6 Months

I know I say this every month, but where does the time go? I apologize for being a broken record. But seriously, my little baby is half a year old already! My little baby, who I realized as I put her to bed tonight, is not quite so little anymore. Her sleeping body weighed a lot more than I remembered just a short time ago. And she definitely doesn't look so little next to her tiny cousin, who weighed at birth what Ava probably weighed in my 7th or 8th month of pregnancy (Ava was 8 pounds 12 ounces at birth while her cousin, Grace, weighed 5 pounds 9 ounces!).

Ava has changed so much in the past month. I remember thinking when she turned 5 months what I was going to do about the swaddle situation. She was breaking out of it constantly, but it seemed like she still needed the confinement or else she woke up constantly. Slowly, it worked itself out as it became clearer and clearer that her arms just could not be contained. Plus, the thumb sucking pretty much sealed the deal on that. Up until last week, I was using a SwaddleMe and just wrapping it around under her arms instead of over, but I finally bought a sleep sack instead, which I love! This way she stays covered up during her crazy moving around at night, but it's not too hot either since her room stays fairly warm all the time.We also said good-bye to the elevated sleep positioner about a month ago. I was worried if her reflux would be an issue and if she would be uncomfortable laying completely flat, and it was a no to either one. What a champ!

Ava has been sitting up on her own really well, although she can still fall backward sometimes. But on turning over, not so much. Honestly, I'm sure she can do it, but she just doesn't seem interested in it. She is more focused on trying to sit up when she is laying down!

Ava's personality has really started to come through. She is grabbing everything in sight and is better able to actually play with her toys now. We introduced the sippy cup, and she loves to pick it up and try to get it in her mouth herself (she gets pretty close too). She continues to adore her big brother, and those two are already great at entertaining each other. What a blessing! I never realized what a gift we were giving Asher by giving him a sibling, and vice versa. I'm so glad they have each other.

I was planning on waiting to introduce solids for another few weeks, if not longer, but man, this girl was just eyeing our food like crazy and salivating while watching us (I'm not joking!). She would just stare and stare at you as if to say, "Why don't you share already, you crazy fool?!" So, I started trying out a couple different foods last week, and she already is an avid eater! I'm going slow, but if she had her way, she would eat solids 3 times a day. It's the polar opposite of Asher, who had no interest for a long time. Actually, it would make my life easier if she was like that because trying to get Asher's meal and then feed her and eat my own meal is pretty much impossible. She just wants to eat and eat!

She is still quite the thumb sucker, and she has eczema on both her thumbs from it. Oh well, it matches the rest of her unfortunately. Her eczema has not been doing so great lately, but I just keep hoping and praying it gets better as she gets older.

She wakes up about 1-2 times a night. For some of you, that might sound like a lot, but for my babies, this is excellent! This also changed over the past month, and before she would wake up 4-5 times a night, so it's a definite improvement! We had a long hiccup during and after our trip, but I think she's turned the corner (or so I hope!).

She transitioned into her own room without any problems starting from the day we moved into the house. I have missed having her next to my bed and being able to see her right there to check on her, and the first few nights were sleepless for me. But, I pushed through it and was just so glad that she had her own, quiet space, so it's worked out really well overall.

I feel like with Asher, while I thoroughly enjoyed his babyhood, I was also always looking forward to the next stage. Crawling, walking, talking, etc. Having experienced how quickly it all flies by, I now really cherish and savor every moment of Ava as a baby, and yet it somehow goes by even faster. Happy 6 months, baby girl! Keep doing what you're doing but don't do it too fast, you hear?