6 Months

I am a touch late in posting this.

My little Squishy is six months old. Six months. Did you hear the sadness in that? The first half of the first year of my last baby's life is gone. I blinked and it went flying away.

This last week has been nice. The week before...not so much. She was working on two teeth that week. The first one came through on April 25th. The second on May 1st. The chomping down while she is eating started long before that.

See that receding hairline in the picture above? That would be her head. Male pattern baldness. I am washing her bedding tomorrow. Tonight when I put her down, I looked at her bumper pad and there is a mass of hair. Soft, silky baby hair STUCK to her bumper pads! I was playing with her hair on Sunday morning and pulled the front into a Mohawk and out came a handful of her hair! I cried...and then I pulled at it again to see just how much came out.

There was lots.

Sigh.

We have recently discovered that she likes to take baths in her Bumbo seat in the kitchen sink. She can see us that way. You see, I have learned something about third children. They cannot hack being alone. Ever. She is the most mellow and smiley and happy baby...when we are in the room. Walk out and it sounds like a fire engine has gone off in the other room.

She is my imitator. We played with her cousin Bubba a couple of weeks ago and he was just jabbering away. She hadn't talked very much up to this point. After 30 minutes with him, she doesn't stop talking. She heard our little neighbor Lia squealing and she watched her intently. Guess what we woke up to the next morning. Yesterday morning I was snuggling her in our bed and she was fussing a bit and I said "Oh, oh, ooooohhhhhh" in a whiny voice. Guess what she does now?

Also, I was teasing her yesterday as well...I tease my baby a lot apparently...and said "Waaaaahhhh" to her and her little bottom lip poked out and her chin started to quiver. She was so sad for me. I busted up. Then she laughed.

She still isn't sleeping through the night. And I have been okay with that. With my last two girls I gnashed my teeth every night when I would hear them wake up. Not so with Miss Squishalicious. I snuggle her and cuddle her and smile with her. I feel like she somehow knows this is the only time we get to be just the two of us and we just eat each other up.

She loves to see things. We went out to dinner tonight and she wasn't content to stay in her infant carrier. She had to be right up watching everything. The fire on the grill, her daddy talking to the people next to her, her watching every bite I put into my mouth.

She doesn't sit still for things anymore...unless it is the TV. I don't put her in front of the television...EVER. However, when I was taking this picture, her sister had the TV on and this is Squishy straining to see the television behind me.

She has also figured out the pacifier can go in other ways as well.

Those eyes! Those eyes have my heart. I love that face. I love kissing on that face. I love holding her tiny body and having her nuzzle her face into my neck. I love having her face right by mine as she learns all about this big, new world around her. I love when she puts her face up to mine and gives me big, slobbery, open-mouth baby kisses that wet my entire face as she makes lovey noises. I love that when she smiles it is with her entire face.

That face.

I love my baby. I adore her. I want to capture her essence and put it in a bottle and hang it next to my heart so that I can feel her sweetness anytime I want to.

A few more random facts about Squishy:

~She eats oatmeal with cinnamon and a touch of brown sugar, sweet potatoes (her fav), carrots, squash, peaches, green beans, tiny bits of turkey and chicken when we have it, ice water, graham crackers, little bites of ice cream when we have it (hysterics break out if she sees us eating it and we don't let her try a little somethin'), and tonight daddy gave her a portion of his cookie.

~She loves her bath. It takes every ounce of strength I have to hold her when I turn the bath water on.

~She is right in between 3/6 month clothes and 6/9 month clothes...yet she is the same length wise as some one year olds that we know. Figure that one out.

~She plays games. Peek-a-boo is her favorite.

~She says "Hi" when you walk into the room.

~She has her momma's startle reflex. You walk into the room and she doesn't expect it and when she sees you, she screams.

~She HATES her car seat.

~She LOVES her stroller.

~She had her first ear infection this month.

~She is my most immobile baby so far. She can roll from her belly to her back and she can stretch to get what she wants. But she is content to just stay in once place. I am SO okay with that.

~She likes to hang her head upside down. Put her on your lap and she arches her back until her head is beet red. She loves it.

~When she wants to be picked up, she arches her back and stiffens her body. Kind of like she is handing you her belly and saying "I am ready for you."

~She ADORES her sisters. Absolutely loves them.

~She loves her daddy, but if given the choice, is all mine.

Okay...I had better finish this. She just finished nursing while I was typing this and I need to go and absorb some of those baby breaths before she turns one.

Halfy Birthday Squishy. I love you!