Half-Way

I can't believe we are half-way through Bree's first year with us.  This past month for her (from 5 to 6 months old) was a big month with a couple of big changes.

The day she turned five months old we began solids with her.  We started with really milky rice cereal and progressed from there.  She wasn't initally a fan of solids, but once we discovered applesauce she was sold!  One month in and solids are still hit or miss for her.  Some days she loves them and can't get enough of her cereal and fruits/veggies and other days she won't open her mouth at all.  It seems she is a bit of a moody little one.

First rice cereal

More dinner cuteness

Also on her five month day we moved her from her cradle to her crib.  This was another interesting transition for Bree.  She has never been a huge fan of sleeping on her back and so she was trying to roll over in her cradle.  She needed to make the move, but the crib is very different from what she was used to.  By about two weeks in we had come to a compromise--I would put her down to sleep on her tummy with a blanket and in exchange, I would get sleep.  Umm....yeah.  She was that opinionated.  For several weeks, though, she would go to sleep while laying on her tummy in her crib.  I just put her down and would stay next to the crib and pat her back and she would go to sleep.  That worked great until one day she rememberd that she knew how to roll off of her tummy.  And then we had to figure it all out again.  She currently goes to sleep while laying down in my arms and bouncing.  It generally doesn't take very long, but I will admit, I wish she'd go back to falling asleep in her crib.  That's something to work on in the coming months.  The good thing, though, is that at night she can fall back asleep in her crib on her own.  She doesn't do it all the time but can do it fairly often and that's helpful for me with our pumping schedule.

The compromise--while it still worked

I still continue to pump for her.  Currently, I have a two-a-day schedule--after she goes to bed and once in the middle of the night.  With her less than stellar sleeping habits, this means that I rarely get more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep.  (About once a week I will get 4 hours or so.)  I'll admit--I'm exhausted.  I'm looking forward to her learning to eat solids better so that her tummy will stay full and help her sleep longer.  And one of these days I am going to have to play hardball with her and just let her cry for a while until she starts sleeping for longer stretches.

One of our other changes this month was that Kai started riding the bus.  This actually is turning into a great thing for Bree because now she can actually get on a good sleeping schedule.  The times that we had to drop off and pick up Kai from school always seemed to mess with her naps.  Having Kai on the bus moves those times just enough that she is actually starting to form a schedule that works with everyone else.  This makes me hopeful that there are some good things to come--soon.

At her 6 month well-check she weighed 13 pounds 6 ounces.  This number was actually the exact number I was hoping to see (or higher!) for two reasons.  The first is that it represents that she is gaining at exactly the desired rate--a half an ounce per day.  Between her 5 month weight and 6 month check if she had gained a half an ounce a day she would weigh 13 pounds 6 ounces.  This also is the number that is double her birth weight.  It was a relief for me to see this number on the scale for her.  She hadn't been gaining at the correct rate since her 1 month well-check.  It's nice to be back on the weight gaining train!  Other than weight, she was 25 inches long and she got 5 immunizations--1 oral, Pentacil (which is a 3-in-1 type of thing), and a flu shot.  She is still quite behind because of everything that happened after her two month immunizations, so we will go back at 7 months old to finish off her Prevnar series and get her flu shot booster.  And then at 9 months she will finish her Hepatitis B (I think?) and Pentacil series.  Whew!  Poor thing.

Finn's 4 year old well-check and Bree's 6 month well-check.  Look, do you see some chub on both of them??!!!

It's been a busy month for all of us.  We're looking forward to the winter and little more down time as we try to get Bree settled into a happy schedule!

My daytime play buddies

6 months old and rockin' her first ponytail!