This month has been pretty good (Both Josie and Audrey had a pretty great month at six months old too, must be a great time developmentally). We had a few rough weekends being out of town. She doesn't seem to like staying anywhere but home, whatever the reason is. We experimented while visiting hubby's family and it was a little better. My hypothesis is that she doesn't like when it is too humid, too dark (what? I know), or too quiet. She sleeps better in a pack n play than she does in the crib at my parents' house, too. Strange girl.
Breastfeeding seems to be going strong. I had a few days where I thought she was starving and I wasn't producing enough, so I made some lactation oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and have had one or two a day (poor me, cookies all day, right?) and am still eating quite a balanced diet, and it seems as though she is getting more than enough, stopping before I feel like I'm empty and quite happy and content afterwards.
She's also eating foods like crazy. I started her on solids,mostly finger foods that she has to mush up (chew) before she swallows, right before she turned six months and she is rocking it. So far I haven't run across anything she doesn't like. She doesn't have the coordination to pick it up herself and actually get it in her mouth, but she eats it great if I help her get it there. We've tried chicken, salmon, pork, beef, eggs, all kinds of veggies, cheese, noodles, basically whatever we are eating. Happy, happy girl.
For a while, she was waking up 5-6 times a night. Hello, zombie mom. Once she started eating solids, it dropped back down to two, and the last one is after 5:00 AM so that just barely counts. It's so much better. I have more energy, she seems even happier somehow, and I don't risk stubbing my toe nearly as much. She rolls like crazy but does not sleep well if she's not totally snuggie wrapped, so she ends up awkwardly flipping around like a fish. Whatever works, I guess. The pacifier is only necessary right at bedtime. After eating in the middle of the night, she's tired enough to pretty much be asleep by the time she's laid back down. She's not nearly as attached to it as the other two were.
She still takes two naps in the morning and three naps in the afternoon before bed at 7 or 7:30. It's crazy how much more she sleeps than her sisters when you add it all up. She is still super easy to put down too. All I do is turn the sound machine on, wrap her up (she fusses for this part because she knows what is happening) and then give her the pacifier and she immediately turns away and zones out. Good bye, mom! I am out of there so fast and she hardly ever needs anything more than that.
There was a span of 4 days where she would not fall asleep at night until like 10 or 11:00, but she phased out of that just as fast as it came. I don't know what the deal was there. Since this is our third time around, we were way less 'let's figure this out what is happening she's going to be spoiled' and more 'I bet she outgrows this in a few days so let's just hang out with her for a while.' Ahh, the advantages to having experience. :)
She's still rolling all over and will end up 10 feet away from where she started if there's room. She can sit in the tripod pose if I help her get there but she doesn't have a lot of balance so I am not very far away at this point. She's held a lot more than her sisters, not all the time, but often, so I'm not too surprised she's a little slower at these bigger milestones. Girlie girl is grabbing at everything and it all goes into the mouth.
We haven't had her six month appointment yet so I have no idea how big she is or how long she has gotten. She has a few 0-3 month onesies she fits in (easily, so weird when she's so long) and she easily fits in 3-6 months clothes still. I pulled out the 6-9 summer clothes so we'd get a little use out of them. They don't really fit but I put her in them anyway.
She smiles all the time. Her smile lights up her whole face and the dimples are irresistible. It's a little ridiculous. I kiss her face and snuggle her close to me all day long and I still don't feel like I get enough of her. She draws the most attention our way, even more than before, more than either of her sisters did and I wouldn't be surprised if this continues the more she interacts with others.
So one huge change is that we've been at the gym almost every day during the week. She's been forced to be around other adults without me there, and she's doing surprisingly well. The first week or two were rough. They had to come get me two times. Now, though, they know her and have figured out a few tricks. She often gets wrapped tight and rocked to sleep. Some of them lightly cover her eyes from the light and she sleeps great like that. If she's not tired, they've learned to hold her facing out so she can watch the activity. I've even been told by a few that if they stay away from the entrance, she does better since she's right in the middle of the action. Whatever works! She's always more than happy to come to me when I come to pick them up (as is Audrey, although I think Josie could care less), but she isn't nearly as difficult as I thought she'd be overall.
This has helped so much with her tolerance with other people holding her. Poor family members that just want to love her and interact with her always end up with a screaming baby, so any kind of improvement is awesome. If she's full, wide awake, and clean diapered, she usually will tolerate being held by someone else, even with me in the room, for a little while. If I talk nearby though, she'll sometimes remember that we are separated (the horror) and freak out. A work in progress, but definitely progressing.
She doesn't enjoy watching her sisters like I thought she would by now. I don't know if she can't tell what they are doing so she isn't interested, or if she is just that attached to me, but she doesn't just sit and watch them all that much. If they are playing near her, she does play better, but more of that stems from not liking to be alone more than actually wanting them around. I hope that changes down the road because I don't want her to always be excluded from the big girls.
Amelia hates being alone. Every single time I leave the room, she cries. If someone else is in the room, even a sister, and I leave, she panics a little, and if that person leaves the room, it's the end of the world for her. She just hates it. Thankfully, this does not apply at bed time, but all other times of the day are affected. She's old enough and strong enough for me to wear her on my back using my Beco wrap and it's amaaaazing how much more I can get done with a happy baby attached to me. I hang the laundry on the line outside, cook entire meals, unload groceries, etc. It's a game changer for sure.
Of course, she does love her sisters and smiles for them often. Both of them have gotten her to laugh by doing some crazy antics, and it's pretty fun to witness if I happen to have the chance to just stop and watch. Most of the time it's in the car since she sits in between her sisters.
This month's sister photos were poor in quality but better in quantity than last month. Audrey had juuuust gotten over being mad about something so she had a red blotchy face from crying. Amelia was hungry and d-o-n-e with pictures, but I was able to keep her at least not crying for most of them. Josie was on point with big smiles, but she makes some ca-razy faces sometimes. See for yourself.
And the comparison shot: Amelia has the biggest smile and scrawniest legs, Audrey has the biggest cheeks but is the smallest in size, and Josie has the most hair and hardly even looks like her here.
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