This has been the quickest six months of my life. It honestly feels like just yesterday that I was basking in the afterglow of my VBAC, cuddling that little 8lbs of new baby, and dying to get some sleep. Now she's somewhere over 16 pounds, currently sprawled out in Jason's lap, and I'm still dying to get some sleep!
Keeping with what I've been doing for these monthly posts, let me tell you a little about what's going on in the world of Cate.
In the past month, she has continued to sleep really well overnight. We usually get at least one 6 hour stretch and have been pleasantly surprised a few times when she's slept all the way through. She's in the basinet part of the pack n play in our room still. I'm hoping her sleep pattern will get to be a little more predictable soon so we can move her into her (Michaela's) room. Having her in our room isn't the end of the world, though. It definitely makes for much shorter awake times in the night when she's only an arm's length away at feeding time. We've gotten good at nursing laying down, so I barely even have to wake up and can go back to sleep quickly. I think she likes to time her early morning wake-up so that it's right before Jason gets up for the day. That way, she can just stay in bed with us so Jason can get his last 20 minutes of sleep without having to get up and put her back to bed. (And, no, a 6 month old isn't really that sneaky, but she looks verrrrry comfy laying in the bed all by herself when I get up in the morning!)
She's still eating every 2-4 hours during the day, but usually almost at the 3 hour mark. As I mentioned last night, we've tried a few bites of real food, though not much has made it into her belly, but we're pretty much just still on the bewbie juice. Cate is starting to be a little more vocal about things when she's hungry and has started to make purposeful movements towards getting to the food source. The best is when she grabs both sides of my face and dives toward my nose. She has definitely made contact and tried to suck on my nose. I'm not sure what to think of that.
We still have lots of great noises and babbling. The pterodactyl sound is still around, along with various other chirps and squeaks. Cate loves to "talk" to us and try out all her wide range of noises to see our reactions. And she's learned how to scream. It's awesome. She's also still very quick to laugh at Michaela and will laugh when she's tickled. We're still waiting for that really good belly laugh. There are few things as precious to a mommy as that.
In the motor skills department, we have a sitter! She started off the month trying to sit, but being very wobbly. She's now VERY stable and loves to sit on the floor in the middle of the living room, playing with her toys. Cate has also started to reach for things she wants, grab them, and then promptly put them in her mouth. One of the funniest things she's done this month is learn how to make toys squeak in her mouth. She puts either a pacifier or rubbery teething ring in her front gums and then shakes her head back and forth until she gets a good squeaking sound. She'll even do it when we say, "Squeak it!" Hilarious. She still hasn't rolled again so I've been forcing her to spend more time on her belly when we're playing.
Car rides have become a little bit better, though she still doesn't love them. She's better at getting her own pacifier back in her mouth, though, so I think that's helping us. We also give her toys like her beloved Sophie the Giraffe and chewing seems to help her out.
Speaking of chewing, still no sign of teeth, though she's teething hard-core. The drool is truly spectacular, the chewing is out of control, and she's been pretty clingy the last few days. I'm hoping that means a tooth or two will make an appearance soon and we'll have a little break in the cranky before the next set. I have to say, though, I don't know if it's her temperament or the baltic amber teething necklace, but she's handling the teething way better than Michaela did. I'm feeling blessed for that!
Cate's cheeks and thighs seem to get chunkier by the second and she's fully into 6 month clothes, with some 3-6 mixed in. She can also still wear some 3 month onesies, but I've cleared out the rest of the 3-month clothes to be sorted for selling and giving away. And I cried. It's hard to watch her grow, knowing she's my last baby.
Anyway, that's Cate's world. This month's pictures were taken while Michaela was at school again, so it's just Cate. And I really thought I had only one picture to use, but then I couldn't pick between these two. I had to have one with her finger in her mouth (if she's not chewing a toy, she's chewing a finger, and sometimes both at once), but I had to have one of her smiling, too!
love this little nugget!
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