1.21.2012

Six




Madeline,

My little newborn is gone and has been replaced by an active and rambunctious six month old. On Christmas eve you started sitting on your own for more than five- ten minutes at a time. Before this day, you only sat for short bits of time (a minute or two). Now you can sit completely unassisted and you rarely fall accidentally. When you do decide you've had enough of sitting you either roll to your side or you lean forward onto your hands and knees and lower yourself onto your belly.

You are rolling over a lot. You use your ability to roll to move quickly around the room and get to your favorite toys.  Earlier this month you learned how to lean forward from a sitting position to go onto your hands and knees. Dr. Carter said that developmentally you are 1 1/2 months ahead. Because of this he said we should get started with baby proofing our house because he suspects you'll be crawling in no time. Tonight you started dragging your body all around, in almost an army crawl. We can't believe how fast you are growing up!

You weigh 19 1/2 lbs and you are 27 3/4" long. You are mostly wearing size 12 month clothing but you still wear some 9 month clothes as well.  You are staying at the top of the charts in the 97th percentile for both height and weight.

Now that you are six months old we've started solids. We started you on mashed avocado. You love it! The texture initially gives you a funny face, but quickly you are back to smiling, giggling, learning towards the spoon, and wanting more.

You love to talk. You love to babble and join in on any conversation. Your favorite things to say are "Pa Pa", "Ma Ma", "Guh Guh", "Bah Bah Bah", " Gah Ma Ma" and "Da Da". You are starting to discover more and more consonants. We're excited for you to really start talking and for you to actually associate "Ma Ma" with me and "Da da" with Daddy. We can't wait to communicate more with you as you continue to discover words. We're sure you have a lot of interesting things to say!

Your favorite toys are your big blue car key that makes sounds, your first doll, and your colorful giraffe and monkey that hang on your car seat. You also love to play with your Grandpa Birkeland's shoes. You like to untie them over and over and over again. You love to sit in your high chair and play with your toys. You toss your toys to the ground in a random order, but for some reason the blue key is almost always the very last to go. You love moving around. You love sitting on the ground, rolling around the room, and discovering whatever you can.

Now that you are six months old we are also starting to put you to bed in your crib. You're doing a great job of falling asleep in your crib for naps and bedtime. You sleep in your crib for the first 6-7 hours of the night and then you come in bed with Mommy and Daddy for the rest of the night to snuggle. 

We love you Maddie girl. We are so glad you came to our family.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy