6 Months Old

We've had a busy couple of weeks around our house! Miss Kalaya is now 6 months old! I know I say it at every milestone, but I really can't believe it! It's already been half a year since she was born and yet Nelson and I cannot imagine what life was like before she was a part of our family! We are constantly trying to remember what we did before Kalaya was born and wonder why we didn't start our family sooner! We just love being parents so much! (of course, if we'd started sooner, we may have had another baby instead of Miss Kalaya!)
Kalaya had her first Halloween! We went to a party at our friend Sarah's house for a little while and then went to Mom and Dad's to hand out candy and trick or treat at a couple of houses. (just 3 and no candy was involved!) She seemed to enjoy or at least didn't mind wearing her billy goat costume.
Six months is a huge developmental milestone and a lot has happened as a result of reaching this age! Kalaya has not one but two teeth!! They came out of no where, we had no idea that she was teething! Well, we suspected, but they totally surprised us! She's had signs of teething (drooling, wanting to gum on EVERYTHING) for at least 2 months, but we had stopped worrying about it. Then, we're nursing one day and something felt different. Not bad or painful, just out of the ordinary. I stuck my finger in her mouth and felt something pointy! Looked inside and there's a tooth popping in! The next day, another one right next to it! Looking back, she had stopped sleeping as well as she had been, which should have been an indicator. I just thought she was going through a growth spurt!

Kalaya had her 6 month checkup last Friday. Since her 4 month appointment was really more like a 5 month visit, it skewed her measurements a bit. She is now 15 lbs 14 1/2 oz, which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight. Her length is 26 1/2 inches (75th percentile) and her head circumference is 17 1/2 inches (90th percentile). So, she's tall, slim and has a big brain! Daddy's worried about those things continuing into her teenage years.... : ) She had her last round of vaccinations and did really well. She barely cried at the first shot, but the 2nd and 3rd made her pretty mad. She calmed down quickly, nothing like a little nursing to help with that! She didn't show any fussiness afterwards and has been fine ever since. No more vaccinations until her one year checkup, hooray!! However, we are going to get her then H1N1 shot soon.
6 months means the introduction of solid foods! I posted a video on my last blog. She has definitely showed signs of readiness. She tracks your fork from your plate to your mouth, reaches for your food and chews along with you. Needless to say, she has been doing great with solid foods so far. We started out with rice cereal. (see previous video) Today I added banana, which she did pretty well with. I don't know if taste is weird for her or texture, but she makes some pretty funny faces, like she isn't sure about the whole thing. However, she opens her mouth and takes lots of bites and manages to swallow a fair amount. We've also started drinking water from a cup, which she seems to really like. She grabs for the cup and likes to "help" guide it to her mouth. She has also started fluoride drops and we have started teeth brushing! Luckily, none of these new things have affected nursing in the slightest. She still loves to breastfeed (as do I!) and I don't see any signs of this changing any time soon. Yay!
My parents got Kalaya her Christmas present a little early and she LOVES it! It's a Jumperoo, so she can stand, jump and turn all around. It is farm themed and has all these toys attached. She plays in it constantly and babbles, smiles and tries out all the different toys. She hasn't quite figured out the jumping part yet, but sometimes does it by coincidence.

She is officially in all 9 month clothes. Some are a bit big (finally!) but not by much. This is the last size that we have a lot of outfits for. Once she switches to 12 months, I'll be shopping a bit more. Hopefully Christmas will bring in some 12, 18 and 24 month clothes. Wait, that sounds too old to be my baby!!

Speaking of Christmas, we are going to be flying to Alabama on the 25th to be there in time for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary on the 26th. Isn't that just amazing?? 60 years!! I am just in awe of them. I hope Nelson and I make it that long! It will be really special because all of the great-grand kids and most of the grandchildren and children will be there as well. It will be a FULL house!