Leighton :: Six Months Old

Half a year. It's been the quickest {and at times, the longest} six months of my life so far and while we've had our moments, Miss Leighton is really is just the sweetest gal.

This month, she had her first cold and shared the germs with big sister, started teething (no pearly whites yet!) and discovered her love for the outdoors. She is SO. HAPPY. once we get outside. She will sit either in the stroller or her bouncy seat and just take it all in. I swear, she even fell asleep in the stroller with a smile on her face while sitting in the driveway.

EAT | She's mostly weaned from nursing and takes a 4-oz bottle of formula every 3 hours or so. She will still nurse in the evening if she's throwing a fit and if when she wakes up in the middle of the night. I'm positive it's only for comfort as I'm not sure she's getting very much actual milk but it still seems to be the only thing to calm her down and get her back to sleep. She seems to be a little more accepting of the pacifier these days so that's helping, too. I know she doesn't NEED to eat in the middle of the night so hopefully as we progress to sleeping all night long, those middle-of-the night "feedings" will go away on their own.

She also LOVES food. We started offering solids right around 5.5 months because she was diving headfirst onto the table during dinner time trying to grab whatever it was we were eating. She wanted it and wanted it bad. We did a few purees - sweet potatoes, apples, pears, squash - just to see how she did with eating from a spoon. Yeah, she had NO problem with that. Based on the way she inhaled shredded chicken last night, I think we're gonna go the baby-led weaning way this time around and start offering her food off our plates from now on. She's getting really good at picking up food off her tray and bringing it to her mouth so it's fun to watch her make a mess.

SLEEP | I went to Omaha for a girls night a few weekends ago - my first night away from the baby. The night before I left, she woke up 2 or 3 times. The night I was gone, she went down for Justin at 9:00 PM and he didn't hear from her again until 7:30 the next morning. So, the one night she sleeps alllll night long, I'm not even there to witness such a miracle. And out of habit, I still woke up a few times during the night from the comfort of my hotel room.

Don't worry, I was back the next night and she was up to no good again - waking 3 times or something ridiculous like that.

She is getting better - she's slept through a handful of times so I know she's fully capable of STTN but it's definitely not a regular occurrence by any means. She still likes to fight bedtime and we end up letting her cry (with going in and checking on her in 5, 10 and 15-minute intervals) until she settles down and falls asleep.

Naps in her crib are getting better too, slowly but surely. They usually last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. The other morning, she slept for a good 2 hours up there so that's definite progress.

PLAY | Still LOVES to watch Gracyn run around. She will roll from one side of the room to the other, getting stuck under the coffee table or couch. She's constantly trying to sit up if she happens to fall over and is really good at propping herself up when she's on her tummy. Her legs are always kicking and moving so I'm sure she'll be crawling sooner rather than later.

It's so crazy to me that she's already 6 months old. I love watching her become her own little person and I still can't believe I have two little girls. They have similar features but they're still so different - mainly in size and the amount of hair - and I love that.

Happy 6 Months, baby girl! We love you!