Natalie: Six Months

On January 17, 2015, Natalie turned six months old!  (Gotta get this post up before she turns seven months!)

In month six, Natalie:

• Learned to sit on her own, with no support!  She was very wobbly right around the end of the year, but by a week or so before her six month birthday, she was sitting on her own.  She can sit for long lengths of time now with a bunch of toys to keep her occupied.  She is a little wobbly at times, mostly when she wants to reach something that isn't directly in front of her. Namely Rowan or one of her brother's toys!
• Because she sits on her own, she is a bit less wiggly.  She can entertain herself, so she's not constantly flailing her arms and legs around.  But Natalie still doesn't like to sit still to listen to a book.  I'm hoping that changes soon.
• Ate solids for the first time!  Unfortunately the first thing we tried was bananas because they were what I had already and she seemed really hungry, but they were a little too harsh for her system and caused some bloody stools.  So, we took a couple day break and gave her mashed sweet potatoes a few days after her six month birthday.  I will do a separate post to show off  the photos.  She now has had avocado and pears as well.  Next on the list is carrots.
• Is still on breastmilk, no formula.  I am very proud of making it this far, but I am also ready to slow down the milk factory.  I think we are going to start giving Natalie one bottle of formula on the days I work, and maybe one at night in the hopes that she will sleep better.
• Still is toothless, but she is definitely teething.  She constantly gnaws on her hands or toys.  She also likes to gnaw on carrot sticks.
• At her six month appointment, weighed 17 pounds, 11 ounces (78%) and was 26.5 inches long (85%).  The scale was definitely wrong at Natalie's four month appointment.  She appears to be slimming down some as she moves more.
• Wears a mix of 6-12 month, 6-9 month, and 9 month clothing.
• Is still sleeping horribly.  Naps are the same (happen mostly in her carseat).  Nighttime sleep was better for awhile--sleeping in her crib until about 4:00 am, when she woke to eat.  But then Natalie got a pretty bad cold and things got much worse.  She went back to sleeping in our bed--she won't sleep in her crib at all.  She was waking every three hours like a newborn for about 10 days during the cold.  Luckily she is now back to just the 4:00 am wake-up.  But we need our bed back!  Now that she is six months old, I need to get strict and just do some sleep training.  
• Is back to refusing a pacifier.  Makes nighttime wake-ups super fun.
• Loves her brother and Rowan!  She giggles more for Henry than for anyone else.

Some recent photos: