Rosie's six-month checkup

Astounding measurement results
Before our very eyes, our perfectly average baby isn't so average anymore! She is in the 50th percentile for her head size and her weight (16 pounds), and in the 75th percentile (26 inches) for her height!!! We are so proud of our tall baby girl.

Surprising feedback on feeding solids
We are still a little bit shocked at what we learned today. To recap, before the doctor appointment I was starting to get a little concerned that the solids were not going well. Rosie was not responding the way I thought she would, and as much as she's nursing, I knew that she needed something to supplement her appetite.

I explained to the doctor that it wasn't going really well. She asked what we were feeding her. We said, baby cereal and pureed food. She said that we don't need to be giving Rosie baby food. Maybe Rosie doesn't like pureed food. She told us that with Rosie's excellent sitting abilities and physical strength, we can just give her table food. Table food?! Give her strips of avocado, banana, cooked fruit, sweet potatoes... anything we are eating, she can have (pretty much!)

And the best part - all my books say to wait at least 4 days between food introductions. Doctor said HOGWASH! She said there is no reason for a waiting period. Sweet! No food spreadsheets and checklists!

We tried it with avocado slices. AMAZING. She didn't choke, or gag, or act like it was poison... she actually LIKED it. She bit, chewed, swallowed.... and did it again! All by herself, as if she's done it all her life!

It was so incredible. I never, ever in a million years imagined she could eat whole table foods at 6 months. We love our doctor!!!

The shots
NOT THAT BAD! She cried a little, but not like before. And as soon as it was over, she forgot all about it. It was the best shot experience yet. Whew.

In summary
Doctor Morrison said she is perfect. She is ahead on all her physical development, and right on par in her other areas. She is very healthy, and she is just the sweetest baby ever.

The pictures are deceiving

Rosie has many amazing pictures on her website. But, they don't tell half the story. Here's why. Pictures are, by definition, still shots. Rosie, on the other hand, is NEVER STILL. Never. NOT EVER. I am telling you, she does. not. stop. moving. You can go in her room in the middle of the night when she's in a sound sleep and she'll either pop up (she sleeps like a ninja or a spy), or if she does stay asleep, look at her toes. Her fingers. They are moving. Remember the energizer bunny? Yeah, that's Rosie.

I would like you to perform an exercise. Lay on your back. Lift up your legs, up and down, about 200 times. Then hold them up for awhile. Try to pull your toes into your mouth and hold them there. Next, roll over onto your tummy. Do about 50 to 100 pushups with your upper body. Tired yet? Well, if you were Rosie, you'd be ready for a couple more hours of the same before naptime. She's nuts! Thanks for the energy genes Aunt Terri, we know she got it from you!!!!

Movin' on...

After several major blowouts, we have recognized the need to move on to DIAPER SIZE 3. Size 2's just weren't cutting the muster (or mustard [colored poop that is])

Cha-cha-CHOMPERS!

Teeth. yep, she's got tEEth. It's not a single tooth anymore. I *think* she is getting her lower central incisors? I'm unedumacated on toofer terms...


I think she may be cutting another one too, because she is biting hard on anything that she can get into the left side of her mouth.

Has she bitten anyone? Well, yeah, if you stick your fingers in there, you are at risk. I haven't noticed a difference in nursing... I did get bit once, but only that one time. It was at that moment that I decided that nipple piercing doesn't seem all that much appealing.

a poop-scapade

If you didn't know a baby could get poop all the way up to her ear lobes, you don't know Rosie.

'Nuff said.

is there a boobaholics anonymous?

I'm sure Rosie is no different than any breastfed baby: she loves the boob. Spoon-feeding is simply not at all appealing when you consider the alternative option.

Thank goodness breastmilk is so nutritionally perfect, because if she truly needed the cereal we'd be in big trouble. I wish I would have started down this path when she was older - like 6 or 7 months old. Each evening we sit down at the high chair, mix up some cereal and give it a try. And each time I'm lucky if she opens her mouth more than 2 times to let the spoon in. I don't even put cereal in the spoon - I only dip it in so there is remnants of the cereal on the spoon. Even that seems to be more than she is willing to handle at this point.

So for now we will just try a little at a time, and I just have to tell myself each day that she's getting all the nutrition she needs from her mom.

I'm not sure what this is.... but she's mobile

the only problem is.... she goes backwards
So last night I did what I always do when I get Rosie ready for bed: I put her on the floor in her bedroom, and went to draw the bath. Only this time, when I returned she wasn't sitting where I left her:


I watched her for a few minutes, and it seems that she got there by a combination of rolling and scooting. The scooting is an absolute crackup! It's kind of hard to explain, but you can see it in action in her new video clip that I took this morning. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly based on what we know about our warp-speed developing baby, she is about 10 times better at it this morning than she was last night.

How long will it take her to figure out forward motion?

All I know for sure is, someone's mom and dad need to get their friggin baby gates up ASAP!!!

note: yes I'm aware that I spelled "position" wrong in the picture. we're working on 4 hours sleep here so you can't expect much.

the game. has. changed.

Ok, this is really not fair! I was doing just great, just going about my business, finally feeling like I had this whole baby-care thing down pat, and guess what, the rules are changing. And it's not like you wake up to one new set of rules - no - every DAY it's new now.

Let me tell you, it takes time to learn how to take care of a baby. Breastfeeding was HARD to learn - and I mean hard, like painstaking, confidence-questioning, dig-your-nails-into-the-armchair hard. Bathing? Ok, it became easy but at first we feared we'd either drown her, scald her, freeze her, or scare her. Dressing? How do you know - long sleeves, short sleeves, fleece sleeper, cotton sleeper... Sleeping? HA! hahahahah!

Ok so we get all this figured out and BAM! we're back at square one. Now I have to learn to bathe her SITTING UP. How do I keep water out of her eyes? And we've started cereal (and why they call it "solids" I don't know because it's the consistency of milk) so I have to learn to feed her from a spoon. Even more challenging, she has to learn to eat from one. And it's s l o w going. How do I know if she's eating enough? How do I know if it's making her feel icky? Does she like it? Does she hate it? She's also learning new skills - am I fostering her mental development? Are her toys too young or too old? Am I making her dumb or helping her grow? I have trouble referring to myself in the third person like you are "supposed" to ("mamma loves the baby"), so will she ever learn I'm Mamma? I could go on...

Yep, the rules have changed. If there are any experienced moms reading this, I know you are secretly laughing and thinking "If she thinks it's hard now?! You just wait sister!" I know, there is so much to come. But honestly, she is changing SO FAST. I can't even tell you - I am literally waking up to a new baby every morning. AGGGGHHHH!! Serenity Now!!!

Houston, we have a tooth

what's tiny, sharp, and white?

why, it's Rosie's new tooth!

Without a lot of fanfare, Rosie has sprung a tooth. I didn't even see it coming. Well, she was drooling a lot, but don't all babies drool? I thought that was standard operating procedure along with pooping and burping.

Jeez, sitting... teething.... all the sudden she's growing up at warp speed. Now we have to think of things like child proofing and lowering the crib. I keep thinking she's a newborn, but she's almost halfway through her first YEAR!!!