Lily - 6 Months!

Precious Lily!  I can't believe you're already half a year old!!  Where has the time gone, Little One!?  This was a fun month for you, and it's been such a blessing watching more and more of your joyful spirit come out.  You have so much personality and are continuing to be so vocal!

This month you started saying, "da da da da da", "muh muh" and "buh buh buh".  How fun it is to hear these sweet sounds! 

You're ticklish on your inner thighs, tummy and neck.  In general, it doesn't take much to make you smile.  Usually just saying your name results in so much excitement that you can hardly contain yourself.  Your big gummy grin is often accompanied by arms flapping, legs kicking, rapid breathing and squeals of delight.  So sweet!

You laugh when I hold you above my head like you’re flying and when I barely toss you up above my head.  (You only leave my hands by like an inch, but you love it.)

At the beginning of this month at Wednesday Bible study, you were starting to fuss a little bit (as you often do right before you fall asleep), so I stood up behind the chairs and bounced you up and down a little bit.  A few minutes later, Gracie Miller also began to fuss, so Ms. Lyndsey came and stood next to me with Gracie.  Gracie’s arm was hanging down over Ms. Lyndsey’s arm, and as we were standing there, you reached out and held Gracie’s hand.  You were smiling and you both had stopped fussing.  When you accidentally let go of her hand, she would grab yours.  Y’all went back and forth holding hands for a few minutes.  It was so sweet, and I can’t wait to watch y’all play together one day! 

It blesses me so much to daily watch Caleb, Evie and Silas delight in you.  They all love you so much, and I know that Evie, especially, is going to LOVE dressing you up like her little doll in the years to come!

On August 18 you started sitting up alone.  It's amazing how this one little milestone makes you seem so much bigger.

At the beginning of this month you ran out of Size 1 diapers and moved up to Size 2.  You've started wearing some 6 Month clothes but still mostly 3-6 Month.

Most of your hair is about 1/2 inch long or less, but you have a cute patch on the top middle of your head that's 2-2.5 inches long.  It doesn’t seem like the rest of it is really growing much. 

Your favorite toys right now are your dragon fly chew toy, your green and white spoon and your Minnie Mouse ball.  You'll also play in your jumperoo for quite awhile before wanting to get out. 

You like to pat things with your hands and have also been playing with your feet a lot.  You've started grabbing at everything while on the dining room table in your Bumbo seat, which often leaves Caleb and Evie fussing as they try to keep you from spilling their stuff.  You even knocked down a big cup of ice water one night, so we’re having to keep you more in the center of the table. 

Your nicknames at this point are "Gizmo/Giz” (Daddy calls you this when you’re growling), “Button” (we all call you this), "Puddin’" (Daddy), "Lily Bug" (Mommy), "Baby Girl" (Mommy) and "Sugar" (Mommy).  Goodness, do we love you!

I love how when I pick you up in the morning and various other times throughout the day you snuggle up to me by rolling your shoulders and arms in really tight against my body.  I also love how when I'm holding you and you're tired, you'll lay your head on my shoulder and tuck your hands under your hips against me.  I think all of our children have done this.

You're tongue is often out, and you've had lots of drool.  Your little tooth buds are still visible, but you haven't had any teeth break through yet.

You learned how to blow raspberries this month, and sometimes you’ll open your mouth, stick your tongue out and will breath in and out rapidly like a dog panting.  It’s often when you’re excited to eat.  You did this more and more as the month went on.  It also seems like you've learned the sign for "milk" and get really excited when you see that sign. 

You've started napping upstairs in a pack ’n play in the afternoon while Caleb does school.  You normally still sleep in your bassinet, so with more room in the pack 'n play, you quickly learned that you can move around and will sometimes spin yourself 180 degrees before you go to sleep.

You usually eat around 8 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 or 9 p.m. with a 1.5-2 hour nap in the morning and afternoon and then around an hour at night.  If we're at home, I typically have to wake you up for your last feeding.  I'm so grateful for the Lord's kindness in giving us flexible babies because any one of those feedings could vary by an hour depending on what we have going on that day.

You sometimes hit yourself while eating—even repeatedly hitting your own head with your fist.  I often have to use one hand to protect your head.

Unlike Caleb and Evie at this age, we still haven't exposed you to any solid foods, but it's just because life has been so hectic.  We're excited, though, to learn which foods are your favorite.

At your 6 Month Checkup, which was 2 weeks late, your stats were 17lbs 0.5oz (66.67%), 27” (84.04%), Weight for Height 41.21%, Head Circumference 43.5cm (73.77%).  This was very similar to where Evie was at at this age--especially considering your appointment was late.  These are your brothers' and sister's 6 Month stats: 

CALEB: 16lb 6oz (25-50%), 27.25" (75%)

EVIE: 16lb 11oz (58.28%), 26.75" (78.66%)

SILAS:  18lb 4.2oz (60.16%), 26.5" (47.78%)

Lily Noelle, you couldn't possibly be more loved!!  We're so grateful for you and praise God for allowing us to be the ones who get to care for you each day!!

(Click here to see more pictures of Lily.)