Happy 6 month un-birthday!

18 pounds 14 1/2 ounces and 27 inches in length at Sophia's 6 month check-up.

Sleep tight, nighty night

I've been afraid to write about this, least I jinx myself. However, I really do have to share what a great sleeper Sophia has been. She's always been really good about going to sleep. From early on all I had to do was wrap her up in a half-swaddle and lay her down and she'd go to sleep with little or no fussing.
Recently I was getting frustrated that she would wake up every 3-4 hours during the night. Not too big of a deal really, I would nurse her and she'd go right back to sleep. But her Dr. had told me she should be sleeping through the night by this age, so that bothered me. Then it dawned on me. Maybe she is waking up because we were making noise in our sleep. She was still in our room, sleeping in her Pack 'n Play because I was too lazy to move her into her own room due to waking up to nurse.
So I put my laziness aside to tackle the big move to her crib. I figured it might take a few nights or so to suffer but it would be the best for us all. So last week I moved the night time routine to her room--PJs, books, nurse, swaddle, burp, turn out the light. I set her down in her crib, whispered, "sleep tight, nighty night" and she laid there smiling at me. I turned around, closed the door and turned on her monitor in the family room. I didn't hear a peep. We went to bed and then I turned on the monitor in our bedroom. Didn't hear a peep. I started to wonder if the monitor was broken. 8 hours later, and countless times during the night waking up to silence, I finally give in to my curiosity (and at this point, just plain fear) and go into her room to see if she's still alive. There she was, sound asleep. At least someone got a good night sleep that night.
Since that night, each consecutive night it's been the same routine with the same results. Last night she slept 10 hours. See why I've been so hush-hush in writing this? I just know I'm jinxing something, but I'm too proud not to share.

5 months old

It's all about consistency

In this case, it’s all about the consistency of food. I’ve introduced Sophia to rice cereal. According to the directions, one should start out the first feedings with a very soupy consistency. Well, she liked it but didn’t really love it. I thought maybe it was just the cereal in general but have since experimented consistently, for the last week. So I cut back on the liquid and it turns out that she loves it! I mean lip smacking, impaling herself onto the spoon kind of good. But it has to be thick. Granted, it’s easier to get on the spoon, but the stuff is like rubber cement when trying to clean it up.

Sophia's playground (aka our family room)

I can remember specific conversations with my family and friends on the subject of baby entertainment. I was vehement on not turning our living space into a cluttered playground of monstrosities and toys to stumble over, trip on, move out of the way to pass by, or in other words, GET IN THE WAY of my organized space. I think what I would say was, "It's a baby! How many toys does a baby need??" In my head I had devised stations where the baby would play, mostly in her room. I would hide the toys in the baskets, or in the trunk table that was functional yet aesthetic. No one would really know I had a baby that defined my living space.

Enter my world now. The swing that I am in love with, I stub my toe on pretty much every evening. The Einstein gym is used by Sophia during the day and apparently the cat likes to "work out" with the toys at night; the blocks and rings litter the floor each morning. Now I'd like to introduce you to our new addition to the family room: the Jumperoo! As if things couldn't get bigger and more obnoxious. So yes, I've eaten my words. These things have taken over my once uncluttered, functional space. However, I have to admit that I've redefined the meaning of functional in my head. Currently it's anything that makes Sophia happy, and entertained. I guess I'll deal with figuring out where to hide the stuff when we get around to having people over for dinner. Oh yeah, that would be when I have time to make dinner for a dinner party! OK, so my world is changing. I'm no longer in charge of it like I used to be. And I have a feeling this is only the beginning.

Sophia rolls over!

We've been looking forward to this moment for weeks, it seems. Sophia had mastered the side roll and was so close to rolling over for a few days now. She just hadn't figured out how to un-wedge her arm from underneath her. And today, she got it all figured out! Can you tell how happy I am in the video? One more step closer to mobility. Watch out!

4 months old

15 pounds, 6 1/2 ounces, and 25 inches at Sophia's 4 month check-up.