6 months (almost 7) and alot has happened!

In about 4 days she will be seven months old .... so I figured I needed to hurry up and do a six month post.

Updates:
1. She is rolling over ... both ways!  She started with back to stomach, which is lucky for her since BA thinks this is the only "real" way to roll over.  Stomach to back is "falling over."
2.  She has two teeth!  The first one wasn't too bad, but the second one turned her into a snotty, drooly alien baby.  I can't say it made her any angier than usual.  But the poor thing did have a fever for two days.
3. She is eating solids.  We started giving her solids at about 5.5 months.  In the beginning I made all her food ... that lasted about 2 weeks, because she hated it.  So now we give her Ella's Kitchen ones.  She isn't the biggest fan of eating.  Actually the only thing she gets excited about is Mummum cookies. 
4. She almost sits up.  She can do it, but not everytime and when she does do it, she eventually falls over.  So we are waiting to count it.  No participation medals for Linky!
5.  She went for her first swim and LOVED it! 

6 months old and ready to come aboard!

6 month check up: She was 17lbs 12oz (82%), 26.5in tall (76%), and her head was 44cm (87%).

For being such a monkey she doesn't hold on very well. 

Bathtime with her daddy!  The baby bucket got too dangerous to use.

Monkey girl :)

One tooth.  I will take an updated picture so you can see two BIG teeth.

Silly girl.  She thought it was so funny her face was half covered with her hoodie.

Sitting pretty.  The same day she rolled over for the first time.

Nap time with her friend Zandeelay.

Sleeping with her mummy (taken by BA).

Pool time.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to shake-up a full bebe. 

5 months old!

Here's a picture from her 4 month birthday!  She was 15.3 lbs (84%), 24.5 inches long (61%) and her head was 16.93 (92%).  Because we are waiting to start her shots, she goes to the pediatrician every other month.  So we will get more official stats in April.

Taking a nap on her favorite things. 

Leentjie and her friend Effy playing.  Effy is going to be a big sister this August, her parents are crazy baby makers :)

Silly girl laying on top a basket of freshly folded diapers. 

Every morning I am lucky enough to wake up to this.  I understand co sleeping is not for every family, but it makes my heart hurt every time she opens her eyes, looks at me and gives me the biggest smile. 

5 months old and surprised! I take terrible pictures of her

Finished her first 5K and didn't complain once.  Guess that means I have to start running regularly since  I can't use the excuse SHE hates to run anymore.

Watching her daddy play rugby in Santa Cruz.  Although its only a 45 minutes drive the weather was so much warmer, we stripped down to her onsie for the day.

Eating those tasty hands.

Helena lives life dangerously: she sits in her bumbo seat on a raised surface AND plays with plastic bags.

Birthday girl and her mummy :)

Here are some updates:
1. She still hasn't rolled over! 
2. No teeth yet, although I can feel two tiny bumps on the bottom, so I think they are coming soon.
3. She hasn't started solids yet, we are going to a class this week on "Introducing Solids."  The plan was to wait til her six month birthday but I think we will start a bit sooner.  She shows signs of being ready for food.
4. She is a good night sleeper.  We usually go to bed between 8-9 (after daylight savings) and she'll sleep til 8 or 9 the next morning.  She does nurse through the night and I am still waking up about 2 times a night to change her diaper (~1 and ~5).  Since we use cloth, they don't wick away the wetness like disposables and I feel like a terrible mother leaving her wet for too long. 
5.  She is a big talker.  I have a feeling once she finds her words, we won't be able to get her to shut up!

Leentjie had her first illness last week.  She has a fever for about 2 days and still has a snotty nose.  We brought her to the Doctor and he said it was a cold, but her ears were clear.  We have been giving her elderberry extract and another homeopathic medicinal to help her recover.  For anyone who is wary of giving babies real medicine, elderberry extract has worked very well for Helena. 

I just finished my last class this week.  I have three months to finish my thesis and will graduate June 15.  We are planning to leave on the 16th for a 26 day trip from Monterey, CA to Newport, RI.  I am going to a six month Navy School to learn how to be an Operations Officer.  Right now, the plan is for me to report to my next ship in July 2013 in Mayport, FL.

