Team Shep Blog: Ava - Six Months

I am a little late in posting this one, but it is really hard to believe that Ava is already six months old! The fact that it has been that long since first seeing her precious little face in the hospital is crazy. I really do think she will be 18 before we know it, which is very scary.

Ava is such a sweet, happy baby, and she makes this whole first-time-parent thing much easier...she makes us look good :). She is also becoming quite the ham. Ava loves playing in the mirror, and thinks it is hilarious when she can see herself in the iPhone camera.

Please see Exhibit A (which is very blurry, but is typical of what she does when she sees herself in the camera):

I also feel like Ava grew up a lot in the last month. Especially because of her two bottom teeth coming in, her ability to sit up on her own for extended periods of time, and her increasing mobility. Ava also really found her voice in the last week before turning six months...she not only screeches with more frequency (which delights her), but she now makes the repetitive consonant sounds. Dadadada is her favorite, which Josh loves even though it is not yet directed at him.

Additionally, her sleeping was great last month! One of the biggest changes was that we started working on her self-soothing at night. Instead of rocking/walking her around until she is completely out, I will put her down for bed even if she is still a little bit awake. It occasionally takes her up to 30 minutes to fall asleep (in which case she just rolls around, talks to herself, and plays with her pacifiers), but she is usually out pretty quickly.

Ava also dropped from four short naps (one between each feeding) to two longer naps over the course of last month. At the beginning of the month, she dropped her short fourth nap (which she would usually take right after I picked her up from daycare), and her bedtime moved from 8:00/8:30 to 7:00. I could tell that she was ready to go to bed earlier, and it is definitely true what the "experts" say...she ended up sleeping better at night once she was going to bed earlier. I think she only woke up once during the night last month, and it was because the damn dogs ran down the stairs barking like banshees when they heard something outside. Her early bedtime is great for many reasons, but it also makes for a sad momma because I really only get about an hour and a half with her on workdays. It is doubly sucky because this last hour of the day is usually her fussiest. Blerg!

We also dropped her mid-morning nap toward the end of the month. So, now she usually wakes up around 7:00 (and sometimes sleeps in a bit...she is definitely our daughter), takes an hour-long morning nap around 8:30/9:00, takes a longer afternoon nap starting at 1:00, and goes to bed at 7:00. It is a pretty nice schedule other than the aforementioned lack of time with her during the week.

Ava eats five bottles a day, at nearly 40 ounces total...which is one of the reasons why I definitely knew it was time to start her on solid food. While the first few meals have all gone pretty much like the first, I am sure she will get the hang of it soon...and then she will be eating chips and queso with me in no time ;).

Here are my favorite pics from her six-month photo shoot...

Stats:

17.5 pounds (75%)
27.5 inches (95%)

This is pretty much what I was expecting, because she seems a lot more "long and lean" now. Luckily, her chubby cheeks and thigh rolls are still intact for now.

Likes:

Her WubbaNubs. Those things are genius! And they really help with the self-soothing at night.
Sophie the Giraffe. Louie also loves Sophie...and it is only a matter a time before he gets his paws on her.

Relaxing in her "daddy recliner."

She still loves being sung to. Her new favorites are "The Wheels on the Bus" and songs from "The Sound of Music" (and she still loves the Hokey Pokey).
Splashing in the bathtub. I love this video :).

The exersaucer and jumperoo are still favs.

When I make her toys "talk" to her. She especially loves when they say "Hi, Ava!"...I get a laugh every time.
Going to the grocery store, mall, or other places where there are lots of people/things to watch. She made her first trips to Central Market and Sam's last month.

[And yes, she loved the wine section of Sam's just as much as her Mom.]

Dislikes:

She still hates anything that involves me cleaning her nose...so I have to sneak attack ;).

Milestones/Firsts:

Ava is still getting up on all fours, and while she hasn't mastered actual crawling, she can get anywhere she wants to go by scooting along like a little inchworm.
Her bottom two teeth started coming in the last week of the month. Luckily, they haven't seemed to bother her too much.

She can sit completely unsupported for extended periods of time (basically until she gets bored with sitting up). I still put a pillow behind her just in case. She can also get from the sitting position to the "crawling" position.

She is so much more talkative and loves to make the repetitive consonant sounds.

Funny/Random Tidbits:

She learned how to blow raspberries. While she sometimes does this just for fun, Ava usually brings out this new trick when she is tired and fussy. It is like she is saying "this is ridiculous...get my PJs on faster and give me my darn bottle, woman!"
She occasionally likes to pat her bottle...pretty hard.