6 Months!

 Could someone please tell me how this happened? How is it that it feels like I've blinked and my baby girl is already half a year old? Just tonight I was thinking that I can barely remember what those newborn days were like. I'm going to have to get the photo album out and take a little walk down memory lane!

Campbell Adair

6 Months

19lbs., 14oz and 26 1/4" long

Sleeping Patterns: Campbell is still doing a great job of sleeping through the night. I don't think she's woken in the night at all in the last 6 or 8 weeks. At least, if she does, she's very quiet about it and I don't hear her through the monitor. She generally goes to bed at about 8pm and wakes up sometime between 5am and 6am. A couple of mornings this month, she slept until 7:00 or 7:30 (on weekends!) and it was wonderful! I'm not sure how I ended up with such an earlybird for a daughter, but she definitely is worth the early mornings. She's still not a great napper, at least for me. I think she naps fairly well for Gayle, but we struggle when she's at home. She'll take a great nap if I hold her, but usually, if I put her in her crib, she'll go through a cycle of play/fuss/cry. I comfort her, lay her back down, and we repeat the cycle. A couple of Saturdays ago, she fought her nap for an hour and a half. I'm not a fan of the cry-it-out method, so that's not really an option at this point. We'll figure it out!

Eating Habits: We've finally started solid foods! I actually started offering solids to her two or three weeks ago, but it's only been in the last week that she's seemed to be truly eating. I'm very interested in baby-led weaning, and we've been following that plan for the most part. It's absolutely amazing to see how good she is at manipulating food and getting it into her mouth. Our sweet girl loves to eat, and I love to watch her eat! I like the concept of baby-led weaning because it lets Campbell be the one in control of her feedings. I really want her to have a good, healthy relationship with food, and I feel like this plan will help to accomplish that goal. She decides which foods she likes, and she decides when and how much to eat. I understand that not everyone agrees with our plan to skip purees, but I think it's going to work well with us. I've tried spoon feeding her a couple of times, and honestly, baby-led weaning seems to be a lot easier and less stressful! Even with the solid food, she's still getting most of her calories and nutrition from breastmilk. She's nursing about 6 times per day, and I'm guessing that she takes somwhere around 5 ounces at each feeding.

New Foods: So far, she's had sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, cucumber, carrots, pears, peas, broccoli, ham, and chicken. Without a doubt, she enjoys sweet potatoes, bananas, and ham the most! She seems to dislike the green veggies, but we'll keep trying. I know it's not unusual for babies to reject a food several times before they finally eat it.

New Discoveries: It's been a big month for Campbell, developmentally speaking. She's discovered her feet and toes, so that keeps her occupied for quite a while! She's also sitting up on her own now, and it's opened up a whole new perspective on things for her.

My Accomplishments: Being able to sit up indepedently is definitely her biggest accomplishment this month! My poor girl was getting so very tired of laying down and sitting with support, so I'm really excited about this for her! And maybe it's a bit selfish, but it makes things so much easier on us as parents, too! Now I don't have to lug that infant carrier around anymore. She can also sit up in the grocery cart now, and she loves it!

Places She Went: Just the other night, Campbell went Christmas caroling with us through our tiny little town. She had a great time, but it was pretty chilly, so we cut our time short. David went on with the group to finish up, but Campbell and I went to the car to warm up and to have a snack (well, she had a snack, anyway!). I'm still really enjoying the Moby wrap and the ring sling...I can't imagine being without them. I think my favorite is the Moby, and it's mostly because I feel much more comfortable about my ability to hold her correctly in it. It's also nice and warm this time of year. We're now able to do the hip carry with the ring sling, and I think Campbell enjoys the view that comes along with it.

Special Friends: Santa Claus! Last Friday afternoon, I met up with my coworkers for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at the Mall. I took Campbell with me, and after our lunch, she and I paid a visit to Santa. So many people told me that she would have a bad reaction, but she didn't. She sat right in his lap and grinned like a possum! It was precious, and made a great Christmas card photo! Almost as soon as I picked her up from his lap, she spit up. Santa was lucky he didn't get it!

Baby Babbles: I'm not sure that she's really learned any "new" babbles. She's still blowing raspberries and "talking" a lot. Just in the last few days she's started to really squeal...LOUDLY. Tonight I told her she sounded like a little screech owl!

Just for the fun of it, here are a few pictures I've taken over the last week. Clockwise from the top left: Campbell in her stroller on the way to visit Santa; reading Radical over Daddy's shoulder on Sunday morning; her "faux hawk" after bathtime; her first ride in the grocery cart (outside of the carseat).