Letters to Lyla and Lottie

One month:Six months6 Months
Dear Lyla, six whole months have come and gone since that chaotic September day when you made your arrival. Six whole months since the doctor placed your quivering little naked body on my chest. Six whole months since we became whole. I can't seem to get enough of the moments of beauty. Moments that are beautiful before I even know it. ..foggy mornings when your bright smile is the only thing to pull me from my deep slumber...moments when your whole body smiles just in your eyes. moments when you grab my nose and lips in your silly way of taking me in...moments when your smell and the softness of your skin takes my breath away. moments when your laughs and squeals actually tell a story. moments when you unabashedly fall backwards-knowing you will be caught. moments when the simplest thing, so easily overlooked and taken for granted, becomes special when taken in by you. Moments when I can't help but smile at your rolley polley silhouette. You remind me that the world is good. You patiently teach me to have hope for the future, for it must be bright with you in it. Thank you, sweetness. Now go and do mom a favor, stay this way forever.

Love you forever and a day

• Time rolling over! You were not quite six months (02/25/10). I was putting in a load of laundry the first time you did it. Dad screamed and then lied and said nothing happened so I wouldn't be upset. I of course knew but luckily you did it seconds later right as I grabbed the camera (thanks).
• Time eating! You were 6 months 2 weeks the first time you had rice cereal (03/19/10). It left much to be desired. You gagged and made the saddest face. I thought maybe it was because it was mixed with Nutramagin (aka cat food) but breast milk elicited the same response. We tried 2X only before moving on to bigger and better.
  
• Time eating baby food. We started with squash moved to beans and learned that you hate veggies. You quickly learned to purse your lips! To my surprise though, you loved bananas.
  
• Time drinking from a sippy cup! At first you would just chew on the lip but you caught on pretty quickly! You love some apple juice mixed with ice and water.
  
• Time bathing in the big girl bath tub! You finally outgrew yours. You love kicking and splashing in the big tub. You also love your bath toys.
  
• Time sleeping in your crib! You were 6.5 months when mom finally got brave. You lasted a whole hour. Can't say we've had much success since.
  
• Time flying (To Georgia)
  
• Time falling off the couch (dad was watching you)
  
• Time tying coke! Naughty grandma gave you some caffeine free and you loved it!
• At a concert! You loved Colbie Calliat
  
• Time sitting on grass. The first time if freaked you out and you cried. Now you love being outside and are entertained for hours.
  

Some other Things About this Month:

• You can now sit up perfectly, without any help. You mastered the skill at about 6.5 months.
• You can actually go 3 hours without eating. I notice the extra time big time!

• You still pretty much suck at sleeping. Not to talk smack (love you dearly) but you hate sleep and fight it already. You are always happy, like really, and seem to never need/want sleep. You usually wake every 2 hours all night long. You just want to eat and then go back to sleep. Many days you don't take a nap all day. To those judgy peeps out there I must say I have tried everything short of "crying it out". I stick to a routine like nobody's buisness, rock, make it dark, have white noise, you name it. Some days I spend all day just tying to put her down. Now I just accept it. She also fights sleep, just moaning because she's too tired to cry.
• You love you some taylor swift. We rock out
• Not the biggest fan of books right now as I won't let you eat them.
• You do like Alien Al though
• papers or plastic bags are your favorite toys. IDK why.
• You understand toys now. You can spin the wheel on this play center toy and grab all sorts of things on the gym playmat.
• You're still a mommy mouse but getting better. When I go somewhere I tell you to be brave.
• Your fine motor skills are insanely good. You can do just about anything.
• You have this fun habit of kicking me in bed if you're awake and i'm ignoring you. Kinda drives me nuts
• You also like to arch your back when you want to get down. It's funny, I think you want to crawl. You can scoot backwards.
• For a day I thought you had a tooth but it was actually a cyst.
• You watch intently as I sing the alligator song and laugh when he snaps the monkey out of the tree
• You laugh all the time. It melts my heart. So cute
• Breastfeeding you can be like feeding a monkey at times. If your feet can hit the couch, you push off the whole time. You also yank if the milk isn't coming fast enough and sing kinda.
• You can sense people's stress, etc. When Jenny's kids around sometimes you get overwhelmed.
• You have the cutest little concentration face. You purse your lips.
• You somtimes place your head on my chest...so sweet
• You still have the milk allergy. If I mess up and eat dairy, you have serious bloody poops, and a sore butt. I do my very very best.
• Your eyes tell all. They are so beautiful. They get big when you're suprised or overwhelmed.
• We have our best talks at night. You get chatty when you're tired
• You still love the jumpy jump while watching baby crackstein.
• When you get in the carseat, you pull yourself up now, fighting being strapped in..my little free spirit.
• You are SO grabby now. Lunch out can be interesting. You want the drink, etc.
• You're tickleish on your sides.
  

6 month Stats

Weight: 13.15 lbs, 8%

Height: 24.30 inches, 7%

Head circumference: 13.75, 44%

Skinny, but at least you're proportional! And big head=big brain:)