Okay new goal .... once a month :/

I really should be a better Blogger ... but its hard to update a blog when your hands are full of baby.  She's a real high-needs baby.  So she is either worn, held or cuddled almost 24 hours a day.  It can sometimes be a bit challenging, but BA and I are slowly but surely becoming masters.  We have to keep reminding ourselves that neither one of us will ever look back and think that we held her too much, or we spent too much time with her or she should have cried more.

She's not even 3 months yet, but already knows what she likes and doesn't like.  And she has no problem telling you.  Never in a million years did I think something so small could run my life ... but she does and she runs a tight ship. 

Here are some of Helena's milestones:

At 4 weeks she started smiling for real (not just because she's gassy).

At 5 weeks she started playing with her hands.

At 8 weeks she started cooing and she officially became a fully breastfed baby!  She tends to cluster feed all night and in the early mornings.  While I am gone BA usually can only get her to drink 4 oz.  She has become a real boob monster and really just tolerates taking a bottle when I am away. 

At 9 weeks she went on her first (and only) jog with her mummy.  It was fine while she was asleep but she woke up before I was done and demanded to be taken out of the carseat.  So I had to carry her the last .5 miles. She hates, hates her carseat. 

At 10 weeks we heard her laugh out loud for the first time while awake (she has been doing it in her sleep since the beginning). She also took a nap on her own for the first time in her crib. 

Yesterday was the first time she has fallen asleep in her swing and the first time we have seen her get her thumb in her mouth.  She refuses to take a pacificer, but has gotten better about self soothing by sucking on her hands.   

She hasn't rolled over yet ... but its kinda hard to practice when you are never put down!

Her next check-up is Feb 21st for a 4 month physical. 

2 months old!

All smiles until ....

She realized she was in her carseat ... .2 seconds later.

Bumpo seat time!  Doesn't she look like a little boy (her daddy) in a dress?

Naked baby time.  Love, love, love her chunky butt :)

Silly girl with bows as big as her head. 

In my snowsuit ready for a run along the beach. 

She loves her daddy and her moby wrap.

Effy showing Helena who's the boss once again.

So tired but still fighting going to sleep as mummy rubs her back. 

Exercising her mind and body.  Oddly she doesn't hate her Jumperoo ... she'll sit in it alone for a whole 15 minutes!

Up close shot of her concentrating on her puzzle.

In her moby, on a walk with daddy as he tries to calm her down for a nap.

Happy girl!

Being jiggled to sleep. 

Laughing at her silly daddy!

First trip to Black Bear Diner ... she wasn't a fan of the bear. 

What has happened in the last two months?

Okay, okay, okay ... so I had the baby and have failed to put up any good updates. In order to correct this, I am going to throw up a million pictures in order to chronicle some of the things that have happened over the past eight weeks.

Walking to check in for Helena's birth.  Look at my poor swollen ankles.

First look at my (not so) little African!  She was 9 lbs and 11 oz.

15 minutes old ... in the recovery room with me.  BA had joined her in the nursey for a bit of a clean up (however we declined bathing, eyedrops or vaccinations)

Day 2 ... taking a nap on her now deflated belly house ... a place I think she would still be if she had her way.

One week old ... she looks exactly like BA, as I predicted from her 3D ultrasounds.

Little Glow Worm ... thanks Mrs. Amanda for the awesome art work!

8 days old and watching her Daddy play Rugby! (Guy in background is not her daddy!)

Our first post-pregnancy workout (~ 2 weeks old). I think she did a better job than I did :/ BA and I took turns walking her in the stroller while the other did sprints (mine were not so sprint like).

First unofficial bath ... unofficial because we are bathing her in a dish tub. Its before Miss Effy gave us her real bath tub.

How BA provides child care ... popcorn and earphone in all. We do a lot of baby wearing around our house. One she loves it and two you wouldn't get anything accomplished since she refuses to not be held.

First flight ... on our way home to the midwest to meet the family (I will post more pictures of our trip home at a later time).

My two loves. Yes we decided to cosleep, it just works out so much better for all of us. She has been sleeping for at least six hours at night ... or at least I think ... maybe I am just good at popping the boob in her mouth while asleep. Right now the plan is to move her in her own crib (still in our room) when we move this summer. Hopefully I won't be updating this blog on her fifth birthday and have to say she is still in bed with us!

 

And why we call her Angry Baby. She's not even two months and knows what she wants and isn't afraid to tell you!



MORE PHOTOS TO COME!!!