Lucy, Six Months.

Our baby girl is SIX months old! How? When? Why??

Amazing, how fast it seems to have gone. (Once we dug out of the colic, that is!)

 

(a little orange and black, since it's October...)

   

Lucy Notes @ Six Months:

* No height/weight stats yet, since her appointment isn't til Halloweeeeeen.

* But she is comfortably fitting into 3-6 month clothing finally, with a few 0-3 month pieces still fitting fine. She's a wee one. 

* Because she's nowhere near 6-9 month clothing, it's thrown off my Lucy Wardrobe. All the things that fit are items I expected to use in August/September, so they're not really WARM or cozy. And all the warm, cozy things I have for Lucy are too big. Therefore, I've gotten addicted to "upcycling" playclothes for Lucy to bridge the gap... making pants out of sweaters, making playdresses out of t-shirts and onesies... Cute stuff!

* Lucy is definitely teething. No little teeth poking through, or even really visible, but she is chewing on everything and drooling like a crazy. And Noah got his first teeth at 7 months, so I am just expecting it. 

* She loves to poke her tongue out at everything (see her official six-month shot above for The Look she's been giving). She always has, actually, but it's gotten more prevalent since this teething. I wonder if she is feeling things rumbling under those gums?

* She is really quite consistent with her schedule... It feels good to be able to mostly predict what she needs and when. She naps for 1.5-2 hours in the morning, around 9 or 9:30, and then takes an afternoon nap, again either 1.5 or 2 hours usually, around 1 or 2pm. She goes to bed around 6:30-7:00pm, and wakes around midnight and 4am to eat. She then wakes for the day around 7:30am. This, I can live with. All of it. 

* Having said that, she actually has gone til 3 or 4 for her first waking a few times in the last two weeks. Might she be close to dropping one of her night feeds? *fingers crossed*

* She has had her first solid foods-- avocado for the first three days, and sweet potatoes for the next 5 days. I introduced banana to her sweet potatoes yesterday. And she has been enjoying apple slices in her mesh teether. She is taking to foods like a champ!

* The nicknames that have emerged out of my crazy head for Lucy over the first 6 months, quite unintentionally: 

LuLu

LuLu Bell

LuLiLooler (that one cracks me up, and I have NO idea how it came to be)

* Her bedfellows: Her Bunny Bunny, her taggie from Mel, her Zaky hand... and I had tucked a vintage chenille bear and quilted heart pillow into the corner of her crib just for looks, and she has discovered them. Every once in a while, if she's had a restless nap or night, I'll go in to find the bear in all kinds of crazy places, drug around by her. And the heart pillow--- that's a CRAZY thing: I SWEAR she knows what she is doing with it because I've gone in SEVERAL times to find it laying over her sound machine. Like she's INTENTIONALLY trying to block out the little green light or the extra noise or something. It's CRAZY. And consistent. 

* She's just started showing some "stranger anxiety" in the past week-- If she's in my arms, she'll smile huge and wide for anyone who comes to flirt with her. But as soon as I hand her over, BIG ol' tears will sprout and her whole face will crumble as she starts to cry. SO pathetic. And sad for the innocent bystanders who just wanted a little baby snuggle.

* She loves: kicking her kick toy, watching her playroom mobile while kicking the stair banister, stacking boxes (easy to grab!), her crackle taggie, sitting in the sling like Jodie taught me long ago with Noah, watching Noah do everything, having books read to her (if she can nibble the edges), seeing her daddy at the end of the day

*

That's all I can think of for the moment.... My LuLu... six months. From here on out, the time wheel will just keep going faster and faster---- teeth, then sitting up, then crawling, then walking, talking, practicing independence.... a toddler... a kiddo... a teen.... ack!

I'm working so hard at being MINDFUL and in the present... and succeeding MAYBE 25% of the time. MAYBE. It's so hard not to spend my "rocking Lucy" moments planning the immediate future, or going over the immediate past... hard not to spend the stay-at-home mama time thinking about the next window of "freedom" I will get to sew or run a solo errand or watch some junk TV... So hard not to tune out the kid-chatter and so hard not to get exasperated when Lucy goes "off-book" to what I expect from her...

But I'm trying. My counselor taught me the simplest "deep breath" technique that has REALLY been a good one for me. Instead of just taking a deep breath and counting, then breathing out while counting, you think the words, "Beeeeeeeeeeeeee/ Calllllllllm".... Be calm. Be calm. 

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. 

Be in THIS moment. Be at peace. Be mindful. 

And say thank you. 

(that last part is my own addition. Once I find the "present", I give thanks. There is ALWAYS something to give thanks for. ALWAYS.)

Maybe if I can master mindfulness a little more each day/week/month, I'll feel like I was IN my baby's fast-flying early days. Instead of wishing them away for something else like we all accidentally do. (Someday, she'll sleep through the night... someday she'll feed herself... SomedaySomedaySomeday.)

But when she sleeps through the night, that is two less warm, dark cuddle sessions a day I'll get. And when she feeds herself, that is 20-45 minutes less a day of "face time", exploring her every move and expression while spooning goop into her cute mouth...

Yep. I want to be in the moment. As much as I possibly can. Seven months is just around the corner. And then eight... then nine...

*

(to see the original idea for these monthly photos, click here.

And Month 5. Month 4. Month 3. Month 2.)

Oh, and fun idea: If your baby is one of Lucy's birth peers (i.e. born in April sometime), if you wanna, I'd love to do a blog post with a photo collage of all of them at 6 months old. Well, and one of them as newborns, too... If you want, email me a pic of your April baby from their first two weeks, and one from the last two weeks, and their name/birthday, and I'll make a collage. I'll add links back to your blog if you want me to--- just mention it in the email. Fun? I think so!! 

email:

{southerlandgirl  at  yahoo  dot  com}