6 months!

Wow where has the past month gone?!?  I feel like I just wrote an update for her at 5 months and now I'm already late for 6 months!!  I guess I'm just having too much fun.  Mary Elizabeth turned 6 months old on September 29.  I remember when she was born thinking about how long 6 months seemed and now here we are.  It makes me sad to think of how I'll probably feel the same way when she turns 18 and goes off to college.  I really am having so much fun though.  I now understand why every mom says that each new stage becomes their favorite.  Right now, she is just at such a fun age!!

At her 6 month visit, she weighed 16lb, 8oz and was 26.75 inches long.  That puts her in the 90th percentile for height and the 75th for weight.  She definitely chunking up pretty good!  She's in 6 months clothes for the most part, though 9 month onsies fit better than 6 month.  She just moved up to size 3 diapers about a week after she turned 6 months.

6 months and sassy as can be!

Sitting so well!

Developmentally, she's right on track!  She's sitting up very well, better than most her age according to the doctor.  She babbles all the time, of course using her favorite word "dada" all the time.  I always tell her, "It's okay that dada's your favorite.  It's not like a carried you in my womb for almost TEN months and it's not like I was in labor with you for an ENTIRE day!"  ;-)

Daddy's girl

She still loves playing with her hands and feet but has really gotten into toys,which is fun.  She loves anything that has lights and music but her favorite toy is a like plastic teething ring in the shape of a mouse that her aunt Carol sent her. 

Favorite snack/toy

She also loves her puppy dog Hershey!  In fact, she seems to be quite enthralled by all animals, always trying to pet and grab puppies and kitties as they walk by.

We started her on solid foods about a week before she turned 6 months.  She loves rice cereal and oatmeal and hasn't had a problem with either since the beginning.  After she did well with those, we tried pumpkin for her first veggie.  I went to the farmer's market and bought a whole fresh, organic pumpkin, which I roasted and pureed into baby food.  She hated it.  We tried it for about 5 days and made no progress.  Then we went to peas, which again I bought organic, steamed them and pureed them.  She hated peas too.  I decided fruit would be a better option.  Last weekend, we went to Minnesota to visit her Papa and Dubbie.  I picked organic, home-grown apples right off the tree, steamed them and pureed them into the tastiest applesauce I've ever had.  She hated it.  Puked it all over me.  I was beginning to think I'd have to nurse her until she was a teenager and got weirded out!  Then, we finally had success with banana.  She LOVES banana!  So hopefully there is hope that she will one day eat all the frozen pumpkin and peas I made.

She still sleeps great, about 11 hours at night with 3 naps during the day.  I think she wants to be mobile but just can't quite figure out how yet.  We'll see how long that lasts.  She has two best friends now, who we see as often as humanly possible.  Her friend Kate (my BFF Kelly's daughter) lives here in Cumming and she comes here to play usually every week.  Kate is a year older than her.  Her friend Alexandra (my other BFF Sandra's daughter) is 4 months younger than her and lives in Atlanta.  We try to get together every other week or so.  Mary Elizabeth LOVES her friends!  She loves watching Kate play and gets so happy when Kate shares toys, which is all the time.  With Alexndra, she's always trying to hold her hand.  It is really so cute, even though we recently discovered she just wants to eat it.  She has already had two sleepovers with Alexandra!

Mary Elizabeth and Alexandra holding hands

Kate sharing with her friend

This past month was pretty crazy for both of us.  I feel like I blinked and September was gone and now we're almost halfway through October.  It feels like life is on fast forward.  I had been doing some contract work for the church but am phasing that out.  I have so much respect for moms who can do it all but I'm just not one of them.  I feel guilty when I work instead of spending time with her.  And it's not just the guilt, I really don't want to work.  My goal for this month is to have a better handle on my schedule.  Parker is ready to give Mary Elizabeth a little brother or sister but I feel like I need to master one first...and I'm just not quite there yet!  It's kind of ridiculous because she's one of the easiest babies ever.  I just have a very hard time over-committing myself.  I'm still a work in progress.  :-)

First UGA game.  What a cute little cheerleader!

Because every 6 month old needs a Puma track suit.

Baby dedication.  I loved this day.