Delaney Goes to the Pumpkin Patch

We started getting ready for Delaney's First Halloween with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch! 

6 months!

Happy Half Birthday, Delaney! 

15 lbs 10oz (50th percentile)
25 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

At 6 months, Delaney is…

- able to sit on her own

- getting from a tummy time position to sitting position and back to tummy time

- showing preferences for toys (her favorites are the manhattan whoozit, links and a ball) 

- loves the water

- loves dogs

- loves to pick petals off flowers and throw them (which my mom taught her so that she wouldn't eat them)

- still thinks Dad is the funniest ever

- is moments away from crawling.  She is sick of the army crawl and is trying very hard to crawl.  She is getting the idea and puts herself into triangle pose or table pose and then catapults herself forward. 

- is enjoying solids!  She’s had rice, barley and multigrain cereals and just tried butternut squash, her first food. 

- sat in a high chair for the first time on vacation.  We are looking for a high chair for home but are overwhelmed by the options. 

- can play "catch." We roll the ball to her and she picks it up, puts it in her mouth, and then flails her arms around while releasing her grip.  Catch! 

- is now on a 4 hour schedule and having 4 milk feeds a day plus 2 solids feeds a day.  We still struggle with some feeds.  Delaney is just not interested in eating, which is ironic considering her parents' voracious appetites... 

First Family Trip: Hawaii

Six months in and Delaney was ready for a vacation! 

We took her on our first family trip to Maui with 3 other families with babies.  We had a really wonderful time just spending time together as a family.  Delaney is so observant and seemed to take everything in.  She was an amazing little traveler. 

The best $30 I ever spent was buying a travel bed to use on the plane.  D played it in after getting squirmy in our laps and slept multiple times during the 5 hour flights. 

Delaney LOVED the water!  We splashed her feet in, floated her around in her little island and showed her how to kick. 

We even took her in the ocean!  She was a little uneasy about it but still liked the water. 

We spent a lot of time playing on the lawn by the beach.  She practiced crawling (we are days away), sitting (she can now sit on her own) and playing catch. 

She sat in a high chair for the first time!  Loved it! 

Our little hula girl:

We were told that 6 months is the perfect age to travel since they are old enough to be out and about but still not mobile, not really eating much solids, etc.  I agree that the flight was far easier since she could fit in that travel bed and since I'm still breastfeeding, not having to pack any food was great.  That being said, she is still taking 4+ hours of naps a day, and she refused to take a nap anywhere but her crib.  So we logged a lot of time in the room, but fortunately we had a beautiful lanai with an oceanview, and both of us could work, relax, eat comfortably while still allowing Delaney to get good rest.  But her awake time is still only 2 hours at a time, which means that after feeding, changing, putting a bathing suit and sunscreen and getting all of our gear together, we didn't have a whole lot of time for playing in the pool.  In the evenings we all shared a nanny and put all the babies to sleep in 1 room while a nanny watched them sleep so that we could go out for nice dinners.  It was perfect since we knew she would sleep the whole time and we could go out and have a relaxing adult dinner. 

The best part was just spending nice, quality time together.  We feel like she grew so much in the week- perhaps by adapting to a new environment or being around old babies.... We hope that this is just the first of many fun trips together. 

Playdate with Cora

One of my first blog posts back in December was about our Babymoon to Punta Mita, Mexico.  While we were there we became friends with Tracy and Steve, another set of “babymooners” from Texas due 1 month after us.  We’ve stayed in touch with them as we both went through our journeys and they happened to be visiting LA this week and came by for a special little visit.

Delaney loves playdates because she enjoys talking (of course), touching and mostly, EATING the other baby.   Cora was apparently very delicious because Delaney wanted to chew on her arm, leg, clothes and face.  Cora was a great sport about it.    

"Check out this new move I'm practicing!" 

 "That was so fun!  Who's for dinner??"

The Second First Supper

Take 2...

"Are we seriously trying this again, Mom and Dad???"

"I'm really not sure about this rice cereal thing... Can't I get a burger or something??"

"That was actually pretty good...  I'll take over now, thank you."

Dakota supervising

"More, please!"

The First Supper

Because Delaney’s weight gain slowed so much in the past month, the pediatrician suggested starting solids.  She told us to start with rice cereal (mixed with breast milk) and suggested that we offer it 1 hour after her 4pm milk.   I’m not sure why I was so hesitant to get started, but it took me a whole week to get mentally ready to embark on solids.  Today, on her 5 month birthday, we finally felt ready.  We got the special rice cereal from Whole Foods, we got her whole “feeding station” set up, we got the milk to the right temperature, we researched and purchased several kinds of the best feeding spoons, we started researching the best high chairs, we got her in a great mood, we got the timing just right, we picked out a special outfit for her to wear, we had fully charged camera and video, we made sure the “mood” was just right for Delaney’s first meal to be special and delicious.    

All dolled up and ready for her first meal. 

Here we are, happy and excited to start the next adventure. 

First bite! 

“UGH!!! WHAT IS THIS STUFF!?!?!  DISGUSTING!!!!” <gag><cough><gag><cough>

“HELP!!!! RESCUE ME!!!!!” 

And in less than 3 minutes, her first meal was over!   

We may or may not try again tomorrow… 

5 months

Delaney weights 14 lbs 9 oz and is 23.5 inches long.  The pediatrician suggested that we start solids soon since her weight gain has slowed and she doesn’t seem to be able to take much more from the bottle. 

Over the past month, Delaney has grown and developed so much.   The difference in her temperament is so significant and we are seeing more and more of her developing personality.   She is a very hard worker- she never gets frustrated or gives up when reaching for objects or doing tummy time.  She is so determined, which I think is why she started doing the army crawl so early.  She wanted to get to a toy and so she willed herself to move!  She is also very sweet and friendly, breaking into a smile whenever she sees a face--  a neighbor on a walk, the dishwasher repair man, people in line at Starbucks, even herself in the mirror.  She flirts with everyone!  She lets us kiss her and hug her and seems to enjoy the cuddling as much as we do (well, almost).  Brice put it best when he said that she has a good spirit.  Even when she has to do things that she does not like, like aspirating her nose or changing her diaper when she’s really tired, she cries to get through it but then stops when we are finished.  She doesn’t fuss unncecessarily- we typically know what is troubling her and she stops fussing when we’ve remedied the situation.   In some ways, she is less sensitive- we don’t have to have the bottle in her mouth the second she wakes up and we are able to comfort her.   In other ways she is more sensitive-the sound from Dakota’s collar will wake her up during a nap and she’s distracted from nursing by someone just walking into the room.   She is increasingly aware of her surroundings and is an active participant in her environment.  She watches cars drive by, she looks at a tree and then follows it to the top, she sees a toy at the other end of the mat and tries to get it, she anticipates and responds to our sounds, facial expressions, she learns how to use new toys, etc.   She enjoys new experiences.        

    

At 5 months, Delaney is…

-          Still on 3 hours cycles (1.5 hours of awake time followed by 1.5 hour nap)- eating 5x per day (no more than 7 oz bottles).  However, we just started eliminating her brief nap before bath time.  So she is awake from 4pm (or whenever she wakes up) until her bedtime. 

-          Sleeping through the night still!  7:30pm-7/7:30am! 

-          Army crawling- we’ve had to start the babyproofing process!  

-          Sitting on her own using her arms as support

-          OBSESSED with Dakota- she smiles or giggles whenever Dakota is around and loves to pet/grab her.  She also LOVES Wolfie (my parents’ dog) who is much more interested in her. 

-          Hiccuping after she laughs

-          Learning “cause and effect”- some of her toys have buttons to press to make sounds and she’s quickly figured those out.

-          Distracted while feeding.  We had a couple rough weeks where it was taking more than 45 minutes per feed.   After getting a few ounces/a couple minutes, she is more interested in looking around, playing, blowing bubbles, squealing, wiggling, etc., etc., etc. 

-          Starting music classes!  Another post on this later…. 

-          Starting to take naps without the sleep sack

-          Sleeping on her tummy exclusively.  This was a tough transition for us and we spent many sleepless nights watching the monitor because her preference for sleeping on her stomach coinciding with her cold so we were already worried about her breathing. 

-          Playing with her toys on her own.  We are pretty impressed with this.  We can put her on her mat and she eagerly plays with her toys on her own.  Of course we all prefer more interactive play, but it’s nice to know that she is able to occupy herself.