six months

dearest Cecilia,

i remember when your sister turned six months old and i couldn't believe half a year had gone by already. and it's no less astonishing to me now. where have the last several months gone? it seems like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital (in the same elephant hat that you wore to the hospital from home!). with your dramatic entrance into the world, i was sure you'd be high-spirited and demanding. but over the past six months, you've been nothing but pleasant. when you do cry (usually when you're tired), you settle down easily with some snuggles. 

you and Greta have a lot of fun together now that you're big enough for her to hold you without help (at least while sitting on the couch -- she can't carry you around just yet!). she loves playing peek-a-boo or dancing around the room to make you laugh. you reach out to touch her hair or her face, and you don't seem to mind her sometimes ferocious affections. she calls you "Cece-girl" and "Celia". i wouldn't be surprised if your first word ends up being "sissy". you sure love her! 

a few weeks ago, you mastered rolling from your back to your belly. you even figured out how to turn yourself around in a circle by pushing with your arms. and just in the past few days, you've started sitting unassisted for several minutes at a time. for the most part, you can regain your balance if you start to topple, but i still keep a hand close by to catch you if you tip over. you love your new vantage point for playing with toys and watching the general hubbub of life in our house! 

a few weeks ago, you started your first solid foods. so far you've had pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, and applesauce (introduced in that order). your favourite by far is the applesauce. Daddy says nobody should be forced to eat pureed carrots! 

this month, i started reading to you regularly as part of your nap and bedtime routine. you usually listen to us read Greta's bedtime stories to her, so you'll probably be able to recite One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by the time you're a year old, but i thought you needed some stories of your own. you love to help turn the pages, and you like to touch all the pictures. when you're trying to fall asleep, you shake your head back and forth in your bed, sometimes pretty forcefully. Nana says that Daddy used to do that too. you still wear your Halo sleepsack to bed, with arms unswaddled, and you're still in our room with us. but it won't be long before you outgrow the co-sleeper, and then we'll transition you to the crib and let you share a room with Greta! 

this month, you celebrated your first Easter! you got spoiled with Easter baskets from Mommy and Daddy, Nana and Pappy, and Grammie and Grandpa! you slept through the Easter egg hunt in our yard, though. there's always next year! 

you also went on your first little vacation to Splash Lagoon in Erie. you liked splashing in the water and playing with the little fountains, and they even had jumperoos set up in the kids' area so you could jump in the water. i think you liked the family whirlpool the best, since the water was closer to bath temperature. you spent a fair amount of time napping in Nana's arms, and i'm not sure who enjoyed that more, you or her! 

i'll update your weight and length after your six-month well visit next week. you're wearing all 6 month clothes, and i anticipate you're still around the tenth to fifteenth percentile for weight. our little peanut, indeed! at five and a half months, you weighed 13 lbs 15 ounces, and i know that because we unfortunately ended up at the pediatrician's office after you fell off the changing table onto the hardwood floor. i was standing right there when you fell, but when i reached for your new outfit, you flipped all the way over before i could catch you. you had a goose egg on the left side of your forehead, so even though you didn't lose consciousness and were acting fine, the pediatrician ordered skull x-rays. thank God they came back normal, and you've been absolutely fine ever since. i felt so horrible about the whole incident, and have been extra careful to keep a hand on you at all times since then! 

baby girl, you bring us so much joy. we love you forever and always!