Caroline is 6 Months Old!

Caroline, you are a half a year old! Wow! And you are just the most precious, sweet and good-natured 6-month-old baby around. I just feel so blessed and proud to be your Mommy! I said this with your brother, too, but this is the start of my most favorite baby age! Your little personality is really starting to shine and you are becoming a little person who interacts now...it is so much fun!

As your 6 month doctor visit showed, you are finally getting those chunky thighs and cheeks...and I love it! Nothing is cuter to me than a fat baby!! You certainly love to eat, so I'm sure that is why. You have now tried and like most all of the stage 1 baby food and we are moving on up to stage 2. I'm still nursing you in the morning and at night and pumping at work...that is going well for the time being.

You moved up to size 2 diapers and are in 3-6 month clothes. This was the first month that you actually outgrew some things. I kept my favorites for your memory bin and am consigning the rest!

Your spitting up is better this month, but it is still happening, without warning. I feel like everything I own and that you have has been covered in spit-up at one point. You are also quite the little drooler...you will soak the front of your shirt in not time. Since your lower gums are swollen, I wonder if this means your bottom teeth are on the way??

This month I have been working on getting you in bed earlier and we are trying to drop your last nighttime feeding. This transition is going well. You slept for 10.5 hours one night and a few night's ago gave me your longest stretch yet, sleeping from 8:30p - 8:10a! Yahoo! I am trying to be very consistent with your nighttime routine, too. We start with a bath, then diaper change/lotion/get dressed, then I swaddle you to eat and finally lights out.

You did lots of NEW things this month:

• We got the exersaucer down from the attic and put it back in the kitchen where it lived for over a year with Tyler. You like it but I think Tyler loves playing with it even more...what is it with toddlers wanting to play with baby toys??!! I expect you will spend lots of time in it just like he did.

• You found your feet this month and just love playing with them! They haven't quite made it to your mouth yet, but I know that will come.

• You are sitting up on your own for several seconds at a time. We have started putting you on a blanket on the floor with the boppy behind you for support so you can practice. Time in the bumbo and exersaucer helps, too.

Other fun things about our sweet little girl:

• You are so ticklish and just cackle with laughter while I am changing your diaper. You LOVE your changing table right now, especially after your bath...you flap your arms and just get so excited to be there. You also love looking in the mirror that hangs above it for us. 

• Your hair is really starting to grow now. It is getting a little bit spikey on top like your brother's did, too. You still don't have too much in the back, but at least your bald spot is pretty much gone. I cannot wait to clip a bow in your actual hair - we are close! And for precious pigtails...we've got a while for that!

• You are tolerating tummy time so much better and don't get nearly as upset. Though you prefer to be sitting or even on your back, you will push yourself all the way up on your arms now.

• You are a Mommy's girl! No one can make you smile bigger, laugh more or calm you faster than your Mommy! And I absolutely love it! The Mommy phase was pretty short-lived with Tyler, so I am soaking it up as long as I can.

• You are a little drama queen already...especially when you are upset. You will squeal to get attention and will start pouting and crying if you don't get enough. I suspect that's a 2nd child thing, maybe?? Tyler is mostly always commanding our attention, so you have to get creative, I guess. You don't like to be left alone and are most happy when you are being held and talked to. And little girl, you are a babbling queen, too. You love "screaming" ahhh and are even making some "d" sounds, too.

I can honestly say that you have brought us such JOY every single day of these last 6 months. Yes, it is hard having 2 little kids and our lives are more hectic than ever, but we would not trade you for anything in the entire world. We are so very grateful that you are ours!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of you from the past month:

You LOVE bath time! Look at how wet the mirror is from all your splashing!

I have an almost identical picture of your bother in a froggy hooded towel...

We broke out the double stroller this month for church.

Playing under your activity gym.

Grabbing your feet.

Big brother Tyler playing with you in the exersaucer.

Big girl riding in the jogging stroller without a car seat - makes it WAY easier to push!