Brenna Rose: 6 Months!

Half a year old already?! Say it ain't so!  But really, six months is so much fun. This post is all over the place but my goal was to write down everything I can think of that's happened in your sixth month!

Sweet Brenna, you are such a joy to be around.  Six months has been a big month for you!  You rolled from your tummy to your back for the first time and you are going for the world record in baby pushups.  We are so proud of you.

You love bouncing in your exersaucer but floor time is your favorite.  I love to set a few toys around you and watch you scoot and turn to get each one.  At some point you roll onto your back and then back onto your tummy.  The puppies have been such a source of entertainment for you recently!  Their loud barks hurt your ears but you don't cry, you just make funny faces and close your eyes every time they let out a loud bark.  Those silly puppies.  Watching the puppies play makes you giggle.  Lola was playing with a bone one day and you let out a full belly laugh.  It made mommy laugh!  Even we can't get you to belly laugh yet!

I have started teaching you sign language.  On November 3rd you did the sign for milk for the first time!  I was so proud.  We are also working on "sleepy", "puppy", "hi and bye".  It's amazing how your little brain is learning so quickly!

We took a trip to Lafayette to visit your friend Elle a few weeks ago.  It was amazing to see you two together again.  Born just 10 days apart yet so different already!  We also got to see little Liam and our dear friends Brandi and Kipp! Elle was sitting up all by herself and Liam was a crawling machine! You must have watched Elle sit up because shortly after that trip you were sitting up all by yourself, too!  I still put pillows around you just in case you topple over.  That usually happens when you want a toy but it's out of reach. On our Lafayette visit we went to the Pumpkin Patch for the first time.  Our trip involved us driving there, sitting you and Elle next to each other, taking a few pictures and calling it a day!  Maybe next year we will take you to see some of the animals and let you pick our your own pumpkin :)

You got your first cold while we were in Lafayette (Oct 20th 2012 weekend).  Daddy got sick on the way to Lafayette and a day or so later you caught it :(  It was heart breaking to hear your little cough.  We had to use the nose bulb a lot.  You are not a fan. You sure told that cold who was boss, though! It lasted for just 2 1/2 days and then it seem to clear. However, that stinking cough came back and that's when we introduced a little bit of Claritin D, Baby Vicks and Eucalyptus in your humidifier.  After two doses of the Claritin D I was not convinced it had helped one bit so we stopped that.  The Baby Vicks  did seem to help you stop coughing so I did that for about three days straight and slowly you got all better! You never had a fever just a cough and some congestion in your throat.  You nose was only runny for one day!  Humidifier was a huge help! We will never travel without it again!

Still no teeth to report, although I think you might be showing signs of teething.   You love to put everything in your mouth!  You aren't drooling a lot and you aren't fussy though.  Speaking of not fussy- I say it daily, you are the best baby in the whole wide world! You don't cry.  Just yesterday mama was getting her hair done and because the stylist had to put color in twice (oops), you hadn't eaten in 3 1/2 hours.  That's a long time for you.  Daddy told me you were making sad faces saying "I'm not going to cry... I want to cry but I'm not going to!"  I rushed home and there you were sitting on the floor, greeting me with a smile.  Like I said, best baby in the whole wide world!

In lieu of milk, and in hopes of tiding you over until mama got home, Daddy fed you avocado for the second time yesterday!  This time we used a spoon and only did small amounts.  The first time we attempted the Baby Led Weaning method of giving you a big chunk. That didn't go over so well.  But yesterday you ate about 10 little spoon fulls and then made a face as if to say, "DONE. SO DONE, Papa!" I'm hoping to feed some to you today mixed with a little milk. I'll be sure to get it on video!

Oh how days are flying by lately.  I love holding you and reading to you and singing to you.  We've added "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Jesus Loves Me/You", and random songs from Disney movies to our repertoire. You love to sing. You sing "Ooo, ooooh".  It's adorable! I love taking you outside in the afternoons and we try to go on walks a few times a week.  You usually play with toys on our walks and I stare at your adorable face. I must admit, I wish you could be rear facing forever, haha.

