Mama and Baby Update - Month 6

Shut the front door!! Half the year is over?!?!?!? How? When? I can't believe sweet baby P-Nut is 6 months old already. It seriously blows my mind.

This last month we had Father's day which was awesome. These two seriously love each other fiercely and this photo makes my mama heart melt.

P-Nut has started sitting up all by herself which has literally opened a whole new world for her and, quite honestly, for all of us. She can interact more with brother which they both really enjoy and we can do more with her instead of just plopping her into the Bumbo.

We've taken her swimming a couple of times which she really seemed to enjoy. But why wouldn't she? She is seriously the most calm and easy-going baby ever. We really lucked out!

Eating: 

P-Nut made it very clear to us one day that her daily bottles were no longer going to cut the mustard when it came to her being satisfied. So we started simply with rice cereal and she really liked it. It took her a few attempts to grasp the idea of the spoon but once she did... Look out!

After the rice cereal we made the decision to stray from the typical spoon-feeding method of introducing solids and instead subscribe to the Baby-Led Weaning method. It has been going great so far and we've let her gnaw on the following:

• green, red, yellow, and orange bell pepper sticks
• apple slices (raw)
• carrots (steamed)
• broccoli (steamed)

We've mashed up the following foods for her to use her hands to feed herself:

• avocado
• banana
• sweet potato (baked)
• eggs (scrambled)
• blueberries

We only give her a little bit at a time and we do it at dinnertime with the rest of the family during the week and at breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekends. She only gets a little bit and we don't give her more than two items at a time. We try to mix it up so she gets a stick and some "mash" at each feeding. We've also let her have Mum-Mums and frozen mangos or peaches in the mesh "teething thingy" pictured above. So far we really like this method and it saves us so much time in the evenings and it is nice that all four of us can sit down and eat dinner together.

Miscellaneous:

P-Nut had her 6 month doctor visit and she is 50th percentile all across the board. I've mentioned before that she is a quiet little thing. She started blowing raspberries which is stinking adorable and she will make noise on occasion but she is not making any single syllables yet or blabbering up a storm. She can get very loud when she wants but I feel that she chooses to stay quiet. 

Her eyes are officially blue with a hint of green around her pupils. Her hair (what little she has) appears to be growing in much lighter than what she was born with.  

Mama Update:

The biggest thing for me has been going back and forth in my mind on when I want to stop nursing and pumping. I am still plugging along but it is a great stress in my life... the pumping more than the nursing. Weekday mornings are becoming increasingly difficult as P-Nut has started to wake up earlier than she used to so having both kids awake while trying to pump with Hubs and I are both trying to get out the door is a struggle some days. 

I still pump on my lunch break and again before bed. Those pumping sessions are so much easier because there are no babies and my time is just mine. And for some reason it now takes FOR-EV-ER for my milk to let down so I each session lasts for a MINIMUM of 45 minutes! Grrr.

On top of that  my supply has decreased so much that two out of the five daily bottles P-Nut gets are breast milk. The rest is formula. I am mostly keeping up with this because I enjoy nursing her when I can and I want there to be something there for her when we get the opportunity. 

So that's it for this past month. My baby girl is a complete delight and I am beyond grateful for her health and her calm, sweet disposition. 

Happy 6 months P-Nuckle!!!