Wades of 108: Ava: 6 Months

I'm over a week late this month. That's probably because I'm in denial that I now have a 6 month old. Here we go...

Clothing: Mostly 9m and 6-12m. We'll likely need to move from 9m to 12m soon. Still in size 3 diapers.

Eating: She's taking in the same amount of milk as last month, but we've increased to two solids "meals" per day -- once in the morning at daycare and once in the evening at home. She's getting better and better at eating from the spoon, but she still doesn't seem to love solids. We've only done purees at this point -- sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, bananas, pears and apples. Sometimes I mix them with rice cereal to give them a little more substance and give her some iron. She's seemed to like the pears and apples the best so far. Looking forward to trying to add in some "finger foods" soon.

Sleep: Still getting up once in the night to eat. I know it could be much worse, but I'm going to try my best to wean that feed this month because I know (and the pediatrician confirmed) that she doesn't need it. She has an off night here or there where she's up multiple times and needs comforting, but overall things are much better than a month or two ago.

Illness: We haven't had as much luck in this arena. She's had a bit of a cold/runny nose/congestion almost all month, which led to her first ear infection. We did amoxicillin for 10 days and assumed it got better. Then I took her in last week for an eye infection and the ear infection was still there. So now we're on a 10-day course of a different antibiotic. The eye infection is gone, but not the ear infection, so she didn't get her shots at her 6 month checkup this week. We go back in two weeks to follow up on the ear infection and (hopefully) get her shots. The cold and runny nose is finally gone now though, so I'm hoping that will help the ear clear up.

Activity: She's actually jumping in the jumperoo now, instead of just standing in it, and she can really go to town. She loves playing with her feet, pulling her socks off, and can now get her feet in her mouth (her big Buddha belly prevented that for a while). We read books together, but she's usually more interested in eating them (and she helps me turn the pages). She can sit unassisted for a few minutes now, but I have to be right there with her or she'll bonk her head. I usually sit her on the floor with the Boppy surrounding her and lots of toys to reach for and she'll be entertained for a good 10-20 minutes. Her new favorite: measuring cups/spoons and the SPATULA! I think she loves chewing on the soft silicone.

Milestones: She is so alert these days, watching everything that's going on very intently and reaching out for everything. We've started letting her ride shotgun in the shopping cart and holding her on our laps at restaurants (instead of staying in the infant carrier) and she loves looking around and reaching for anything dangerous she can find (hot plates, glasses of water, knives). She can pass objects from hand to hand and generally has pretty good hand-eye coordination. And she's really started being more vocal this month. Lots of oohs and ahhs, starting to throw in some ga's and ba's, squealing and just generally testing out her voice.

I know I say this every month, but she's just the sweetest. We are blessed by her every day and I can't wait to see what the next six months brings us (although I can't bear to start thinking first birthday thoughts just yet).

And now, some pics from this month.

Dressed up for Valentine's Day: