Saturday, September 8, 2012

Alaina at 6 Months Old

Dear Alaina,

You are half a year old today! I'm just in shock that you're so old already. I know I say that every month, but six months old?? You're growing up so fast, sweet girl. You are such a sweet, happy baby. I love you so much at six months, so I'm not too sad that you're half a year old :)

Your personality is so sweet. I feel like you've gotten a little more laid back over the past month. I have been able to leave you several times without you crying at all while I'm gone. If you're fed and rested, you're usually super happy to just watch the action. Thanks to your brother and sister, there's usually a lot of action at our house, and you love watching them. I think you'll be thrilled when you're able to be in the thick of it with them :)

You love your Mama, and this makes me very happy. The feeling is totally mutual. You're pretty happy to let other people hold you, but if you see me while you're being held by someone else, you will start to cry until I take you. I can't lie and say I don't think it's pretty precious :) You've also started to be more aware of people you know vs. people who you aren't familiar with. If someone you know talks to you, you'll usually smile and kick, but if a stranger tries to speak to you, you're more hesitant to give them a smile, and sometimes you even poke your bottom lip out and cry.

You still haven't had any solids, but now that you're six months old, I think the time has come. You've been really interested in watching us eat lately, so I know you're ready. I'm so happy I've been able to nurse you exclusively for six months, but I'm excited to see how you react to solids too! Speaking of nursing, it's still going well. You eat every 3-3 1/2 hours during the day. You don't take a bottle great, but you take one well enough.

Your night sleep is a little bit inconsistent, but I would describe you as a good sleeper. I nurse you to sleep every night between 8 and 8:30. I put you in your bed, and you transfer really well. We usually don't hear from you again for many hours. You went through a little spell recently where you woke up at 4AM every single morning for over a week, and I would have to feed you to get you back to sleep. You've quit doing that the past couple of nights, so I'm still waiting to see what the new pattern will be. I'm fine with feeding you in the early morning like that, though, especially since you go back to sleep easily. Naps had been not so great for several weeks, and I couldn't figure out why you weren't napping long. You would wake up after about 30 minutes, but you were obviously still wanting to sleep more. If I laid down with you in my bed, you would sleep for hours. Daddy hung a towel up over the window in your room, and you've been napping GREAT ever since. It has been so nice for me, and you're definitely a much happier baby when you get plenty of sleep. You're like your Mama and require a lot of sleep to be in a good mood. Haha! Oh, and you sleep swaddled full-time again. Your pediatrician told me not to worry about it, so I'm not. I think you're getting to the point where you're about ready to sleep without it, though, because you bust out of it every night.

You can sit by yourself for short periods of time. I think you would really enjoy sitting up and playing, so I need to remember to practice sitting with you more often. You are playing in your exersaucer for longer periods of time now, which is nice because I'm able to put you in there while I cook dinner. You STILL don't roll over. You've practically rolled over from your back to your stomach, and the other day I gave you a tiny nudge while you were on your tummy, and you rolled over. So, I'm not worried. Mommy is pretty laid back with you :) Your new favorite thing to do is to grab everything. It has made eating while I hold you difficult. The other night, you grabbed a big handful of my salad that I thought was out of your reach. Aubrey was leaned over you talking to you recently, and you grabbed her hair and pulled. She was a little bit upset with you (which might have been a first.... the girl is obsessed with you). I explained that you didn't mean to hurt her :) You have reached the stage where you're starting to like toys. That's nice because I can often times distract you by giving you a toy when you start to get fussy.

You wear a size 6 months or some 9 month things, and I think you weigh around 16 pounds. You have the cutest little chub on your thighs ;) Everyone says you look just like Aubrey. Someone told me the other night that you look exactly like me. I don't know who you look like, I just know that you're adorable! Your eyes are still really blue, and your hair is getting lighter. It looks red in certain lights, which I think is so pretty.

You are the most precious baby on this earth to me, and I love you more than you'll ever know. You bring so much joy to our lives, Alaina Ruth!

I love you,
Mommy
I forgot to mention that you drool like crazy, as evidenced by these pictures. No sign of any teeth yet, though!

2 comments:

Whitney said...

She's precious! It looks like she's sitting up so well. Not to rush Sam along, but I'm kind of ready for him to be sitting well.

Jennifer said...

She is such a doll!