The Mayes Family: March 2013

Half a year old. I really can't believe that our baby girl is already six months old. Here are her six month highlights:

Charlotte is 16 pounds 8 ounces and still around 27 inches long. She hasn't grown length wise too much since we had to take her to the doctor at 5 months for a possible ear infection (no infection - just teething pain!). Of course, the nurse reassures us that their measuring isn't the most accurate so she may have grown a quarter or half of an inch. I get the feeling a growth spurt may be in our near future, though.
Her head has also suddenly grown a lot - must be her brain growing! All of a sudden her headbands that were too big are a little tight. Luckily, elastic stretches.
She has picked up several new skills and fast! She is now sitting when we place her in a seated position. She managed to learn to do this well within a matter of days. She is getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She can already scoot backwards and sideways like a pro. I have a feeling we will have a crawler on our hands soon.
She can even pull herself up into a standing position when she is placed somewhere that it allows - we learned this while my cousin was taking her six month/Easter pictures!
She repeats syllables well - and when she learns one she does it for days. She was doing "ma" a lot. Then "da". Now it's "bu". I think she picked that one up from us calling Otis "Bubba".
She officially loves bathtime. Splashing around and smiling and squirming. I can't wait for her to sit on her own well enough so that I don't have to hold her up in the bath. My arms always get tired!
She hasn't cut any teeth yet, but her bottom teeth feel and look like they are pretty close.
Charlotte loves looking at the "baby in the mirror" - we let her say goodnight to the baby every night before bed. It's become part of her bedtime routine.
She is starting to eat solids - for real this time. We are skipping rice cereal and starting with oatmeal. I plan to introduce veggies pretty quickly as I know many people skip cereals altogether.
When she has gotten enough sleep, Charlotte wakes up happy and talking away. When she is still tired, she wakes up crying. It has definitely helped in letting me know if I even need to attempt to get her back to sleep.
She is still a big snuggler. Naps usually only occur if she is snuggling with me. Maybe that's my fault, because we never really worked on having her nap by herself. Oh well, so I have to nap with her often.
She went to the aquarium for the first time. She was only so-so interested. It was on a weekend and so busy, though, that I think she'd like it more during the week when it is quieter.
She also attended her very first birthday party - her cousin's second birthday.
When she is super tired she sleeps on her belly. Luckily she is a restless sleeper, so I know she is still breathing.
Charlotte absolutely loves the movie "Titanic". I may have mentioned this before, but it's true. If she is upset or tired, it calms her down right away. I attribute it to the fact that I watched it nonstop while I was pregnant. I think it goes along the lines of babies calm down when they hear music they heard when in womb.

Our six month as parents:

I take pride when people tell me Charlotte has my eyes as I have always loved my eyes.
We are trying to find the happy medium between always rocking her at night when she wakes up and letting her fuss a little. We'll have to figure out what works for us and follow our instincts - and Charlotte's cues.
I feel absolutely horrible if I do anything that upsets Charlotte. Whether it's something she just hates (having her nose suctioned) or something that hurts her (accidentally getting her with the nail clipper), she is usually over it within minutes. I, of course, continue to feel horrible. I guess that's just part of being a mom.

Time for picture overload: