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By the time our sweet baby girl turned six months old, we had the travel-and-outings-with-baby routine down.
During that sixth month we did our first long vacation with my family…
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Similar swimsuit here and here. |
…to the Outer Banks which you all know is almost a second home for us…
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Sunglasses here and here, sunsuit similar here. |
…especially in the early Fall when most people are back at school!
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My swimsuit by La Blanca is still sold here and here (it is not a maternity suit). Margaret’s swimsuit (it has full sleeves and SPF protection rash guard-style with zipper at back and snaps at bottom) still sold here. |
Of course that sweet bonnet from The Tipsy Bunny came in handy once again as we spent a lot of time poolside! We wanted to familiarize Margaret with the feel of pool water as we had enrolled her in a swim class to start not long after we returned from the beach (this was mid-September). My family are water people – I was called “Water Baby” by my parents and we wanted to do all we could to diminish any fear and anxiety for her around water!
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How can you not love that sweet face?! Cardigan (similar) and dress with bloomers set (similar). Changing pad cover: aden + anais muslin. |
Not long after we returned from the beach I got to take Margaret into town to meet my cousin B and his longtime GF A. It was gradually becoming Fall so she needed that sweet cardigan with her outfit. That said, it was warm enough to diaper change her on the tailgate before we went in to lunch. They loved meeting Margaret and it was a nice lunch even if Margaret was going through a growth spurt and went through all of her food I had brought with us… I ended up giving her bites of my sweet potato tots to keep her full!
The next weekend was a beautiful day. The humidity of summer had left central Virginia, so our family of 3 (puppy dog safely at home) went out to enjoy some trails in our county and do some light “hiking” with Margaret in her stroller! We were going on a trail that had some high grasses (natural rain garden on the flood plain along the James River) so we wanted to avoid mosquito bites on our cutie. Thankfully she didn’t mind the filtered view of this stroller mosquito netting we had bought prior to the beach trip at all as you can see here. I highly recommend any parent or friend of parents to get this kind of item as its an inexpensive add on gift for a baby:
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Our little ham loves to put her feet up whenever she can – she has been all legs since she was born! |
MCVA’s growth and development stages were big here at HALF a year old already. We had a big Pediatrician appointment on this month visit which were as follows:
- 13 pounds, 4 oz; 5.5%ile
- 27″ long; 89%tile
- 16.5″ head circumference; 40%ile
- More foods can be introduced:
- 2 handle cups of unlimited H2O
- low sugar anything possible
- 5.5 – 6 oz breastmilk per feeding goals
- 2 solid meals a day
- Stage 2 foods good to start
- Whole milk yogurt, cottage cheese (we love YoBaby yogurt by Stonyfield Organics)
- Meats – introduce a variety at 7 months with a tablespoon or so
- Flouride supplement MWF (we live in rural area with well water so this is to protect her enamel as M and I did not get this growing up and had sensitive teeth issues!)
- Start babyproofing with cabinets/cords/hearths/stairs/etc.
So as you can see, that was a LOT to take in on that day with the Pediatrician. Now for her personal development that I tracked on Ovia Parenting were as follows:
- Experiments with cause and effect and tests gravity by dropping objects (she loves to take something, put it back; take something, put it back. Or drop something and try to retrieve it).
- Use hands in raking fashion for toys. This works out well on our carpet and hardwood although it is at this point that we realize our dog hair really is a problem around the house!
- She finally doubled her birth weight at 6 months, which is a huge stage for a baby. It took much longer than we had hoped but so pleased and her output had continued to be really healthy.
- Made her first friend when we did more socializing with family. She adores her older toddler cousin M, who is the daughter of my first cousin L!
- She was able to drink from a cup with help pretty much right away. She picked it up within one evening which was great as it was one less thing we had to guide her with (and meant we could eat dinner at the same time in an easier fashion!). She loves using her cup. She loves these cups in particular. To be able to move from bottle nipple to sippy we got the Philips Avent cups and she loves to talk to her friends on these cups – esp the penguin – during her entire meal. Sometimes she would be upset when they would get put away for the night, haha!
- Can tell emotions of person or thing by tone of voice. I think this came about when we started reading to her more and more frequently throughout the day, as well as visiting all kinds of different family members. Sometimes we let her watch a clip of Sesame Street or Daniel Tiger which may also have helped her figure this out.
- Has different reactions for different family members. She would sometimes see my Mom but not see my Dad one or two times in a month and that would make a big difference for her on how she would react when she saw them.
- Shows anxiety when removed from parent. This really has only happened one or two times when at home. It’s more when we are out in town or at a social event that it even pops up.
- Reaches for toys – including her mobile which we had to raise up higher so she wouldn’t try to grab it!
- Transfers objects from hand to hand – whether a toy or book, food item or washcloth – fun to see her trying to figure this action out.
- Her first word was something we had thought we had heard but waited until the rest of family heard it while we were at the Banks to confirm it – her first word was Mama! And Mike was such a sweet husband by saying it to her all the time. We would try to call each other Mama and Dada when around her to build up the association. That seemed to do the trick. Her first word came in mid-September but while at the beach she said it all the time. Then came the fun of working on Dada and trying other words and also THINKING we heard other words (my Mom is bad about that, haha!!).
We celebrated her turning 6 months on September 22, 2017. My goal is to use this holiday long weekend to catch up and have her all caught up before June 1 (so a week from today). Then I can print them all out to put in a book for her (always nice to have a backup). On Monday we may go to the Virginia Historical Society’s Virginia Museum of History and Culture who will be appropriately commemorating World War I here in RVA. What events do you have planned for the holiday long weekend?
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She is TOO cute!