Abigail: 6 months old

Nicknames:  Abigaily, Munchkin, Sweet Pea, Sunshine, Amorcita, Hijita, (we really haven't varied this as much as I had thought)
Temperament: very observant and attentive, happy and sweet overall 

Item/Toy We Love The Most: books, links, silver rattle, Sophie the Giraffe, the activity mat, the rubber ducky song, the mirror baby

Item/Toy You Love The Most:  food mom and dad are eating, Sophie the Giraffe, books, activity mat, your thumb, musical Noah's Ark, anything you can grab and put in your mouth (still), the rubber ducky song

Things We're Loving Most Right Now: watching you shake your head 'no' and laugh, singing songs and dancing, helping you explore your foods, how chatty you have become, watching you problem solve all the time, the fact that you are now ticklish 

Things You’re Loving Most Right Now: nursing, sucking your thumb, rolling around, trying to stand up whenever possible, walks in the stroller, playing with the mirror baby, getting dried off with your ducky towel after baths

Eating: We decided to embark on solids once the pediatrician gave the okay, but in the meantime we have had a lot of fun helping Abigail play with some solids. We think she will be ready to go when we give her things that will be easier to swallow.  She continues to nurse well and efficiently, eating six times a day including two bottles at daycare.  Abigail wakes up once at night to eat and usually falls back asleep easily. We are looking forward to starting solids and exposing her to new tastes and foods!  Now that Abigail has teeth, she should be able to do more with her foods too.

Sleeping:   Abigail is a good night sleeper, usually going to sleep between 7-7:30, waking up once to eat between 12 and 3, and then getting up for the day in the 6:30 range.  We do have days when she decides to wake up before six, and on those days one of us ends up going in and letting her sleep on us while we hold her in the glider so she doesn't start her day too early.  This is probably not a good long term plan but it is getting us through the week at the moment. 

Naps have been another story.  At home, Abigail usually takes three 45 minute naps but is almost always refreshed afterwards.  She still tends to stay awake for only about 2 hours at a time.  At daycare, however, she often takes naps of 30 or less minutes, and sometimes only two a day.  She seems to be fairly happy but I keep thinking this will catch up with her at some point.  She is still mostly napping in the swing, although they got her down in her crib briefly at one point.  On one day she took a nearly 2 hour nap, but then returned to her old pattern after that.  The staff said that she will seem asleep, but then something will wake her up so she both resists falling asleep and has trouble staying asleep. (Can you tell I have been thinking about sleep a lot lately?)

Playing:  Abigail is so much fun these days!  She is able to sit for longer periods without support, which means she has a whole new perspective on her activity mat animals and on her toys in general.  She often will eventually fall in slow motion onto her back or side, and then roll one way or the other.  She is getting more verbal all the time and has lots of conversations with us.  She can play on her own for some time if she is fed and rested.  As she gets more tired, she is more interested in being held and being entertained, either with songs or books or stories.  She is still interested in her bird mobile and her animals and is good at grabbing, dropping, picking up and transferring her toys. 

Growth:  We went to the doctor this week and Abigail is doing great!  She weighs 15 lbs 7 oz, is 26 1/2 inches long, and has a big head.  She is in the 70-somethigth percentile for height and head size and the 30th or so for weight, so she continues to be a banana baby. She got more shots and did pretty well.

The funniest thing that happened at the doctor was right at the beginning.  The same nurse (I think) who did her 4 month appointment when she got shots last time was the one to check us in.  As soon as we went back to the weigh in station, Abigail looked at her and screwed up her little face and began to wail, like she did not want any part of seeing this woman again!  We were eventually able to calm her down long enough to get her stats.  She did not react like this to the doctor, and when the nurse came back in for the shots she got upset as soon as she saw her again.  While it is hard to know exactly what she is reacting to, it certainly seemed like she remembered this nurse and knew that trouble would be coming.  What an incredible baby!

(this is a dark picture of Abigail and the mirror baby checking each other out...)

Again this month, we are having so much fun with Abigail, even if we are overtired at times.  She is really a happy, enjoyable child and we love spending time with her and watching her figure more things out all the time!

A comparison: