You are six months old today (a very fun age I must say!) Your dad and I are having a hard time wrapping our minds around that. You are doing so many new things everyday. Watching you discover the world around you have been the greatest pleasure. You have made a big transition this past week and I am very proud of you. I think you are just happy to have gotten a bigger room out of the deal. Mom's gonna try really, really hard to remember all of the discoveries you have made over this crazy month that's gone by so quickly...
I can tell you one thing for sure. Your cute little rolls do not go unnoticed. They must have sprung up like the Michelon Man in this past month because that seems to be the usual comment when someone sees you for the first time. "LOOK AT THOSE ROLLS!" Just remember girl, us Fannings are shorties and it may take awhile to iron out all the rolls. Just keep doing your squats. But for now, I love every single one of those chubby rolls! You couldn't be more perfect in my eyes! The second thing that people notice is your lack of hair. Your Great Aunt Sharon has offered to buy you some Rogaine. Not so fast though, I see more hair growing in every day on the top of that bald head. ;) Oh Hallie, your hair that's growing in is so beautiful...a golden blonde. Pair that with those blue gray eyes and you get one gorgeous face. Oh and I forgot to add on a toothless grin that would stop anyone in their tracks.
Rolls + baldness + grin = cuteness overload
Girl, I'm here to tell you...you love to play! When you aren't sleeping or eating, that's what you are doing. But let me be clear and define "playing" for you. Your playing involves eating whatever object is within reach 99% of the time. The other 1% is spent actually using the toys appropriately. But for now, everything is a chew toy. Some days I think you are teething and others I think you just love to put everything in your mouth. I don't feel any munchers coming up through your gums but one could pop up anyday I'm sure. And I'm armed and ready with teething rings, teething gel and Tylenol. But if teeth grow anything like you hair, then we probably have awhile. Oh and one more thing....you prove that white girls can jump. You are finally tall enough to jump in your jumper! Woohoo!!
Little girl, you are growing out of all your clothes. Well I guess I should say you are right on track as far as clothes sizes go but I was so used to dressing you in 0-3 and newborn clothes well into your fourth month that I'm not used to the sudden growth spurts. I dress you in all 3-6 month onesies and outfits but some are becoming snug on your behind. God blessed you with a lot of insulation for the winter! ;0 That must be why you would rather go without clothes and spend your time being nakey. With a diaper on of course. Speaking of diapers, you have grown out of your size 2 Pampers but mommy is still clinging to using up those last two boxes before we move on to size 3s. Nanny is using 3s and I think it is saving her from cleaning up a lot of blowouts! Two more boxes to go and we will accommodate your growing behind. Baby girl, you have your dainty moments....but you sure can poop! It has gotten to where I have started throwing some outfits away after your frequent diaper blowouts because it's easier than cleaning up the mess. Nanny has me convinced that size 3s are the answer.
Who needs lightbulbs when you can just smile and light up a room? It is the most contagious smile I've ever seen (of course, I'm biased). I find myself being very creepy when people are holding you these days. I want to see every face you make and see your reaction to their voice. I am obsessed with watching you interact with others. I watch you and daddy talking all the time. There is rarely a time when you aren't smiling or giggling. My favorite thing that you do is when you laugh at the puppets on your dvd...when they pop up on the screen you just burst out in laughter like it's the funniest thing ever! Another easy way to make you laugh is toss you up in the air. Your dad and I are still too scared to really throw you up high. But you don't mind hanging out in the lower stratospheres. You smile so big every time dad gives you kisses behind you ear and you love to feel Gman's beard with your hand. I have been noticing that you like male voices. You spent a good 30 minutes doing some serious flirting with the Dish Network man the other day...he had this very deep voice that captivated your attention and you wouldn't stop smiling. You better stop that flirting!
It's a rough life...
Baby Einstein is your obsession. You are an Einstein junkie! We have watched the videos in English so many times that now I have switched them to French. Lol! And now you have even converted Emmi....
"See Em, I told you that you'd love it!"
Kickin' back after a long day to watch some Einstein
You don't mess around when it comes to nap time. Lately you have made it very clear when it's sleepy time. That's not saying that it's always easy to put you down for a nap but at least you warn me. You start rubbing your eyes with balled up fists and get extra, extra squirmy. Your naps vary so much as far as length and time that we just go with the flow. Your morning cat nap is a little more consistent that your afternoon snooze...you usually fight to go down in the morning and cry, cry, cry until you just give in which is usually around 9:30 or 10:00. You nights have definitely improved since last month. You still aren't sleeping through the night like you used to but I think you have at least developed a pattern. For some reason you love getting up at either 1:30 or 3:00. Mommy prefers 3:00 so if you could take that into account that'd be great my love! At least you don't want to party for anything...you are all business....eat and back to sleep. You are VERY consistent with your wake up time. 6:00 on the dot most of the time. What age will you be when you understand the wonderful qualities of being able to sleep in? What is that you say? 13 years? Oh no!
Sleepy eyes
"Check out my new crib"
Aunt Sharon didn't want to put her down
You are all over the place! Gone are the days of you lying in one place like a blob. You are never still. Well except for Tuesday night when you were in a trance while watching the State of the Union address. You must get that from your dad and Gman! Your little limbs go flapping everytime you see a friendly face, a toy or a bottle. You know what bottles are and you definitely are able to tell me that you want one when you see one! Sometimes I forget just how astute you are when it comes to bottles and I hold one in your view...then the flapping begins! What a silly girl. You love to reach for food or drink when we are out eating. If you can't reach that you will settle for a chopstick, straw, or silverware...all very safe options. Lol! I have started packing toys for dinner so that you steer clear of the more dangerous objects. And I'm just waiting for the day that you pull over a drink on someone's lap because you are reaching for a sip. ;) As long as it's not me it'll be fine baby. Still no crawling but I think creeping could happen any day now. Crawling doesn't seem to be something you are interested in because you spend most of your time kicking your legs instead of trying to get up on them. You have perfected sitting and rarely topple over onto your face...but when you do you have figured out how to do it gracefully. It's almost like when someone falls and they don't want anybody to see so they get back up really fast and walk away like nothing happened. Well that's you with sitting and falling...you transition from a face plant into a roll onto you belly very quick to avoid embarrassment I guess. :) When you aren't kicking on your belly,squirming on your side or sitting up, you love sitting on dad's lap or being thrown in the air by me. Giggles galore! And it almost seems like you would rather roll everywhere instead of crawling...and you may be onto something there because you are pretty fast at it! I finally caught you in one of your rolling sprees this morning. You rolled so much that you showed up at my feet looking like a breakfast burrito!
"Mom, I still have bed head. No pictures this early!"
"I didn't do it mom, I swear"
So where do all of those rolls come from?? A diet of breast milk, formula and organic baby food. I would say you eat about 40% momma milk and 60% formula. The day came about three weeks ago that I had to give up my goal of strictly breastfeeding for one year. It just wasn't going to happen and I knew I needed to start you on formula when I couldn't keep up with your demand anymore. I cried about it, whined about it, and really gave myself a hard time about it...but after about a week of feeding you formula along with nursing, it seemed okay. I told myself as long as you were still getting that allergy-fighting good milk at least twice a day then you were benefiting. Little girl, I hated every second of giving you formula...and I'm pretty sure everyone around me at the time hated hearing me whine and agonize about the decision...but it was either that or your rolls were going to disappear quickly. ;0 I was so upset about it at first that I couldn't for the life of me figure out a good feeding routine for you. I kept praying and hoping that I would suddenly produce a wealth of milk for you...but it didn't happen. You don't seem to mind the change in diet so I guess I'm okay with it too. But something has really caused you to start packing on the pounds lately.....
Fat Booth fun on our phones
You are doing new "big girl" activities everyday it seems. Yesterday was one I'd been looking forward to for awhile. I was so excited to use your floppy seat in the shopping cart. You loved it just as much as I did. It was so much easier than lugging around the bulky baby carrier. It allows you easy access to nearby objects on the aisles and you aren't shy about grabbing for something that catches your eye. I get so much joy watching you do your big girl things and discovering new things!
Shoppin' in style
There are a few others fun facts about you that I don't want to go unmentioned.....
- You LOVE to read your books (and by read I mean chew of course)
Making a selection for mom to read
- You and Emmi's bond grows stronger everyday. Your PIC (partner in crime). Sometimes I think you and I are the only two people in this world who actually like Emmi! Let's all three be BFFs, ok? Can I join the club?
"Mom, you're crampin' our style!"
Played out
- Your mouth must be a magnet for feet. You must have been doing your stretches because you finally got those feet in your mouth yesterday. Way to go sis! We can't keep socks on you anymore because you end up shoving them in your mouth...hello choking hazard!
"Yum!"
Just in case you didn't get the memo, you won't be seeing Miss Mindy anymore. You said goodbye to her and your daycare friends last week. I am pretty sure they are going to miss their "Hallie Girl" very much. We have found you a new daycare though. Miss Tina will be caring for you two days a week at First Christian Church Children's House. Your dad and I checked out the place to make sure you would fit in there and we loved it. It's not a home daycare like what I was searching for but it is only temporary as they are fitting you in until a new itty bitty baby shows up in a couple months. For now I feel very blessed that we found you a great place to stay during the week. You will still have your Nanny days so don't you worry! And guess what......you will get a mommy day now! Yep, two days at daycare, one day with mommy and two days with nanny! You will be loved!
I can't even describe the pleasure your dad and I get watching you grow. Somehow we created something so beautiful and perfect. Not sure how that happened. Lol. How is it that you are such a perfect creature? I've even convinced myself that you are perfect when you cry and scream. I am struggling with the fact that you are moving through your first year so quickly...but I also can't wait for the wonderful life we have ahead of us with you. I often sit and imagine trips to the zoo, cuddling with you on the couch to watch Disney movies, and watching you make friends and start school and play sports and so on and so on. Bottom line is...your dad and I love you more than words can say. You make our world go 'round. I say prayers for you every night. I think some of my prayers are jumping the gun a little bit but I want to make sure I cover all of the bases. I pray that God will bless you with health. I pray that he will bless you with a giving and loving personality. I pray that this sometimes cruel world won't ever rob you of that precious smile and infectious laugh. So far he has definitely been answering prayers about your health. As always, I am very apprehensive about writing that you have been illness-free for six whole months! (knocking on wood) But it's been an answered prayer for sure. :) And so far, the only thing robbing you of that smile and laugh is when I have to change your clothes. Which brings me to your dislikes: putting shirts on, taking shirts off, having your face cleaned, and waiting for a bite of food. Things you like: having your belly and back rubbed, being tossed in the air, hearing people sing, petting Emmi, chewing on anything in reach, spending time with your grandparents and aunts/uncles, doing chores with mom, and listening to daddy talk. Keep on growing and learning. We can't get enough of it! Until next month baby girl. <3
I love you. Always and forever.
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