get you out of your swaddle. You just look so excited and happy! But you also do it if I put a toy on your feet; it helps you get the toy to your hands and mouth :)

Your feet are most definitely ticklish :)
You are intrigued by shadows and ceiling fans.
You started making this funny face where you pull your lips in :)
This month, the blow dryer and the food processor freaked you out. When they were on, you just looked surprised, but as soon as they shut off, you'd start crying! So sad and sweet.

Love always,

Mama