6 months already?

Can you believe it? I'm already 6 months old!

On my 6-month birthday, Mom and Dad threw me a half birthday party. In the spirit of celebrating only half-heartedly, they only sang half of the "Happy Birthday" song to me and didn't light the candle on my cupcake. I can't wait until my 1-year birthday this September when we can do it all over again in its completeness!! Here are some pictures of the big event. It's weird, really. By the end of the party, there was cupcake on my back.

Hey Mom, I'm about to eat some chocolate cupcake...

Oops! I missed my mouth!

At my 6 month check-up on Friday, I was 25 inches tall (25th percentile), weighed 14 pounds, 10 ounces (25th percentile), and my head was 16 inches around (10th percentile). I'm starting to eat oatmeal now, mixed with applesauce! For some odd reason, Zoli's not nearly as interested in that as he was my tuna fish cereal.

February 2009

First of all, I want to apologize for not updating my blog in over a month. For the record, I was not grounded from the internet. It's just that I started reading this ABC book and simply COULD NOT put it down until I finished it. The suspense was just killing me! It turns out that Z was for Zebra. Who knew!?!?Anyway, here is a summary of what I did in February 2009...

It snowed a lot here in upstate New York. In fact, it's snowing right now as I type this. I got to go outside one day and get a closer look at it.

"Twas the week before cereal..."
One day in early February, Mom and Dad told me that they were going to give me some cereal that weekend. As the days grew closer, I grew more and more excited. We went to the store and picked out some colored spoons, we dug out the wide assortment of bibs that people had sent us, and "visions of cocoa puffs danced in my head." Yep, that's right. I don't know about you, but when I think "cereal", I think Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Cap'n Crunch, Fruit Loops, or Cookie Crisp. Well, apparently Mom and Dad have been watching Saturday morning commercials on some other planet, because not only did this cereal not have any marshmallows in it, it was definitely NOT kid-tested. It turns out that what they were planning on feeding me is what adults call "rice cereal" and it's not even close to Rice Krispies either. It's more like "rice smooshies". What's more is that the rice cereal has tuna oil in it which contains DHA to help support brain and eye development. That's right everyone, they are feeding me tuna fish cereal. Well, you can probably guess what my reaction to this was, but here are the pictures of the big event to sum it all up.

And sorry Mom and Dad, but because of the DHA in the cereal, the more of this stuff you feed me, the more I'm able to see and know how gross the stuff really is.

Hey - remember my Little Bit onesie? It must have shrunk in the wash because I put it on the other day, and check it out!

Yep, somewhere in the middle of February, I went from a little baby to a little lady. I have gotten so big and have been really enjoying wearing all of my bigger clothes that I never thought I'd be able to wear. I just love this little dress!

I rolled over from my front to my back sometime in late January, however, Mom and Dad have yet to be able to catch it on video. So far, all we have is about 10 minutes of video of me laying on my belly crying while mom chants at me "Roll over! Roll over!" like I'm some sort of dog. And we are NOT posting that online. In fact, I've got to find some way to "accidentally" tape over it before I start dating.

I have been enjoying Tummy Time a lot more these days. I had no idea that the bottom of my jungle was decorated, too!

To celebrate my Swedish heritage (I'm 1/16 Swedish afterall), Gram and Pops got Mom and Dad a Baby Bjorn for Christmas and we've been using it a lot. We even went for a walk with it one warmish February day. I'm enjoying the fact that I'm big enough to face out of it now so I can see more than just my mom's neck. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice neck...a 1/8 Swedish neck even, but...well, it's still just a neck.
And finally, some more pictures of me simply enjoying my first February.

Goodbye Mommy...Hello Grammie!

This past Tuesday morning, Mommy went back to work.

At first, I was shocked, and exhibited signs of extreme disbelief...
And then I went through a period of withdrawal...

I even regressed a bit, and spent a few hours sucking my thumb...

I experienced some anger and frustration, too. Here's me pulling Mom's hair, hoping that would get her to stay home with me.

And of course, there were also episodes of sadness...
But then I found out that I didn't have to go to daycare. Instead, GRAMMIE WAS COMING TO TAKE CARE OF ME!!

And then all was right with the world again.

We are all SO thankful that Mommy was able to take the Fall semester off and spend the first 4-and-a-half months of my life at home with me, especially given all of my health issues early on. It was also wonderful to spend the past month with Daddy, who goes back to work tomorrow. I just love having professors for parents!! I sure will miss you guys during the day, but know that I'm in good hands with Grammie. Only 40 more days until Spring Break!

I really put my hand in my mouth this time...

You like my new party trick? I'm getting pretty close to being able to put my whole hand in my mouth. Sometimes I even do the trick so well that I gag myself.

How'd I get way over there?

I still haven't rolled over yet, either from my tummy to my back or from my back to my tummy. But one day, Mom put me in the middle of my jungle gym, went upstairs, and came back to find me like this...
Who needs to roll when you've got teleportation?

A shout out to the grandparents!

It has come to my attention that there are a number of my parents' friends' parents that have been reading my blog. Awesome. So here's a shout out to my adopted grandparents all across the country including Grandma Olberz, Grandma Welter, Grandpa Weinman, and Grandma and Grandpa Hill!! I think you are all pretty grand and I LOVE YA! :)

I'm WAY over 12 pounds!

At my 4 month check-up on Monday, I was 12 pounds plus a half of an ounce, to be exact. And, my height was 23.5 inches. That puts me at the 25th percentile for weight and height, just like I was at my 2-month appointment.

My head circumference was 15.5 inches, which is at the 10th percentile, a slight improvement from my 7th percentile measurement at 2 months of age. It's probably growing because Mom and Dad keep saying things like "you are the best baby ever!" and "you are SO sweet, SO cute, SO snuggly!" All the compliments are giving me a big head.

There they are!

When I got back to New York, I found my toes. Daddy says that we brought them with us to KY, but I strongly doubt it because I never saw them there! Anyway, they sure are fun to play with!

Lately, I've been enjoying putting all of my toys in my mouth. Mom keeps saying something about a "sensorimotor stage" of cognitive development. Whatever. All I know is that if it's good enough to be in my hands, it's good enough to be in my mouth.

At long last, I'm finally big enough to wear those reusable pocket diapers that Mom and Dad bought for me long before I was born. Good thing, too, because with all of the diapers I went through while I was on the antibiotics, I think I've already put my fair share of disposables into the landfills.

I've been growing like crazy! The last time I was weighed was on December 4th (when I went in for the VCUG) and I was 10 pounds, 3 ounces. I go in for my 4-month check-up (and shots!) this Monday, January 12th. How much do you think I'll weight then? Daddy thinks 12 pounds, 1 ounce; Gram thinks 12 pounds, 5 ounces; Mommy thinks 13 pounds even. Any other guesses?