Six Month Checkup

Last week Katelyn went for her 6 month well child checkup. The doctor almost changed it to a sick visit when she heard her cough, but continued on anyway only to find what she referred to as a "bulging" ear infection in her right ear. Poor girl. And considering her doctor still believes in immunizing through mild illnesses, I'm sure she felt pretty pitiful after leaving the office. She's doing fine now (thank you Augmentin) and here's how she's checking out these days and what she's been up to...

1. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 6.6 oz (50-75%ile) and was 26" long (50-75%ile).
2. Her head circumference was 44.9 cm (97%ile). Wow. I knew I was having a hard time getting those little shirts over her head.
3. She wears 6 and 9 months clothes. She still wears a size 1 shoe. She wears size 3 diapers.
4. She has finally started consistently rolling from her tummy to her back. Only occasionally does she get stuck and just start screaming. She is not yet rolling from her back to her tummy (and why would she considering her strong dislike of tummy time?)
5. She is sitting for longer periods of time but not well enough for me to walk away from her when she's sitting.
6. She's definitely TEETHING. I can't get her hands out of her mouth even to eat sometimes. And the drool is just constantly pouring. None have broken through yet though.
7. Her favorite thing to do with toys is throw them.
8. She loves to eat. She is nursing 4-5 times per day (depending on whether or not she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to nurse).
9. She's also digging her solid foods. She eats oatmeal and fruit for breakfast and multigrain cereal and veggies for dinner. She eats Stage 1 carrots, peas, green beans, squash, applesauce, bananas, pears, and peaches. Her favorites by far are squash and bananas. On to Stage 2 foods after our next trip to Kroger.
10. She sleeps for a good (at least) 7 hour stretch at night. She usually goes to sleep between 7-730 and wakes up around 3 or 4 to nurse. Then it's back to sleep until between 6 and 7. Sometimes she skips that early morning feeding. And although I love the extra sleep, I miss the quiet snuggle time.
11. She was having a really hard time with frequent night wakings (requiring us to go in and comfort her up to once an hour) so we were forced to let her fall asleep in her own bed instead of being rocked to sleep. It has helped tremendously. I stand by her crib and she holds my arms/hands until she's fast asleep. Sometimes she makes no fuss at all; other nights it's harder. She still wakes often in the early night (before I've gone to bed thankfully) but then gives me a nice 4-5 hour stretch of sleep. And the biggest change is that sometimes she will stir or cry out for a second, but then go back to sleep on her own. Success!!
12. She has recently dropped her 3rd nap. She has been much more tired at night which has made it harder to get her to sleep. I still think she could benefit from a 3rd little cat nap, but we just can't seem to fit it in since she's staying up longer between nap #1 and #2.
13. She loves her exersaucer. She does not love her Bumbo seat anymore.
14. She's attempting to blow raspberries and thinks it's hilarious.
15. All of her dark hair is falling out and is being replaced by a much lighter color.
16. She's growing up way too fast and we love her to pieces!

Instead of taking Katelyn to have her 6 month portraits taken, I decided to test out my own skills. So, Mike loaded up the photography equipment (from work) in my car, and I headed home to set it up. Without any clue how to do so. I was pretty impressed that out of 113 shots, I had 21 that I would consider "frameable". So here are some of my favorites from my first portrait session. Now accepting constructive criticism...