Lena: 6 Months

My Lena-Bean is 6 months old today! That doesn't really seem possible! But alas, it is. So here is the 6 month update:

Routine
I went back and read Lucy's 6 month update. She was on a much more predictable schedule than Lena is. 2nd child syndrome, I guess.  Lena is an early bird. I have no idea where she gets that from. But she's usually up before 7:00 am. I've started keeping a basket of toys next to my bed, so I can put them in the pack n' play with her in the morning and catch a few more minutes of sleep. Haha.

She's still nursing every 3 hours. She pretty consistently nurses on both sides now (although the right side produces much more), but she's still pretty quick. She's incredibly easily distracted. I've started turning the TV on for Lucy downstairs and taking Lena upstairs to feed her in silence.

She's generally awake for 1.5-2 hours between naps. You never know how long she's going to sleep. It could be an hour. It could be 3 hours. I've been trying harder to have her nap upstairs in her bed instead of her swing, and she usually sleeps longer up there. I'm still in the very bad habit of rocking her to sleep. It's just so much easier. One night last week, I laid her down in bed awake and she screamed for a solid hour before I finally went up and rocked her to sleep. Ugh. Still sleeping in our room. I just can't figure out how she and Lucy will share without waking each other up. I'm not too worried about it for now, since she's still not sleeping through the night anyway.

She goes to bed at 8:00, then wakes up anywhere between midnight and 3 am to eat, back to sleep until 5 or 6 to eat, then hopefully back to sleep for another hour or so. All of you with 6 week old babies sleeping through the night can shut it!

Milestones and Personality
She started on solid food last week. On Monday, I gave her pureed peas (a la Gerber - there was no homemade steaming/pureeing). She loved playing with the spoon and the food, but I don't think she swallowed much - or was particularly fond of the taste. On Thursday, she had frozen banana slices in the mesh feeder. And then a few days later, she had a slice of avocado in the mesh feeder. She was pretty ambivalent about it. More than anything, she just enjoys having something to chew on.

She's getting really good at rolling and pivoting to get around the room. And I think army crawling is in her near future. Over the past few days I've noticed her rocking from side to side on her belly to inch forward. She's getting adept enough that I can't just set her down and walk away anymore. I have to keep my eye on her!

She absolutely loves Lucy and Lola. If either of them come in her view, she starts squealing and screaming. She still doesn't really laugh, but she shrieks excitedly. Haha. She and Lucy love screaming at each other. And she is obsessed with trying to pet Lola. Our horribly evil cat tolerates her exceptionally well. Even when Lena's "petting" consists mostly of pulling out chunks of Lola's fur. Lena was also a big fan of Kelly's dog the day we went to visit her. Fingers crossed that she doesn't have Lucy's fear issues!!

She likes the pool . . . as long as it isn't too cold. I can usually ease her into it bit by bit and then she enjoys it. I've even dunked her under the water a few times (after lots of research about a baby's ability to hold its breath underwater). She came up sputtering, but not crying or gagging! She loves to kick her legs and splash in the water.

Of course, the most notable aspect of her personality lately is her severe separation anxiety issues. I must be in her line of vision all times - preferably touching her in some way. Haha. We had VBS this week at church. I attempted to help in the preschool room, but on the first day, Lena screamed so uncontrollably in nursery that I ended up wearing her in the Bjorn all day. Lucy was a Mama's girl, but I think Lena is worse. Unless she's in a very good mood, she won't let anyone but me hold her. And if someone else is holding her while I'm nearby, she will crane her neck until she finds me, then reach her little arms out crying pitifully at me until I take her. It's part ridiculous, part precious. We're going to attempt to leave her for our anniversary this Friday. Pray for my sisters who will be watching her. Haha. We're actually going to be doing a bunch of "mini-dates" close to home, so I can go back and feed her every 3 hours since she still absolutely refuses to take a bottle!

She's really getting to a fun age, though. She's so smiley and happy and adorable. I love her squeezy little cheeks and the way she gets so excited to see me. I can't believe she's half way to a year and can't wait to see what the next 6 months hold!

She was so happy during this photo shoot - lots of happy shrieking, as you can see!! Haha.