Half a Year, Whole Lot of Great

Laney celebrated her half-year birthday on November 17. My baby is six months old and we could not love her more. After looking at her growth chart, her pediatrician commented with a smile, "You have one symmetrical baby." That is one way to describe our girl ... but there are so many others, too. In the spirit of descriptive words, here is Laney's six month update:

Symmetrical
Laney-girl weighs 16 pounds, 12 ounces. She is 26 1/4 inches long and her head circumference is 17 inches. All three measurements in the 75th percentile! I have no idea how this is possible, but hopefully she'll get her Auntie, Uncle and Grandma's height and not her mom's!

Lightning-Fast
Watch your food, people, this girl is quick when you have anything edible within arm's reach of her! She has not yet met a solid food she doesn't like and she kicks and wiggles whenever you are eating something and she's not. She would eat steak and potatoes if I let her. Thanksgiving was so fun, letting her eat some goodies off our plates. Nonna even let her try some of her homemade apple pie.

She's also quick to defend herself, getting lots of practice when brother's in her space. At her six month check-up, Dr. Husarik finally had to ask me to hold her arms because she kept blocking him when he was trying to look in her ears. "No question she has an older brother!" he quipped.

Content
Laney has grown into such a content and happy baby. For a few weeks, she would let out a wail if a stranger approached her or if someone besides mom and dad were holding her. But no longer! She is much more open to new faces and letting others hold her. She is truly happy, and that makes me so happy. She is content on the floor, playing with her toys, she is content in her crib, watching her mobile and she is content in the Bjorn, seeing the sights. Her new place of contentment is her exer-saucer. Hours of fun! Okay, not hours. I promise I don't leave her in there that long.

Tough
With a brother four years older than her, she has to be. I've lost count of how many times a dinosaur has whacked her in the head.

Inconsistent
We have seen HUGE improvements in Laney's sleep (thanks in large part to Dr. Weissbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child). Even though she is sleeping so much better (from 7pm to 6am last night!!!), she is still inconsistent in this area. She'll have a 9 or 10 hour night and then she'll have two nights where she's up twice again. We have almost completely cut out her 10pm awakening by letting her fuss that one out. If she does wake at that time now, it's only for a minute or two.

Her naps are inconsistent, too. Some days she'll take two 2-hour naps and some days she'll take two 1-hour naps and then a 45 minute nap in the late afternoon. She definitely naps best in her own bed in her own house. She'll cat nap if we're somewhere else, but that's all I can get out of her. Must be a homebody like her mama!

Curious
This girl can no longer nurse very well unless we're in a quiet room. She is too curious about the world. What happens if I pull this? What does this taste like? What was that giant crash coming from where Luke is?

Active
We finally had to put Laney's bumper up on her crib. She has learned how to scoot backwards using her heels and was continually crying out when she'd bump her head on the crib rails. Sweet girl kicks and moves all. day. long.

Delightful
I think this is the most fitting word of all.