Happy Half Birthday Miss Adalee! I can't believe six months have already passed! Daddy and I love you so much and we can't imagine life without you!
Stats:
We had Adalee's 6 Month checkup on June 4th. She weighed in at 16lbs 9ozs (55%) and measured 25in long (30%). Overall, Miss Adalee is a fairly average sized baby. Our pediatrician is happy with her weight gain and growth, and had no other concerns - which is great!
Miss Adalee is still in size
2 diapers and is still in her 6 month clothing, but has moved up to 9 month sleepers.
Eating:
Miss
Adalee is still on the same eating schedule. She typically nurses once in the
morning when she wakes up, usually around
6:30am. She then takes three 6 ounce bottles
during the day - approximately every three hours (9:00am,
12:00pm, and 3:00pm). When we get home from work/childcare, she
takes another 6 ounce bottle and then nurses once before bed around 8:00pm.
In
addition to breast milk and two servings of rice/oatmeal cereal (two tablespoons each), Miss Adalee has started eating one-two servings (two-four tablespoons) of veggies a day. We started the veggies shortly after she turned 5 months old, and so far, she has tried sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, peas, and squash - and more importantly, she likes them all! There is not much that Miss Adalee will not eat! Here are some pictures from her first time eating baby food, which was sweet potatoes...
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| One of her first bites! |
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| A little confused initially... |
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| Starting to figure it out... |
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| Now I love it! |
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| Happy girl! |
Because Adalee is doing so well with her veggies, at our 6 Month checkup our pediatrician recommended that we start her on some protein, while increasing her veggie and cereal amounts, as well as eventually adding some fruit - so lots of new foods on the horizon for the little lady.
We have also started Miss Adalee on a formula supplement. Two of her four bottles a day are formula. While I truly enjoy breastfeeding, it was becoming such a challenge for me to keep up with her demand for breast milk. I was feeling like I was spending a majority of my time at work (and at home as well) pumping milk, and I still was not getting enough. Adding the formula supplement has been so helpful for my sanity! At first, Adalee seemed confused by the formula - it definitely has a different smell and taste - but she has gotten used to it and now it is just the norm!
Last thing on her eating habits...Miss Adalee has started to become very easily distracted during feedings. I used to be able to give her a bottle or nurse her anywhere, regardless of what was going on around her. But now, it has to be fairly quiet and there cannot be any movement happening around her; otherwise she will pull away in order to observe what is going on - especially if she can see Daddy walking around the room! Not a big deal, but it has definitely lengthened the amount of time we spend on meal time!
Sleeping:
We had some minor set backs in the sleeping department this past month. There was about a two week stretch when Miss
Adalee decided that she needed to be up in the middle of the night for a quick snack. She would only nurse for 15 minutes or so, and then would always go right back to sleep. So in the big scheme of things, no big deal...but it is funny how quickly you get used to sleeping through the night again. We did start to slightly increase the amount of veggies/cereal and milk/formula that she gets in hope of returning to the days of sleeping through the night
She still
goes down between 7:30pm and 8:00pm, and then sleeps through the night
until 6:00am-6:30am. Still taking 3-5 cat naps during the day that last
around 30
minutes. She still likes to suck her thumb. In addition to sleeping on her back, she has started rolling over and sleeping on her side for a while, but she always eventually rolls back to her back.
The other sleeping characteristic that we figured out this past month is that Adalee is a LOUD sleeper. How did we find this out, you ask? We went to the Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Weekend with my parents and sister. There are three bedrooms in my family's condo, so we were back to sharing a room with Miss Adalee - something we haven't done since she was 7ish weeks old. Well, to say this "room sharing experience" was a disaster would be an understatement. Adalee makes a lot of noises when she sleeps, including random squawks and yelps. She also goes through periods of really loud, heavy breathing, and then moments that cause you to wonder whether she is breathing at all. I was so on edge listening to her sleep that I could not bring myself to fall asleep. I think around 4:00am, Michael and I left the bedroom and made ourselves cozy on the pull-out couch - where we slept for the remainder of the trip as well! Oh well, if loud sleeping is our worst problem, I think we are doing okay! :)
Playing:
Adalee has become so interactive over the past month! She loves to put everything in her mouth. She particularly likes chewing on her giraffe Sophie's face - we always say that she is giving Sophie kisses! Adalee is starting to sit briefly, but still needs support or hands around her. She still loves to stand, which is probably why she loves her activity jumper so much! Adalee has become more interactive with her toys - she shakes her rattles, reaches for the toys she likes, and moves her toys from in front of her to her side. Adalee still is happiest in the morning when she wakes up, but she is also extremely happy when we let her hang out naked!
She coos like you wouldn't believe! She also found her feet over the past month - she loves to hold on to them while lying on her back! Overall, we are so in love with this happy girl, and love that she is always excited when she sees us walk into her line of sight!
I was HORRIBLE about taking pictures of our little girl this past month. I am going to do better in June! But here are some photos we managed to take from the past month:
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| Hanging out with her cousins during a family bbq! |
