Halfway 'Round the Sun

Wow! I can't believe my baby is already half a year old. She is no longer an unresponsive, cuddly lump like she was in the beginning. She is now one of the most inquisitive, funniest, happiest, most flirtatious babies I have ever known.

Bella now weighs 16.5 lbs, and she's 26.5" long. Her body length and head circumference are both in the 70-90%, and her weight is finally getting closer to the 50% (after losing weight after birth, she was in the 5-10% for weight, so she has come a long way since then!). She's finally starting to get the chubby baby look, with a permanent fat roll in her left thigh, and little creases on her wrists between her arm fat and hand fat. Her cheeks are so plump and luscious-looking that I just want to nibble on them! And what a sweet soft round little belly she has.

Look at how much Bella's grown! Here she is during her first bath when she was just a few weeks old:

And here she is at six months old! She's almost outgrown the tub!


Bella can almost sit up unsupported, and she can stand up on her own while holding onto something for balance. Standing is still her very favorite position to be in. She can pass objects from one hand to the other and her eye-hand coordination is incredibly good. She has started doing lots of back to tummy rolls, though she never stays on her tummy for long before rolling onto her back. (We've been trying to have her do tummy time on top of our chest, which she tolerates a little better.) I can no longer set her down on the floor, look away, and expect her to be in the same place when I look back down a few seconds later. Time to do some serious baby-proofing!

Tricking Bella into doing some tummy time on her Boppy pillow!


We finally started Bella on solids (rice cereal last week, baby oatmeal this week, food with actual flavor will be served up next week). I know a lot of people start sooner, but since I have food allergies, waiting until six months is supposed to lessen her chances of getting them too. Also, after all the stress of moving, I was in no rush to start The Baby-Feeding Challenge, which I've already battled with my little brothers, and with babies at the preschool where I used to work. Eating will never again be as simple as popping out a boob, and knowing that it is providing the best nutrition possible, isn't making a mess, and Bella isn't complaining about not wanting it. (Those were the easiest meals I've ever prepared!) I am in awe that my body, which I take so much for granted, has been the sole support of this little human for 15 months since Bella's conception. 16.5 pounds of Mommy-grown goodness. It's almost unbelievable that my body is capable of creating something this amazing. Now we have the responsibility of getting her started on the right track for a lifetime of healthy eating. Talk about pressure!!

Here she is after a delicious round of oatmeal.




She tries to bite everything!


Bella has been drooling and stuffing things into her mouth for several months, but she hasn't gotten any teeth in just yet. Her two bottom teeth are just below the surface of the gum, and we have gone through several nights of teething woes already.

Bella is now at a point where she can put herself to sleep almost every time we put her down in bed. Yay! She sleeps through the night most nights, and sometimes she will put herself back to sleep when she wakes up. When she needs some help getting to sleep, a little tummy patting and "shhh"-ing will usually get her there. Now teething is probably going to mess up all the hard work we've gone through to get her to this point! Drats!

I finally got around to reading The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg, and it has made a tremendous improvement in my daily life with Bella. She is like a whole different baby now-- so much happier-- yet I don't think she has changed, rather my ability to understand her has changed. It's taught me to do a much better job of recognizing what she's trying to communicate, especially when she's tired. And it's surprising, when you pay attention, at how many different ways she has of communicating. She says, "Geeeee," and makes a gurgling sound, only when she's upset. She kicks her legs, flaps her arms, and says, "Ha, ha, ha," in a breathy voice when she's excited. She tenses her body straight, looks imploringly into my eyes, and says, "Ahhhh," when she's bored and wants a new toy to play with. She sucks her thumb, rubs her eyes, yawns, looks away and arches her back when she's tired. When she's hungry, she bites down desperately on anything she can get her gums on. There's also the long loud wail when she's in pain, and the sweet giggles when she's entertained. Bella's cries are no longer such a guessing game for me. Thank God for Tracy Hogg. I wish I'd read that book sooner!

Bella's angelic side:








When we went in for Bella's six month check-up, we did get one unpleasant surprise. She has gotten petechiae, a rash that is all over her body and looks like tiny faint freckles, and is caused when blood vessels bleed under the skin. After the pediatrician diagnosed it, we had to get blood tests done immediately to rule out some awful diseases that can be related to petechiae. I have had blood drawn so many times over the past year that I don't even flinch about it anymore, but taking Bella to get blood drawn was a different story. We had to take her to two different labs, because the first lab couldn't get enough blood to fill a regular-sized vial needed for one of the tests. THAT was a nightmare. Bella was screaming in my lap for what seemed like an eternity while they were pulling blood with the tiniest needle you've ever seen, and I was crying with tears falling on top of her head. It was the worst feeling in the world, not to be able to make her feel better, then to find out we were going to have to do it all over again. Next we went to the pediatric center at the hospital, where they found a vein in her foot they could draw blood from, and had to attach a syringe to the needle to pull out enough. She still has bruises from the two places where so much blood was drawn. Poor Bella was just so happy to be going to these new places and smiling at the friendly people. She is so innocent and had no idea what was about to happen, and that made me feel terrible. She was stuck with five needles that day, and in the meantime we were scared that she could have something awful. That was a really, really bad day.

But the good news is that her blood tests came back fine, so hopefully there isn't a terrible disease causing her rash. We took her to see a dermatologist, who thinks it's just caused by her skin being so fair, but I'm taking her to get a second opinion at another dermatologist in a couple of weeks. It's upsetting to think there's nothing that can be done about it, and now I'm ultra-paranoid whenever she is acting out of sorts, thinking that there could be something wrong, and we don't know what it is.