Thursday, February 24, 2011

6 Month Peach!

I can't believe Peach has made it to her very first, half-birthday! She has accomplished quite a lot in the last 6 months! (most of those things, in the last 2...) This post is mostly for me, so I can remember all the cute little things she used to do.

As you can see, she is a pro at tummy time, and can easily roll from tummy to back. (Though still hasn't mastered the other way around).
She has been eating solids for just over a month and regularly indulges on baby rice, butternut squash, carrots, peas, red bell pepper, avocado, apple, banana, cauliflower, prunes and nectarine. While eating, she most enjoys snacking on her fingers, toes and bib; is known for her iron grip on the spoon, and often practices her melodious tuba playing.
Indeed, she is quite the musician. She is also practicing numerous Soprano solos, some of which have parts so high only dogs can hear them. Her favorite time to practice these is during diaper changes. When her vocal chords feel strained, she takes a break and sucks on the toes of her left foot.
Her first tooth popped out at 5 1/2 months, and today the second one is barely emerging. (you can kind of see the first one in this picture above.) I know nothing about babies, so I can only judge her exceptional qualities (I think EVERYTHING about her is exceptional, obviously) based on how other people typically comment-- big blue eyes, tall, skinny, long fingers and toes. She also has the softest, squishiest cheeks ever. (I think all her tuba playing maybe inspired by all the cheek raspberries she gets from me. She probably thinks it's normal for people to communicate in this way.)
She is a great sleeper, as long as she can sleep in her bed, and has sucked her thumb from day one. I think it's very cute when she and her brother are together and both sucking away. (good thing we've started saving for braces...). She has an amazing ability to only sleep in her car seat while the car is on and moving; the minute the destination is reached, she instantly wakes up. She is also good at tricking you into thinking she's sleeping in her car seat (covered with a blanket) but then when you peek in to see if she is, she'll give you the cutest sly grin (with a thumb in her mouth...) as if she knows you've been fooled. She is very stealthy in her crib as well. You have to listen very carefully to the monitor to know when she's awake, because she'll usually just play quietly in her crib until you come get her. She is never in the position you left her in, though I have yet to witness how she manages any of these positions. We often discover her happily hiding with things covering her head.
She is so sweet and good-natured and very willing to play by herself, which her mother appreciates very very much. She loves her excersaucer, and still tolerates the swing when she must. The Bumbo, however, she can escape and it usually just makes her throw up when she sits in it. She has become very alert and interested in the world, during this past month, and now it is nearly impossible to nurse her within 30 feet of anything remotely interesting- particularly noises coming from daddy or The Frog. She is an expert back-archer and will not be forced to be put anywhere she doesn't want to be put. Sometimes I think she prefers to look at the world up-side down.

She is also very strong and good at pulling into a standing position holding only my fingers. Whenever I try to get her to sit up, she just flops forward and sucks on her toes until she tips over. She likes to lie on your lap on her tummy with her face away from you so she can give you wet puddles over the knees of your pants. It's easy to tell when she wants to put something in her mouth, because she opens it wide way in advance.

She loves watching The Frog and tolerates a lot of playful battering. I plan to sign her up for self-defense classes as soon as she can walk and understand basic English. Once she gets that down, The Frog and Peach are going to be ballroom partners :)

We feel so lucky to have Peach in our family. It's so fun watching her grow and noticing the similarities and differences from her brother. I just hope I can help her recognize her intrinsic great worth, and how much we cherish her. She is such a pick-me-up on my hardest days (which seem to be every day lately... ) and I am so grateful for her ability to part the clouds. We love our little Peach!!

1 comment:

LRH said...

I love the ballroom partners idea. How cute..