6 Months

I can't believe we're parents of a six month old; where has the time gone? Someone said to me recently that the days are long and the hours are short and I couldn't agree more. While I've been busy with the minutiae of diapers, feedings, naps and baths, the bean has been growing up! Six months is an incredibly meaningful milestone to me, for an important reason and for no reason at all. The reason is similar to the one that had me letting out a sigh of relief when I passed the 25 week gestation mark of my pregnancy. I knew that there was never a time when I would be guaranteed that everything would go well, but passing that viability mark made me breathe a bit easier. When the bean was a newborn, I drew a similar line at 6 months. The risk of SIDS drops off significantly after 6 months, so this half-year birthday is a huge milestone in my mind because of that. I also say that there's no reason because I'm very aware that there are many other things to worry about and I'm just beginning to understand that I will be filled with worry over this little one for the rest of my life. Still, it feels good to pass this milestone and check this worry off my list.

At six months, the bean is sitting like a pro! No more wobbling and she rarely topples over--usually its just when she's tired or over-reaching for something. She is not able to pull herself up to sitting, but she lifts her head, kicks her feet and tries so hard to that it may not be long now.

The bean is also not crawling, but she's starting to experiment with pulling herself up on her hands and knees. She lifts up into that position and then looks around as though she's trying to decide what to do next, then flops back down on her belly. She is definitely getting better at rolling and has added a breakdancing-like belly spin to her repertoire which has really helped her accurately get where she wants to go. Because of this, she is into everything!

Once she learned how to roll, she wouldn't tolerate being put on her back and would put herself on her belly any chance she got. Once her sitting got better, she would complain when we didn't help her to sit and lately its the same with standing. She wants to be helped up in a standing position all the time. If we try to put her down on her back, she'll push down her feet and stand. If we succeed with getting her feet out from under her, she'll use her incredibly strong stomach muscles to try to stay sitting. Because of this, every diaper or clothing change is a wrestling match. Even if she agrees to lie back for a moment, she quickly starts to roll over, usually as soon as the diaper is off. I've gotten really good at fastening diapers and putting on pants from behind.

The bean's manual dexterity is really improving. She is able to pass objects from one hand to another and is just starting to master her pincher grasp. Of course, pulling mama's (that would be my) hair and removing mommy's (the boy's) glasses have given her lots of practice.

At six months, the bean's hair is really coming in. She was so bald for so long that we thought it might be more than a year before she had any hair, but she has more and more hair every day. Literally. Some days we notice a difference overnight.

The bean has slowed down her babbling a bit, but has added "b" to her vocabulary and says "baba," which always makes me laugh. Baba is what we call a bottle and, given how she feels about them, I don't think she'd be asking for one if she knew what she was saying!

Sleep is a topic I have planned for a future post, but I have to say that, when I read that most babies sleep through the night by six months, I never dreamed we'd be up as much as we are. She is such a happy and easygoing baby that I know we are lucky, despite our sleeplessness. I try to remind myself of that when I'm tired and frustrated.

And finally, Itsy Bitsy Spider is still a favorite and still calms her right down. I can't wait until she's older to ask her what exactly it is she loves about this song!

Christmas Recap

Our first christmas with the bean was amazing and maybe a bit overwhelming. We opened presents on christmas eve with the bean's 6 cousins, 5 of whom are under the age of 6, and it was a completely different experience looking after the bean with so many other children running around. So many kids plus presents meant there were many new and interesting (and dangerous!) things on the floor for her to get in her mouth. Not to mention that the bean and I usually spend our days alone in a fairly quiet house. She didn't know what to make of all the noise and excitement and, as a result, didn't sleep much at all for two days. Santa didn't grant my wish and end the teething, but we kept a big supply of teethers on hand during our travels and, despite teething pain, chaos, and sleepiness, she was in pretty good spirits.

And her moms had so much fun! The bean was much more into the present thing than we expected, helping to rip some of the paper and playing with each new toy as we opened it. We loved playing with her toys almost as much as she did and she was given so much stuff that we've put half of it away to pull out little by little over the next couple months. We were so grateful for the things the bean was given, but at the same time we're struggling with worrying about not going overboard on presents, especially when she's older, in order to give some meaning to christmas other than just getting stuff.

For our part, we really tried to choose quality toys that the bean would play with for a long time. We don't have a very large house, and this has helped us to really think about each purchase. We consider the safety--we prefer toys made of wood or fabric, we feel that these are safer, although you really have to take the manufacturer's word on the safety of wood finishes; we think about how much use the bean is likely to get out of it--blocks, stacking cups, toy foods, and dolls are play staples throughout most of childhood, in my opinion; and finally, there's an aesthetic component--large, brightly colored plastic toys that play music or make a lot of noise just don't do it for us. As I'm typing this right in front of our big plastic exersaucer, I feel the need to say that there are definite exceptions. We originally had a "no plastic" rule, but found it very difficult to follow so now we just try to limit it. Two brands that we love and that meet our requirements are Melissa & Doug and Plan Toys. These are the brands we directed our family to when they asked us what to get.

The bean was given some really great things, including this little rocking horse that she loves:

But by far, her favorite present right now is this pull toy, which we thought she wouldn't use for a few more months. As you can see, the flag is her favorite part.

The boy and I like the idea of all the presents "arriving" under the tree on christmas morning, so we stayed up on christmas eve putting the presents out. Obviously, this was more for us than for her, since she had already seen all her presents (and helped us wrap them), but its a nice tradition that we wanted to get in the habit of practicing. We opened presents christmas morning just the three of us.

Ha, I just realized how huge the bean's feet look in this picture. She has room to grow in those PJs!

The boy is really the toy expert around our house and started early (was it September?) working on the bean's christmas list. We wanted to get her a big present, but there really weren't any "big" things that are age appropriate, so the boy had the great idea of getting the table and chairs set. We hope she'll get lots of use out of it in the next couple years.

Soon, little one, you'll sit at it without Mama's help!

And we had yet another celebration to attend late in the day on christmas. I love this picture of the three of us because the bean's expression says it all--she was done and ready for christmas to be over.

This time of year, especially, I miss my family on the West coast, but I have to admit that there was a little part of me that was glad that we didn't have 4 christmases to attend.

Merry Christmas

Today, as always, I am so thankful for my little family, who are the greatest gifts I could ever hope for and I am wishing for love and joy in your lives as well, now and in the new year.

Merry christmas from krafty, the boy and the bean!

Close only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades

I so very badly wanted the bean to have a handmade stocking for this year so I could say that it had always been hers, starting with her first christmas. I knew it was an ambitious undertaking, considering how little free time I have this year and the fact that I didn't start until the week before thanksgiving, so I'm not surprised that I wasn't able to finish. Its hard to admit defeat, but I think I'm going to have to call this one. Even if I were to stay up all night stitching, it still needs to be sewn into a stocking. Next year, my little bean.

Too much of a good thing

The boy and I are sugar addicts. We generally try to eat very healthfully, but when it comes to dessert, forget about it. Early in our relationship, we bonded over the fact that we both believe ice cream should not be reserved for warm weather eating. I had to fast the day leading up to my surgery last year. I confidently announced that, when I broke the fast after almost two days, I would no longer be eating processed sugar. I lasted two days before I gave in. We like our sweets.

It should come as no surprise, then, that one of our favorite christmas traditions includes loads and loads of cookies. Every year, I start in early December making batches of cookies to give away. They fill our freezer and we can't help but sample them. I make extras to account for the ones we eat, but there is always the worry that there won't be enough to give away. I never know until the containers are filled whether I'll be making emergency batches on christmas eve to make up for our December gluttony. I might also add that by the time the cookies leave the house, we are happy to see them gone. We've been eating them for weeks and are sick of them.

Today I packed up the cookies and there were enough to go around, with some to spare. We've enjoyed them all, pronouncing each new batch our favorites as we taste tested them and I think they look so pretty packed up in their little tins. Still, I have to say, good riddance!! I can't wait to get these things out of our house!