6 months old!

Half a year old already!  My oh my.  It's crazy to think that she is now closer to being a year old than closer to her birth... if that makes sense....

We kind of celebrated her half birthday, but just by pampering her.  She reached two milestones on the same day!  Right on her 6 month birthday.

Let's see how she spent her half birthday....

Luckily my parents are here to help since we just moved into out house less than a week ago. My parents are sleeping on an air mattress in the nursery and for the first time ever this week, Penelope is sleeping in her crib!  She usually sleeps in a bassinet next to our bed.  Grandma must have the magic touch.  I also took all of her toys out of her crib because I used to leave her in there for a while to play, but when I would try to lay her down, she would wake up right away to play with her toys, so I think it helps that I moved them. 

So my mom has been happy to get up with Penelope in the mornings so I can sleep in a little.  But I still can't sleep any later than 8:30.  So I woke up yesterday at 8 and she was already awake for a while.  For breakfast I gave her oatmeal mixed with strawberries, bananas and apples. 

I always open my mouth when I feed her, lol.

Then I had to leave for a doctors appointment.  My ears have been bothering me and I have a swollen throat gland.  When I got back, I started steaming butternut squash to make her baby food. We played and hung out for 2 hours or so, then it was time for her 6 month doctors appointment.  While we were getting loaded in the car, the mailman pulled up and handed me a package that was addressed to "Princess Penelope" and said "Happy 1/2 Birthday!"  I put it in the house and we headed to the clinic. 

Her check-up was basically the same as it has always been.  She has to get more shots next week.  She weighs 16.8 lbs (69th percentile) and is 25 inches long (39th percentile).  Her head measures 16.14 inches and the only reason I'm mentioning that is because she's only in the 14th percentile for that.  But her daddy has a small head too. 

The doctor did say she has a herniated umbilical.  As far as I understand it, there is a small hole that is about half a centimeter big, behind her belly button where her abdominal muscles were not fully formed.  Her belly button sticks out A LOT (when she is standing) and it's from her intestines pushing against it.  The doctor said it should close over time and we will look at it again in 3 months, but it can be fixed with surgery.  The only thing to worry about is if her intestines get stuck in that little hole some how.  The doctor didn't really seem worried about it, so I'm not going to really worry either because it can fix itself and it doesn't seem to bother her.  Plus, the hole is only half a centimeter big; something larger would worry me.

Then we went home and opened her half birthday package from Auntie Shala and there were all sorts of goodies!  2 outfits, sunglasses, bibs, wipes and lots of baby food.  I can't wait to start trying some of the foods.  Well, have her try it... =]  So then I finished making her squash and froze it. 

We went on a little road trip with Grandma next.  I had to drive an hour to try on and order a bridesmaid dress for my friend's wedding in October.  Penelope slept the whole way there.  We probably spent 20 minutes or less at David's Bridal because I knew the color and style I was getting, just needed to see if I fit into a smaller size since I first tried it on in February.  And I did!  So I ordered it and we were out of there.

 Since we drove all that way, we had to make a stop at Hobby Lobby while we were in the area.  Penelope was happy riding in the shopping cart and looking at everything.  I bought fabric for my mom to make my living room curtains because I can never find curtains I like.  I haven't sewed anything in years.  I might be able to figure it out, but it's just easier for her to sew them, and I borrowed my friend's sewing machine. 

She looks JUST like me in this picture, fyi.

We got home around 5:30 and didn't do much the rest of the day.  She had carrots for dinner.  She was playing on the floor and she went from laying on her belly to sitting up!  (First milestone that day).  She is really trying hard to crawl.  She always gets up on her knees, then rocks forward and backward like she is trying to swing herself forward, then she falls on her belly and does the "army crawl".  I was not expecting her to go from laying on her belly to sitting up.  She just started sitting up on her own about 2 weeks ago.  It does seem that after she figures out how to do something, it's easy for her.    



Baseball started!

Later that night Penelope was in her crib, Josh and I were in the dining room and my parents were in the nursery hanging curtains.  My mom yelled at me to come quick and when I got to the nursery, Penelope was STANDING in her crib!  She pulled herself up on her own!  I couldn't believe it!  I thought she was too young to begin that.  We lowered the mattress after that so it might be tougher for her to pull herself up now.  But I don't want no babies falling out of the crib!

 

That was pretty much the end of the day.  Just hung out the rest of the night and I think she fell asleep about 10:30, which is late for her but she did sleep the whole car ride and probably was wore out from all the excitement but was fighting sleep.

A couple nights ago, she has her first big girl bath.  Her infant bath sling just couldn't contain her anymore.  I haven't bought her a larger bath tub yet but saw something where you can put her in a laundry basket so that's what I did.  She had a bubble bath and played with toys and loved it.  She was splashing and making quite a mess.  We also went to the park for the first time.  She loves stroller rides and going on the swing.  

Penelope can say Dada now!  We were saying it to her for about a week and she was just mouthing it.  Then she finally started to say it!  I would say it's been about two weeks now and I have to say that this is my favorite accomplishment to far.  I love hearing her talk.  We just have to work on "mama" now =]

 

Easter photoshoot

 We didn't do much for Easter.  I had to work until about 1pm then I came home and gave Penelope her basket and made a ham for dinner.

She is sooo wiggly and it's almost impossible to change her diaper and clothes now.  Sometimes I have to take her off the changing table and lay her on the floor because I don't want her fighting me and rolling off the changing table.  She is very alert and loves watching the baby channel.  When strangers see her the first thing they say is "look at those eyelashes!"  She does have long eye lashes and beautiful blue eyes.  She is so pretty =]

This has been an eventful month and congratulations for making it all the way through this post.  I'm sure Penelope with be crawling on her knees by next month.  Not sure if I'm ready for her to be pulling herself up and standing yet though...



Last day at our old house!