So Miss Amelia Lee is officially six months old. I can barely believe it. She's a wild little lady, that's for sure.
She is--by far-- the most active baby I've ever met. She literally never stops moving and even tosses and turns (and practices crawling!) in her sleep. She's in constant motion. She loves to stand and bounce and turn around and around. She's sitting up like a champ and has started lunging forward onto her knees and then pulls herself to where she wants to go/what she wants to get. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen when she can officially crawl. She grabs at anything and everything within reach and most likely puts it into her mouth. I imagine her inner monologue goes something like this, "Oooooh! What's that?! Give it to me! Oooh shiny! Put it in my mouth! Hmm, something over there moved--give it! Oh! Oh! What's that over there?! I can do it MYSELF! What's that noise? Is that mine? Yes it is!" You get the gist.
She's a smiler--but only on her terms (but thankfully she likes to smile almost as much as we like to see it). She is definitely starting to recognize people (other than mama and daddy) which is super fun. She loves to be outside and has from the very beginning--it's a foolproof way to calm her. She likes to have her head stroked and her back rubbed when she's tired. When I'm nursing her she insists on holding onto one of my fingers in each hand (which limits my iPhone usage). When she stares up at me and smiles (with my nipple between her gums and teeth--ouch) my heart practically bursts. Speaking of teeth, she's got two. And they are big! I think the top ones have started their descent as she seems to be bothered by them on occasion. Oh, and she's bitten me more than once and it is NOT cool. It seems to have happened when her teeth are bothering her, so I can only hope that she learns not to bite before her top teeth actually come in. (OH I HOPE.)
To celebrate the beginning of her 6th month of life, we fed her avocado. I would say she tolerated it, at best. Since then she's also tried banana. It's a work in progress. She also started using a sippy cup which makes her seem like such a big girl! She mostly just chews on it though. She loves to drink out of my water glass, but I'm trying to resist the temptation to let her do that or I'll never have my own drink again. Actually, her absolute most favorite toy is my water bottle. So, yeah. So much for that.
Sleeping continues to be our biggest struggle. Mostly because I often have a difficult time getting back to sleep once she's awoken me, so basically it's something I need to work on. For the last couple of months she typically wakes up 1-3 times a night. Those 3'ers are BRUTAL but luckily they are few and far between. She burrows into my neck when she's tired and clutches onto my shirt like a little monkey. Naps are also all over the place. She usually takes three naps (~9am, ~12pm, and ~4pm) but how long they will last are anybody's guess. However, if I make plans that you can pretty much guarantee that she will be out for 2+hours. I wish I could somehow trick her into doing this on "regular" days. She likes to keep me on my toes, that little one. She's been taking a bottle like a pro for months now, which I appreciate greatly since it gives me some needed freedom. Mostly she goes to sleep without much of a fuss. I have found that she'll eat the most when she's tired, so I feed her right before bed. Sometimes she'll fall asleep in my arms and sometimes she falls asleep on her own in the crib after rolling around and complaining a bit.
She's growing more and more interested in toys and her favorites are Sophie, wooden blocks, jingle ball, her wooden rings, and Clementine. She also loves her bunnies who sleep in her crib with her. She wakes up and plays with them for 30-45 minutes until she lets me know she wants me to come and get her. She usually plays in her crib after each nap as well, so I know she likes her alone time (don't we all). My favorite thing is to go get her from naps (when it's been a sufficient amount of time, that is). She is SO thrilled to see me and kicks her legs and flails her arms about with a huge grin on her face. Sometimes I just want to squeeze her pants off.
She LOVES to roughhouse and giggles up a storm when we toss her around and hang her upside down or let her ride on our shoulders. Her daddy can make her laugh like no other (sometimes to the point of spitting up) . I keep trying to catch it on video but she's camera-shy.
She's a curious little creature and really wants to know everything about this big world of ours. I can leave her to play on the floor by herself for a while in her room but sometimes she calls out for me to come and play too. She mostly likes to chew on books, but sometimes she'll let me read the whole way through. She loves to look at herself in the mirror--oh so vain.
She's the most incredible person I've ever known and I'm so happy she's ours.
