Happy Half Birthday!

November 25, 2009:  Helen Grace is six months old!

Weight:  16 pounds, 6 ounces (80th percentile); Length:  25.5 inches (60th percentile); Head:  43.5 centimeters (90th percentile)

• She is still is famous for her oogly-googly-oogly’s, which require a paci. She loves to babble and keeps me entertained in the car.
• She is largely sitting up on her own, but she hasn’t figured out to put her hands out to catch herself.
• She loves to stand on your lap- would much rather do that than anything else.
• She has found her feet, and sometimes she can even get them to her mouth…which really grosses out her mama.
• She loves to get in her walker at Grandma’s. She has mastered going backwards- John calls it doing her ‘moonwalk’- and while Grandma swears she can go forward, we are still waiting to witness it ourselves. ;)
• She really squalls when she’s exhausted but doesn’t want to go to bed for fear of missing out on something. She doesn’t really go to sleep without somewhat of a fight these days.
• She loves her teething rings and is slobbering everywhere.
• She has gotten a lot more hair in the last two weeks. It’s dirty blonde peach fuzz on top, although her eyebrows and the hair at the back of her head are still red.
• Her legs are getting strong and chunky- so cute! I’ve had two people tell me today that those are a soccer player’s legs!
• She is really grabbing at things- hair, glasses, earrings, kitty cat tails- and PULLING! Ouch!
• She has just started doing this cough thing when she gets excited. It sounds like a light, fake cough. Not sure about this yet.
• She can be a big flirt and turns her head down toward her shoulder. How can it start this young?
• She has really started getting shy with people she doesn’t know and her bottom lip will slowly start quivering before the squall begins. Breaks her mama’s heart!
• She shows NO interest in being on her tummy or starting to crawl. She has only rolled less than a handful of times since she first rolled. She has woken up on her tummy twice- hated it once and was ok with the second time.
• We are continuing to put her down kind of sleepy, and she’s doing alright. She still sleeps on her left side and will either wear fleece footed pjs or sleep in a onesie and a sleep sack. She is still sleeping soundly through the night, although the time change has moved her wake up time up a little bit (just for now I hope) and she is really not interested in going back to bed after her morning bottle. I fear that I have started a bad habit, but on the days where we are home and can sleep in a little longer, I pull her into bed with us. She will always go back to sleep, but I usually don’t. What’s wrong with this picture? ;)
• She is eating all kinds of rice cereal and Level 1 foods 1-2 times a day followed by a bottle. She loves applesauce, sweet potatoes, bananas; is ok with green beans and squash; and hates carrots. We will be working on Level 2 foods very soon and have the green light from Dr. Barrett to increase feedings to 2-3 times a day.

We love our sweet baby girl more than words can express. What a joy she brings to every moment! We have so much fun dancing and singing with her and watching her laugh. She is such a blessing!