Carter: 5 and 6 month update!

Wow!  Time really does fly.  I can't believe our little girl has been with us for 6 whole months!  I'm happy to report that the past 2 months have been much better for our sweet girl.  She is growing well and gaining weight.  She is also developing and progressing by leaps and bounds!  She has tried her first solid foods, is rolling from her tummy to her back, and is sitting up pretty well! (with the occasional toppling over...see below!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

First snow! 

Super serious during our photo shoot!
WOULD NOT give me a smile this week not matter how hard I tried!

Starting to sit up on her own....

Help!

I'd say her first time in her outdoor swing was a success!

Carrots! 

If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that poor Carter got the flu from her daddy so we spent Easter Sunday in the Children's Hospital ER for a flu test.  Twenty four hours later we were sadly back in the ER because her temperature had gotten too low.  They ran some tests and fortunately she warmed up quickly so we did not have to be admitted.  She was pretty pitiful for 3 or 4 days (including her 6 month birthday) fluctuating between a high fever and a low fever and has a terrible cough that she is still getting over.

ER visit #1 for flu

ER visit #2

Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs 6.5 oz (5th percentile)

Height: 25.5 inches (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 42.5 cm (50th percentile) 

Clothes- 6-9 months (Just for length.  Skinny girl could still fit in 3 month for her weight!) 

Diapers- Size 2 

Eating:  Still nursing every 2-3 hours.  Most nights she wakes up once to eat, but goes right back to sleep.  She has just in the last week or so started really loving solids!  We started with rice cereal which wasn't a huge hit, but when we started doing other solids, after a few days, she really got into it.  So far she has tried carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, and bananas. I am introducing foods really slowly because of her previous feeding issues.  Speaking of which, things have gotten so much better with her eating.  She nurses so well and very quickly now. Bottle feeding is still not easy but with some coaxing, she'll take one if she has to as long as its not formula....that she won't even consider! We did take her to an allergist hoping to get skin tested to find out if we are dealing with a true allergy but he thought with her history, skin testing wouldn't be effective or tell us anything because she has what is called Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis.  Basically, she isn't having an immune reaction to milk or soy like people with a peanut allergy, but her reaction is just in her little tummy and intestines.  Good news is that she will outgrow this probably by a year.  Bad news is that I still can't eat dairy or soy.  I am positive that she has an issue with milk but I've always questioned if she has any issues with soy but I gave them both up at the same time so we may challenge her in the doctors office and give her soy and see what happens.  When we went to her GI doctor last week, she was very pleased and thought maybe we could slowly start challenging her with milk around 9 months by doing foods with a little bit of dairy in them, like mashed potatoes with butter, or a little bit of cheese or yogurt.  

Sleeping: Carter slept in her Rock n Play sleeper till about 5 months.  I was terrified to transition to the crib because of her reflux and because she did so well in it at night.  But to my surprise, she transitioned to her crib fairly well.  We only had 1 or 2 nights where she woke up more frequently.  Now that she is rolling, she is a side sleeper.  She is definitely like my husband and is all over the place when she sleeps.  I put her in her crib one way and by the time she wakes up she is at the other end of the crib facing a different direction.  Thank goodness we have a video monitor that I move the camera around to find her!  

Naps are all over the place.  Usually she does 2 longer naps and one cat nap a day. We did some sleep training and had about 2 weeks of really good naps that were 1.5-2 hrs and I thought we had finally gotten rid of the short nap problem but the past week or so they have reared their ugly head again and we are back to more like three or four 45 min naps.  Bedtime has gone from 7 or 7:30 to 6:30 or so because she is just so tired from not napping well.  She usually wakes up anywhere from 6-7 AM depending on if and when she has eaten during the night.  I would love for her to go back to sleeping through the night, but with her weight, I just hate not feeding her if she is acting hungry. I'm hoping maybe the napping issue could be teeth, growing, or just a phase, and hopefully she will start napping better soon. 

Playing:  She is rolling from belly to back constantly. So much so that I can't keep her on her stomach hardly at all these days!  She is sitting up pretty well but not to the point where I could walk away cause she will eventually topple over.  She loves playing outside, reading books, her Leap Frog puppy Violet that sings songs to her and knows her name, her cousins Ingrid and Silvia, her dog Reese, and she always lights up when her daddy gets home from work each day! 

Life with Carter is so much fun.  Don't get me wrong, there are hard moments and tough days when I am tired and would love to just be able to take a long nap, read a book, or just do nothing, but I realize every single day how blessed I am to have my sweet, precious daughter in my life.  She is my little best friend.  She is definitely a Mommy's girl and I wouldn't have it any other way!  I love watching her change and discover new things every day and am so fortunate to be able to stay home with her and witness these moments!