Reese: Six Months

How Old: Six Months! How is it that’s she’s already ½ a year old?!

 

 

Weight/Height: At her 6 month visit, Reese weighed 14 lbs 13 oz and was 26 inches, putting her in the 21% for weight and 48% for height. Looks like she stayed about the same for height, and went up a little for weight.

 

Baby Clothes: Reese can wear anything from 3 month to 6-9 months in clothing. It’s always the length of the clothing that depends on what she’s wearing. She’s still wearing size 2 diapers.

 

Milestones: Reese has begun to sit up. She can’t get into the position by herself, but when we sit her up she can stay there for a while. Though, I have noticed sometimes she will be sitting and fling herself backward. Thankfully, every time she’s done that she’s either sitting on our bed or has the boppy around her, but I’m not looking forward to the day when that’s not the case. She really does like sitting up. When I try to lay her down, she does a little crunch so she can sit. Reese also has some pretty strong legs. She loves to stand while mommy and daddy hold her hands.

 

A few days before Reese turned 6 months we gave her oatmeal. She was not a fan! The faces she made cracked Husbandy and I up though. I know you’re supposed to try solids a few times before deciding a baby doesn't like them, so we tried oatmeal again the next day. Again, Reese just looked at us like, “I see what you people put in your mouth and this is NOT it.” I think it’s pretty safe to say oatmeal is not her thing. It's good we bought a huge thing of it (parenting fail).

 

(kind of long....but cute)

 

Reese got sick a couple days after trying solids, so we took a break as I needed to make sure she was getting lots of fluids. We picked it back up after her 6 months, so I’ll talk more about that later.

Still haven’t seen Reese roll over from back to front on her own. I try to coax her with a toy or by laying on the floor, but she doesn’t seem to love one thing sooo much that she just has to have it. I’ll keep trying though, I know she can do it.

Special Outings: Reese got to meet Kelly, Michael, and Annabelle this month! We were sure to take a picture, cause Reese and Annabelle are going to want that when they are best friends later. :) Husbandy and I were also very excited to see the Michaelis’! We've missed them so much since they moved to Abilene.

After attending lunch with Kelly, Michael, and Annabelle, I took Reese to a wedding shower! She luckily got a little nap on the way and was nice enough to take a bottle pretty well when we got there.

 

My cousin, Kyle, married a wonderful girl named Sarah this month, so Reese got to attend her very first wedding! She did really well during the ceremony, I think her cousin Brooklyn kept her entertained. The reception was a little rough though. She didn't want to take a bottle and was NOT ok with nursing under the cover. That was kinda essential for the nursing process, so it wasn't until later when I asked if there was a private room to nurse that she got to feed. She was then not a fan of the loud music. My family took turns holding/dancing with her in a separate room, but Husbandy and I had to skip out before the fun was over. I’m so so happy we got to go to the wedding though! Everything was beautiful, especially the bride. :)

Highlights of the Month: Husbandy and I made it 6 months! Reese has really been a pretty easy baby, but I think we can still celebrate keeping her alive for ½ a year. :P Thinking back to June, it’s crazy how much things have changed. Reese really wasn't doing much other than sleeping, but now she’s awake, laughing, tummy timing it, smiling, nursing well, and just being a little person. Gosh, I love her so much.

We spent Thanksgiving at Papa Joe’s with lots of family. Reese definitely enjoyed getting loved on and playing with all her cousins. She just stares at them and laughs. I can’t wait until she can crawl around and play too. (Ok, well I can wait. But, that will be so cute!)

 

 

Reese also made it through her first ice storm! This really didn't mean anything but good things for her as both mommy and daddy were home on Friday! It was so fun getting to spend this extra day with her. We didn't take her outside, but we did show her the ice through the window. She seemed to be pretty intrigued by all the white stuff.

Baby’s Routine: 

Wake up: 7:00am

Nap: 9:00 am-11:00 am

Eat/Play: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Nap: 1:00pm - 3:00 pm

Eat Play: 3:00 pm - 5:45 pm 

Nap: This nap is usually a little shorter than his morning naps 5:45 - 6:30 or 7

Eat Play: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

9:00 pm feed and put to sleep

 

This month things got a little difficult in between the time Husbandy picks Reese up and bed time. She used to be able to take a nap around 7:00, but we realized this month that when she did that she would not go to bed! Due to that Husbandy and I have been trying to figure out what works best for Reese and us. The ideal situation is for her to nap for 30 min – 1 hr starting around 5:45. Some days that works out, but other days Reese doesn't want to go down. Every night is a little adventure. 

 

Baby’s Favorite Food: Definitely mommy’s milk, most preferably from nursing. Reese still does not eat well at daycare. She fights the bottle, but eventually gives in when she’s too hungry. :( I’m not really sure what to do about that. I was hoping solids would help, but she doesn't seem to be in love with that either. It kinda makes me laugh to think at first should would not nurse, but now that’s all she really wants to do.

 

Something I have to remember is how Reese started to nurse this month. Her free arm is always straight up in the air. Typically she’s reaching for my shirt or my hair. I just think it’s so funny, the second she starts nursing her hand is up. 

Baby’s Favorite Activity: Nursing? Haha. She does love playing on the floor with mommy or in her excersaucer. One thing I don’t want to forget is how much she loves when we brush her hair; she just smiles and laughs. She’s such a girl. :P She also really loves bath time. When we squirt water on her she’ll just look at it and try to grab it. Then she kicks and kicks as we clean her. At first, I couldn't really tell if she was liking it, but she is. I’ll have to get a video, it’s pretty cute.
We have also discovered that Reese really likes sounds. If she's fussy I'll usually make a clicking noise with my tounge, or some other strange noise with my mouth, and she becomes very intrigued. She also really thinks it's funny when we say Mama or Dada. It's almost as if she's laughing at us thinking "That's funny cause I'm never going to say it."

Baby’s Favorite Toy: Excersaucer and playmat. We also gave her links to play with this month and she’s really enjoyed playing with them on her carseat and during Mass.

Big Changes: I can’t help but reflect back to six months ago when Reese was just a little 6 lb baby. All she could do was just lay there and be loved on. Now, she can communicate things, and smile, and laugh, and sit, and grab, and roll, and talk; she recognizes mommy and daddy and loves to play. So many things have changed over just a few short months and I know there are so many more milestones to reach in the next six. I've said it before, but I love watching her learn and grow. She’s my little angel.

 

Mommy Journal:

This has been the month of sickness for Reese. It started off with us taking her to the dr for an ear infection. Dr F put her on amoxicillin twice a day, which she hated! Every time we gave it to her she just cried. I’m sure she didn't like that it was cold or the fact that it tasted so sweet. After we were done with the medicine we didn't think the ear infection was cleared, so we took her back to the dr and we were again right. So, back on a stronger medication. Reese liked this round a little better, but I think the amoxicillin made her dislike the sight of the syringe. We finished up this round and planned to get it all checked out again at her 6 month appointment, but 3 days before it we went in because Reese was coughing and stuffy. Knowing a little boy had just been diagnosed with RSV at daycare, I expected the worst. Lo and behold Reese also had RSV. Poor baby, she was so stuffy and miserable.

Reese being sick stressed me out! The ear infection wasn't bad because she was still happy, but there were points during the week she had RSV I didn't think I would make it. I hardly slept at night cause I was constantly worried she couldn't breathe, so I would sit and watch the monitor to make sure this wasn't the case. Reese also woke up more often during the night. The combination of these two things made for long nights for this mommy.

 

I am so thankful for the people I work with! There were a couple girls that really walked me through how to handle RSV and calmed some of my nerves. They reassured me not to worry about work and to focus on my baby, they even went as far as to tell me “Don’t you worry about work, I've done your load before and will do anything you need.” Such a wonderful thing to hear when I'm was so worried about my baby! Reese got the worse on Thursday and we took her back to the dr to make sure RSV hadn't escalated. When I was leaving work, my senior told me not to be at work on Friday, even though I had been at the office for just a day and a half that week. It was such a relief to not have to feel guilty about staying home with Reese on Friday. I am so blessed to work with other working mom’s who have been through it all.

 

Reese, it was a hard month for both you and mommy and daddy, but we made it little girl! While I hated to see you sick, I did enjoy the snuggles. We love you to pieces!