Check-Up

Today was Camille's 6 month check-up. She did mostly great, with a little bit of not-so-great-news thrown in.

Here's her stats:

Weight: 16 lb 6 oz (53%)
Height: 26 inches (50%)
Head: 43 cm (68%)

She's doing great- perfectly average in every way!

But, there were a couple of concerns.

First, she has an ear infection. I had suspected as much as she has been fussy while nursing for the last couple of days. So she is on meds- and NOT taking them well at all. We are going to have to get creative with how we give her the meds in order for her actually take them instead of just spitting them out. Any suggestions??? Any help would be appreciated!

Now in order to show you the next concern I need to show you a picture I took about a month ago:

Do you see how her arms are out? Apparently that has the potential to cause some problems.

Because she often pushes her arms back like that, including rolling her shoulders backwards,  it makes it more difficult to balance herself and sit up, which can lead to poor muscle tone in her stomach. She currently can not sit up on her own at all, which is not too concerning, but if she isn't sitting up by Christmas I need to set up an appointment with a physical therapist.

This actually makes me laugh a little bit. Who knew good posture (having your shoulders back), could lead to a 6 month old needing therapy? I certainly did not. You learn something new everyday.

Anyway, it's certainly not a big concern, but just something we need to watch.

Even with those things, however, she got 3 gold stars for cuteness.

Nutcracker

On Saturday we went as a family to go see a Children's Nutcracker.

While getting dressed beforehand Claire asked: "Can I wear my swimsuit?"

Me: "No."

Claire: "But the Nutcracker is in water."

Me: "No, it isn't. It's a ballet and they perform it on stage."

Clare: (walks away with a VERY confused look on her face)

Despite being above ground, we had a great time.

Claire sat mesmerized the whole time, Audra loved it but got tired about 3/4 of the way through and asked to take a nap, and Camille played with toys and cooed through the entire show.

 They were ecstatic to go up on the stage after the show:

 Then, they got to meet some of the performers:

 Here they are with Clara:

Yummy Yams!

We introduced Camille to yams today- her first food other than milk. Audra and Claire were very excited to help out, so Audra kept wiping her face to keep it clean and Claire got the bib ready to go.

 This is her new smile. She started doing it a few days ago- it's kind-of a flat line:

She did pretty well. She took about 3 bites total, and then she closed her lips and refused to take anymore. She wasn't upset or angry about it, just kind-of  like "no, thanks." We'll try some more tomorrow.

I Don't Like This One Bit!

Today was a sad, sad, day.

Audra insisted that I cut her long, beautiful hair.

She said, "Don't worry, it will grow back."

Meanwhile, my heart broke. 

My baby is growing up. See for yourself.

Before:

 After:

 Admittedly, she looks gorgeous. She really is such a beautiful girl. 

She is worried her friends won't recognize her, and she LOVES her new hair. I love it, too. It makes her look so much older, though!

Claire insisted on being part of the action as well. She said, "I want my hair like Audra's!" I only cut off about 1/2 an inch, and there is no noticeable difference.

Cutest Pilgrim On the Block

Today the kindies did a big Thanksgiving celebration. They performed a play, sang some songs, and then ate lots and lots of food. It was really cool- her teacher did a great job putting everything together.

We all went for the presentation- it is really nice that Ben has a flexible job so he can take time to attend these things. After the presentation he brought Claire and Camille home (Claire hasn't been feeling to well and we didn't want her to be near the other kids) while Audra and I went to the Thanksgiving party. Lots of parents were there- it was great.

 Do you like her frog socks? I think I read somewhere that pilgrims wore frog socks.

 Audra had two lines:

Line 1: We have a wonderful crop.

Line 2: Let's gather walnuts, chestnuts, and acorns.

They got to talk in a microphone, which all the kids loved, but as parents we only understood about 1/4 of what was said. Still very cute, though.

 Audra with one of her best friends:

 And with her teacher:

Six Months

It's hard to believe this Little Bug is 6 months old, but she is.

She continues to excel in the "sweetest baby" category. She amazes both Ben and I with her cheerful disposition.*** Hopefully it continues through her whole life!

At six months, she still isn't quite sitting up. In the pictures above I propped her up against the box to help hold her up. She is almost there, but not quite.

She's actually quite sedentary. She can roll over and will sometimes then scoot herself around within a 3 foot radius, but that's about it. We decided she is just so happy no matter where she is that she has no need to move around. She makes do with wherever she is at and in whatever position she finds herself.

She thoroughly enjoys her Exersaucer. One night she was in there for over an hour just playing nicely. She sure makes having a baby easy!

Toys have become a constant accessory. She especially loves toy keys and anything shaped in an "O" that she can easily hold. All toys, and anything else she gets a hold of, instantly ends up in her mouth.

This month I have succeeded in getting her on a pretty decent schedule- and it has admittedly been nice for all of us. She takes three naps a day, and this schedule has forced us to be home more. I like that. We do go out, as she will take naps in her car seat still, but I have really calmed our schedule down and it has led to a slower pace for all of us, which I have really enjoyed. I have also discovered that if she takes a super short nap and I go up and nurse her for a few minutes she will fall back asleep. Hence, her naps have become much better. She will usually take at least one 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

I am hesitant to say this for fear of jinxing us, but she is sleeping well at night. She pretty much only wakes up once at night to feed. I can handle that! We put her to bed at 8, then I give her a dream feed around 10:30 when Ben and I go to bed, and then she wakes up sometime between 1-3 to nurse, then wakes up around 7-8 to nurse and wake up for the day.

She is laughing and smiling with more frequency. Even I was able to get her laughing hysterically the other night, which was a huge feat. Normally she only laughs for Claire and Audra.

She still fits into 3-6 month clothes, but I imagine that will only last until Christmas before we need to upgrade. I don't have her stats yet, but I will on Tuesday. She must be close to 17 lbs, though, I am guessing. By far she weighs more than the other two at this age.

It's a little strange for me to have such a lazy baby. Part of me wonders if I should be worried that she isn't crawling around getting into everything like the other two were at this age. Others have assured me, however, this she is quite normal and it is the other two who were off.

This week we will be starting solids which is exciting.I'm thinking yams. It seems fitting with Thanksgiving right around the corner, right?

***Except for last night when she cried all through the girls' Christmas photo shoot. Look forward to some "fun" Christmas cards with our grumpy baby. Note to self: Never schedule a photo shoot in the evening.

Silly Girls

 The girls think it is hilarious to "decorate" poor, defenseless Camille:

 Then, Claire decorated Audra- again, they both thought this was hysterical. 

Camille was not nearly as amused:

 Our little cutie: