I'm behind again considering Annie turned 7 months back on February 28th. Whew! These posts are a lot to pull together, and I have just lacked the time and commitment to get it done. But, here goes finally! Month 6 was a great month so there is plenty of fun to blog about!
She is always a happy and smiling baby!
Everyone always comments on how happy she is when we are out and it's so true!
She loves when we are out and people stop to talk to her!
We went to the doctor on February 29th for a quick nurses visit to get weighed in and to complete her 6 month vaccines. Again, she did fine with the one shot and oral vaccine she received. A quick round of crying and no side effects afterwards.
Here are her 7 month stats:
Weight: 18 lbs 2 oz 75%
Height: 28 1/4" 97%
Head Circumference: ?
She is a healthy and growing girl!
Here is a look back at her 6 month photo.
This month was a fun one with a lot of big changes!
We introduced solid foods at the beginning of this month, and for the most part, they have been a big hit!! I had offered Annie solid food on a couple of occasions, but she just wasn't all that interested. She would take a bite or two and then lose interest. It wasn't until Emily and I were out to dinner one night that Annie really took an interest in food. I was enjoying a burger and sweet potato fries and handed a fry to Annie just to hold and gum to keep her entertained. She apparently really liked the taste of the fry and wanted to eat it! So, I started breaking off little bites at a time and couldn't feed it to her fast enough! She loved every bite!! Ever since then, she has been a great eater! It is so true that they will let you know when they are ready.
Also, Annie's interest in food coincided with the appearance of her first tooth. I have read that teeth are a great indicator of which foods to feed your baby and when based on their overall development and the development of their digestive system. I have had a very hard time finding much information on this subject of food and teeth, but I am fascinated and would love to read more!
By the end of month 6, Annie had both of her bottom teeth! She seemed to do fine while teething and was, if anything, just a little extra sleepy. I noticed a little, clear runny nose for a day or two prior to the first tooth coming in and nothing when the second one came through. She wasn't particularly fussy either. Yay! She looks so cute with her teeth although most of the time I can't even see them when she smiles or talks.
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| Blurry but I love this sweet face! |
Annie's favorite foods are definitely avocados and sweet potatoes which happen to be two of my favorite foods! She also really likes butternut squash. Bananas were not her favorite initially, but she has come to love them now too! I have bananas on my cereal most morning so she almost always has bananas for breakfast too! Annie is also a pro at the sippy cup now and drinks water with each meal.
I am still nursing every 3.5 hours or so and still want breast milk to be Annie's main source of nutrition for her first year! Unfortunately, with the introduction of solid foods, my milk supply seemed to decrease so I have been working very hard to increase it again. (Note: if you want to maintain your milk supply with the introduction of solids, I recommend nursing your baby first and then feeding solids. Our pediatrician advised me to do the opposite, and I think that was part of our problem!) I always drink lots of water, but I am trying to drink 64 oz each day in addition to trying to get a little more sleep when possible, taking Brewers Yeast tablets, drinking Mother's Milk tea, and pumping after most nursing sessions. It's a lot of work but seems to have paid off some so far.
I am also hoping that Annie might take some milk from a sippy cup on occasion and allow me to leave her for a little bit longer periods of time if necessary, but because she has never taken to drinking from a bottle, I quit pumping months ago and do not have any milk stored up. So, I am also trying to rebuild my extra supply. Whew - nursing + pumping is serious business and takes a lot of commitment!
As far as sleeping goes, this month started off great!! For about two weeks straight, Annie slept through the night every single night from about 7:30 pm to 7 am with one dream feed around 11. It was glorious!! I felt so energetic and it was a huge mental relief to know that I was not going to have to get up in the middle of the night!! Unfortunately, like I said before, when I started introducing solids, I think it impacted my milk and Annie's nursing, so at about 6.5 months, she stopped sleeping through the night regularly. She still does some, but she will also wake some to eat once in the night. Hopefully, we will find our groove again and she will sleep through the night very regularly again soon! I am thankful for the middle of the night feeds for now because it is one of the best ways to build up my milk supply again.
This month, I also taught Annie how to soothe herself to sleep rather than me rocking and ssshingpaci, swaddle her up, and then put her up on my shoulder and sway and sing to her. It was sweet cuddle time and let her know that it was time for bed. Sometimes, she even puts her head down on my shoulder which is wonderful!! Melts my heart every time! After she is calm, I lay her down in her crib and walk out. For the first week or so, I would have to go back in every few minutes at increasing intervals of time to console her and/or put her paci back in. Eventually, she would fall asleep. The longest that it ever took was 25 minutes but only once! She caught on very, very quickly and now almost always goes to sleep within a few minutes and without me going back in at all. It has been such a nice relief to have nap time and bedtime be so quick and easy! I am proud of her and thankful that she has been such a sweet and adaptable baby all along the way!
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| Alseep in the stroller after our walk! |
Other that those major changes, Annie has also started doing some other really fun things this month that show off her personality!
She started blowing raspberries and thought it was funny! Here is a video that I took of her talking / making raspberries one day!
Annie also wakes up most mornings and after each nap cooing in her bed! It is so sweet to hear her little voice! She babbles a lot through out each day and we still have "conversations" often where we go back and forth taking turns talking!
She still loves her bath and kicks and splashes all the time!
She also started to enjoy the game of peek-a-boo and laughs when we play! Annie has even initiated peek-a-boo a few times which is so fun!
She started dancing while sitting up! It is hysterical! She wiggles her entire upper torso and neck seemingly to the beat of the music! She will also jump and wiggle in her exersaucer if music is playing! It is so cute and so much fun! Brad took a great video of her showing off her moves!
Annie also started driving this month! Haha! JoJo and Grandpa gave her a 4-in-1 Chicco car for Christmas and she absolutely loves it! We push her around the house, up and down the street, or around the park any chance we get!
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| Watching Layla in the backyard |
She has great technique and always keeps her hands at 10 and 2! The car plays music and she will kick and wiggle to the music! So cute! And, if you stop moving even for a minute, she will whine or cry until you start again! Funny girl! Annie loves the car so much that we have to hide it when we are not using it. Otherwise she will whine the entire time she sees it to get in and go, go, go!
One day after being at the neighborhood park, I put Annie in the front seat with me just to drive home the two or so blocks. It was a beautiful day so instead of going straight home, I rolled the windows down, turned on the music, and we cruised very slowly around the neighborhood. Annie loved it!! I think she loved the excitement of a new view, the wind at her face, and the music playing! Maybe she will have a need for speed one day like her Mama :)
Brad and Annie are still big buddies and she cannot get enough of him!! She wants to see him every chance she gets and always flashes him a big smile whenever she sees him! I am so thankful for their sweet bond and mutual love for each other! Brad is a great Daddy and Annie is a lucky girl!
This month, Annie also started "walking!"
On occasion, I would stand Annie up and let her hold my hands and start walking. At first, she liked it but didn't need to be doing it unless I initiated it. Well, she has become almost obsessed with walking and now wants to do it all the time!
If we are both playing on the floor, she will constantly reach for my hands to pull her self up and take off. Over the course of the month, she has become very stable and very fast at walking! She loves it every time we do it! I think she is pretty close to crawling and will then start walking very soon after she crawls. For now, I am enjoying every stationary minute that we have left:)
And finally, she is still fascinated by Layla and also big kids!
She loves to watch both any chance she gets.
Annie, you are such a joy and so much fun every single day! We love you with all of our hearts!