We took you to your first costume party this year!  I made your costume, a baby B of course, and we took you to a party at The Mansions apartments.  You won the costume contest! Well, if they had a contest, you would have won! I love taking you places with us.  There were a lot of people at the party and it was getting close to your bedtime but you held it together, smiled and played.  By the time we got home we had a lot of glitter to wash off!  Those wings were very sparkly and very messy but totally worth it.  I still want to put you in the costume one more time before you outgrow it so we can get some video and take a few more pictures.  You were the cutest bumble bee I have ever seen!

We have plans to go to Sioux Falls, SD for Thanksgiving!  But first we must order you a new car seat.  I want you to be as comfortable as possible for our 15+ hour drive up north.  I am going to pray that it is an easy trip for everyone.   The reason we are going is to celebrate our friend Todd and Tatia's wedding!  You are going to be a flower girl, daddy is going to be a groomsman and mommy is going to be the photographer! It's a family affair!  I'm excited for the wedding but more than anything I am excited for you to meet your Sioux Falls "family".  The friends who took us in and gave us so much love while we lived in Sioux Falls.  It will be so fun to bring you down to the needlepoint shop and to bundle you up in warm clothes.  Although, I hope it's not too cold when we go visit! 

Tomorrow we are having our family pictures taken!  It's the first real professional pictures we will ever have taken as a family! I have our outfits all picked out, although I'm still toying around with the idea of making you a headband. We will see if I get to that project today :)  I love making things for you. Once we get settled somewhere I am going to take classes so I can learn how to crochet and sew things for you.

Before we leave Tyler we have to take you to the Rose Gardens so mommy can take some pictures of you.  I have a dress picked out and being your middle name is Rose and Tyler is the rose capital of the world, it only seems fitting to take your picture there!  Pictures, pictures, pictures.  Sometimes I am sad I didn't do a 1-12 monthly shot of you with a stuffed animal.  It's the one thing I wish I had started doing right away.  But I made the mistake of trying to pose you and well, as you got bigger, it got harder.  So I've resorted to just making sure to take lots and LOTS of pictures.  I will take a 6 month photo of you next to mr Lamby and will continue to do so.  At least we'll have 6-12 month photos documented!  Better late than never, baby girl :) We've got bigger fish to fry!

Your sleep habits have regressed a bit in the last couple of weeks.  I am attributing it to your 6 month growth spurt!  You used to go to bed at 10pm, then you magically moved up your bedtime to 8pm.  But lately, it's been back to 9:30/10pm.  The last week you have been waking up around 3am to nurse and then staying awake for an hour to two hours.  I nurse you again and you go back to sleep.  I have even kept you in the big bed a few times because I think you wanted to be close to mama.  Those growth spurts can be rough sometimes.  I don't mind one bit. I love snuggling with you!

One of my favorite things is when you are in the bed next to me and you just stare at my face and smile.  Then you reach out your little sweet dimpled hand and run it along my face.  You also do this while you are nursing.  I love it.  Although, I do have to remember to trim your fingernails!  On occasion you have grabbed at my face and those sharp little nails hurt! :)  We have started learning the parts of the face.  I point to your nose and then to mine. It will be fun when you can do it on your own!

Bath time has also become more fun.  You watch your legs kick and smile when I sing "Splish, splash we were taking a bath, all on a Saturday night!"  I think I'll introduce bath toys soon.  Sometimes by the time we get in the bath you are so tired that we just rinse off quick and head straight to bed!  I still love it when you have the energy to let me cover you in yummy coconut oil, though!  Delicious smelling baby.

You love your time with papa.  He puts you on his tummy and you do tummy time there!  He also loves to put you on his shoulders while walking around the house asking, "Have you seen baby bear?"  You light up every time you see papa.  It makes my heart so happy! I can't wait to see the relationship that you and your papa develop over the years.  I pray for the bond that you two are creating and am so thankful that God is teaching your papa how to be a good daddy.  We are learning as we go, but we have been blessed with such a sweet baby, you make it easy!

Ooh, I am excited to make our Christmas presents this year.  I won't write what it is yet since some reading this will be receiving the gifts.  I have it on my to-do list for this week, though!

On that note, I will end with saying how much we love you.  I tell you every day, but I love you more than the sky is high, more than the ocean is deep, more than the sun is bright. Brenna Rose, I love you!!!   Your sixth month isn't over yet! I will try to post again before the 7th month.

Time, please slow down!!

Kisses my littlest love,

Mama