This is by far the most delayed I've written a monthly blog post, but it's finally up! (Don't worry, even though I'm so behind, all these stats and milestones are recorded from her actual 6 month birthday). I can't believe my itty bitty baby lady is already a half of a year old (cue the flood of Mommy tears)! They say that time flies by with kids, especially with each one that you have... and that could not be more true. Acelyn has been such an amazing addition to our family and we could not imagine a minute without her in it.
She's my snuggly baby, whereas Nolan was far from snuggly- and she loves to cuddle and nuzzle into your neck when she's tired or when she wakes up. Acelyn has the sweetest, most contagious giggle and loves to laugh, and Nolan can still get the best chuckles out of her by playing Peek-a-Boo, chase, or saying funny things to her. Her sweet demeanor is the best, but don't let her fool you... she can be crazy, too! She lets out the biggest happy squeals and screeches and jumps around in her bouncer so hard and so much- I just know this girl is going to be a ball of energy once she gets moving on her own more!
Here's what else Acelyn has been up to at her half-birthday mark:
Height, Weight and Sizes:
At her six month well visit, Acelyn weighed in at 15 pounds, 4 ounces ( 32nd percentile) and is 26.5 inches long (76th percentile). Her head is still super, super tiny, at 15.5 inches in circumference (2nd percentile) . She is definitely petite, but she still manages to have some chunk to her, especially in those delicious thighs and cheeks! Her thigh rolls are by far my favorite and I love that they get larger every month. She is currently wearing mostly 6-9 month onesies, tees and rompers, and her pajamas and bottoms are all 9 months and even a few 12 month ones fit (leggings because of those chunky thighs and a few of Nolan's retired neutral pajamas). She wears mostly only moccasins for shoes now a days, which are all size 2s, and she remains in size 3 diapers.
At her well visit, baby girl received her 6 month vaccines, and had another rough bout with them in the days following. She does not react well to them, with fevers, lots of extra sleepiness and overall crankiness for at least two or three days afterwards. Of course Mommy feels terrible for her, so she's given lots and lots of snuggles and love on those hard days! We also found out at her six month appointment that the bruise-like, bluish spots I've noticed over the past couple months on her back and upper booty are called Mongolian spots. They are harmless and extremely common, and the doctor was quick to point out what they were the second I questioned them. Although they look like a bruise, they actually are a form of birthmark and are effected by the level of melanin in one's body. Because they are more common in darker skinned people, this makes me think she's going to have more of Jason's skin coloring than pasty-white that Nolan and I have (he never had Mongolian spots as a baby, either).
The last thing we found out this month is that Acelyn does not need a helmet, like Nolan had! We were a little concerned that she also had a slight flat spot in the same area as her brother, but we knew before going to the orthotist that it wasn't nearly as severe as his. After our consult, we confirmed our assumptions were correct- Acelyn's misalignment was listed as minimal (a 6mm displacement vs. Nolan's that was at a 15mm), and we decided to forgo the helmet this time around!
Feeding:
Acelyn continues to breastfeed about every 3 to 4 hours and continues to be an efficient nurser, gulping down what she needs and is ready to go after about 4-5 minutes. She continues to drink from a bottle at her night feeding around 11PM, not because it's necessary but just as insurance that she will take a bottle if ever need-be if I'm not around! She continued on cereal and oatmeal, but wasn't the biggest fan. She ate it well, but then we introduced real food and she.was.hooked. Acelyn has tried some of her first veggies and fruits and absolutely loves to eat. She easily finishes an entire container and has even eaten whole containers of the larger sized Stage 2s. She will always make a funny face for the first couple of bites (no matter what it is), but then she's grabbing at the spoon and says her Mmmm's like she doesn't want it to end! She has tried carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, and apples and enjoys all of them. Her first time with apples she wasn't a fan, but the second time around, she gobbled them up. We can't wait to continue to introduce more foods into her diet and see her reactions, but one thing is for sure- this girl loves to eat!
She has also tried Mum Mums and Puffs with the introduction of foods, and she hasn't really figured these out, yet. The second she gets a piece in her mouth, she spits it right back out. She more or less likes to play and wave her Mum Mum around rather than eat it, but she'll get there with practice.
Little lady alllllways has her hands in her mouth and has even recently started sucking on her bottom lip all the time! It is pretty much the cutest thing ever and she makes some pretty adorable faces doing it, so we're enjoying it since I know it's a phase and it will pass!
Sleeping:
Girlfriend is finally on a pretty decent schedule after lots of trial and error, and is napping with two naps a day plus a catnap in the late afternoon. She typically wakes around 7AM, and will go down for her first nap around 9AM. After sleeping for about an hour to an hour and a half max, she's up again until 1PM, which is great because Nolan goes down right after around 1:30PM so I get at least 30 minutes to an hour to catch up with no kiddos. Her catnap is usually around 4:30 or 5PM, and she varies from 30 minutes to an hour at the most. After dinner, we have our beloved bath time and bed time rituals, where after the bath, Nolan and I get "special time" and Acelyn and Daddy get theirs before I nurse her to sleep. She is still getting a dreamfeed at 11PM when we head to bed, and she still wakes around 3AM for another half-asleep feed. She can't quite make it through the night still, which I'm not too zombified yet... but I sure can't wait until she decides a 10+ hour night of sleep is in her future!
She continues to sleep with her pacifier and sleep sack just like her big brother did, and is in her crib for all of her naps and at nighttime when we put her down. When we head to bed at 11PM, I bring her into our room where she sleeps in the Dock a Tot in the Pack n' Play. She's definitely outgrowing the Dock, but she sleeps so well in it and looks so comfy, I'll just let her wean out of it when she doesn't fit at all anymore!
Likes:
-Nolan, more and more every month
-Crinkle toys
-Doing 360s on her belly to survey what's going on around her
-Being outside, especially swinging
-Veggies, green beans have been her fav!
-Dancing bear toy, playing with on the floor
-Mirrors (obsessed! She's guaranteed a smile as soon as she sees herself)
-Bathtime and splashing on her own
-Forward facing in the Ergo
-Any teether toy, especially her Nana Nubs
-Celebrating her first holidays (Halloween and all the fun outings it brings)
-Watching Harley's every move, trying to grab his fur
Dislikes:
-Still not the biggest fan of her carseat
-Being put to sleep, she's a fighter if it's even 5 minutes off
-Puffs
-Not being able to go forward on her belly
-Not getting food into her mouth fast enough
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