I can't believe it has already been half a year since our sweet Eleanor joined us! I look at the pictures from her birth and she was just this tiny little infant. NOW she is a PERSON with such a fun and well kind of distinct personality. Eleanor, you are cracking me up every day as you continue to remind me of myself. You got Daddy's looks but you are me to a T! Let me just give a few examples...
Did you know your mommy has been, on many occasions, called "Sally" from "When Harry Met Sally"? Well I have and what that means is I know what I want and I will let everyone know as well. You have begun to show that quality as I have introduced you to solids. So far, you have had sweet potato, rice porridge (food processed brown rice), and avocado. You aren't a super big fan of avocado but you LOVE sweet potato. I have tried to incoprorate rice into every meal and you tolerate it. Because you take 2tbs. of porridge for every tbs. of food, it takes a little longer to feed you the rice and therefore is why I try to give you as many bites of solely rice before also giving you sweet potatoes. For the first couple you are glad to get something in your mouth but by the second or third bites the "Sally" comes out in you. You have been known to act like you are gagging, coughing, anything you can do to be a dramatic diva and let me know that you want sweet potatoes, you even through a fit sometimes. BUT once you see me dip the spoon also into the sweet potato bowl, you are fine! Oh boy, your daddy and I might have a challenge ahead of us! He says "she eats what she gets and doesn't get a say"...BUT I know how DREADFUL it is when you ordered a cheeseburger with no cheese and it comes out making you want to gag and even wiping it off still leaves traces of cheese. I have been there and wanted to gag as well. I know how it is so I think I will be more sympathetic but hopefully some of your dad's resistance to inconvenience anyone and therefore take what is put before you will rub off on you!
More breakthroughs for you this month have included sitting up all on your own! You love it! Daddy took the legs off your play table and you love to sit up and bang on it. You can push and pull and pick up everything on the table! It keeps you super busy! We usually put the boppy around you so that you will have a cush if you fall but rarely do you ever fall anymore unless it is on purpose to roll onto your stomach to play.
You also love the picture book (squisy "Sassy" black and white book you can put pictures of people in). You love to chew on it and look at the pictures of your family. You also have been teething so much more. You will sit and chew on a toy for more than 5 min. at a time. My favorite thing you have learned to do this month is become SO MUCH more vocal! You have two "words" you say daily. We can't decide if you say them at random or with purpose yet but they are bahh bahh bahh and mmmah! So mommy is hoping you will soon say Momma for your first word! There is a good chance!
I think we might have had your reflux under control. A few days after you turned 5 months old, you had a flare up. We aren't sure what casued it and mommy even took out eggs, peanuts, corn, soy, and dairy from her diet to see what happened. She has slowly been introducing back but hasn't done soy yet. We think that might be the proble, though we really aren't sure. Bottom line, we seem to have it under control with the prevacid you so enjoy slurping up each night and by getting some solids in your tummy to maybe soak up the lactose and stomach acid and keep it from coming up. You rarely spit up as much as you used to (entire feedings at a time). Hopefully when we go in a few weeks to have your weight checked, you will have gained. When you went in for your 6 month checkup you had only gained an oz. in a month which landed you in the 28th precentile and scared mommy, daddy, and your Dr., Beline. We think you have gained some weight now though since you have been keeping your foods down!
You have endured another road trip south in your 6th month. You went to College Station for Mommy's KTB reuinion and to visit Grammy and Grandpa and your uncles. You did great on the way down. We left at 6am when it was still dark and you slept until about 8:30/9. At that point we stopped in in Centerville to feed you and then you did NOT want to get back in your car seat. You cried the whole hour to College Station. On the way home you slept for a little while (from Houston...we went to visit Baby Reese Wentrcek on the way home from CS) until about Buffalo. We got you out to play on your first playground at the Dairy Queen so you could stretch your legs and eat. You cried the whole hour home from Buffalo as well! Today, you and mommy are going to see Aunt MEA in San Marcos and do some Christmas shopping. Hopefully you will cooperate in the car and the traffic won't be too bad!
Lastly, you have definitely become preferential in who you let hold you. Even sometimes when Daddy is holding you and Mommy is in the room, you have been known to throw a fit until Mommy holds you. You did however possibly mistake Aunt MEA for mommy as when she was visiting and put you down while you both were playing with Marmi, and left the room you cried until she came back. Usually you don't cry when you are alone with Marmi at all! Visiting your grandparents in College Station, thought rushed, was a treat but kind of a different scene and took some time for you to warm up to. You hadn't seen them in almost 3 months so you definitely didn't recognize them nor did they recognize you. You weren't as smiley as usual around them but I think that was becasue you were trying to figure them out. Hopefully, now that Daddy's football is over, you will be able to see your College Station grandparents more often and hopefully they will then get to know your super fun and happy personality better.
Recap on your 6 month breakthroughs:
- reflux hopefully under control
- Started solids (sweet potato/rice porridge/avocado)
- getting clingy and picky on who holds you - you KNOW your surroundings now
- sleeping from 8pm - 6:30/7am
- taking two 2 hours naps a day (from 8ish - 11ish and from 4ish - 6ish) and then a couple smaller naps in between
- Bbbahh and MMahh are your "words" that you repetitively say
We love you sweet angel love and can't believe how you amaze us with your sweet smiles, cud
