6 months

Sometimes I feel like she is SO big then I stand back and see how small she looks in this chair! 

Oh Dorothea, I can't believe she is already been here for 6 months! It's an exciting mark, kind of that transition from a little baby to mover, crawler and then toddler and also a sad mark for those same reasons. I think I may be safe for a while yet with her though because it doesn't seem like she will be crawling any time soon. She wiggles and worms backwards on her play mat and circles around it without rolling but she rarely moves forward or pulls into a crawl position. One of my favorite things she does when she gets really excited is plant her face in her mat, kick her legs furiously then look up and around to see if she has gone anywhere.

 We started her on rice cereal and she took to it immediately. I think her only qualm is the she can't put it in herself. She's been acting like she wants solids for a while now-making the most pathetic and hopeful faces while very intently watching us eat. Unfortunately, I am 91% sure she is allergic to it since she's developed a pretty big rash twice after having it. It's the rice cereal or sushi that I ate, but I had sushi before without her getting a rash so I am pretty sure (and hopeful) it's that and NOT sushi. =) So I am going to wait to do rice cereal until later to see if she will just grow out of it. Until then I'm not sure if I want to start giving her veggies or just hold off for another month or two. We also got her some of those gerber puffs. She loves getting to eat those at lunch or dinner when everyone else is eating too but again, I think she might be allergic.

We finally got her a crib the beginning of December and she transitioned pretty good for naps but still only sleeps there part of the night. I think I could get her to stay there all night and I will start now that things are going to be back to normal (read holidays over) but it is going to be a little bittersweet seeing her exclusively in the crib. 

We haven't been to the doctors in a while, working on getting her on Johann's insurance, but according to our measurements at home she is about 18lbs and just shy of 26 inches putting her somewhere between the 75th and 90th percentile for weight and 50th for length. 

Having family around for 3 weeks certainly helped my poor arms and wrists so they didn't throb every single morning,we'll see how it goes now they're gone. 

Her little hair patch and big eyes continue to garner her a lot of attention when we go out. Hopefully the rest of her hair catches up soon or at leasts gets long enough that we can trim and even it out. Until then we'll just have our little cabbage patch/dr suess character baby. 

While she still doesn't seem terribly interested in any locomotion except mommy, she is getting pretty good at sitting up and playing with toys on the floor. She can bend forward and grab a toy then pull back up to a sit really well. Her only problem is when she goes too far back to look and something and down she goes.
Over break while everyone was here she started using her pterodactyl (or pteranodon for those who really care...) screech excessively. Thankfully that has ended and she mostly just babbles now except for when she is really hungry or tired she starts to actually shout, "aaahhhhh" and whine to get fed or be put down for a nap. She does a lot of "blahblah," "hoohoo," "daadaa," "heh heh," "whaaa," and "mmmm," and general cooing. She is still pretty even and generally has a content look on her face or a smile. I am fairly certain she would be content all day just sitting up at eye level watching everyone around her. She loves being around people, especially when they are talking. Very much a girl, I suppose!

We are so blessed to have Dorothea in our family. Happy 6 months miss Thea Bea!