Happy Half Birthday Zara! (Z's Sixth Month.)

This little light has been with us for 6 months! & look at those chunky thighs! I absolutely adore this tiny human. We have been through so much and have learned a lot along the way. There is so much more to come and I am grateful- she makes our lives so rich and full !

Z now weighs 16 pounds, 4.1 oz. and she is 26.87 inches long.!

She wears size 3 diapers and 3-6 & 6-12 month clothing.

It looks like she is going to look bald for a while. Everyone thinks she is a boy unless she wears pink or has a bow on. Her blonde hair will grow soon enough :)

LOVES:::

Crinkly things: foil, mail, paper, plastic wrap.

People watching.

Pulling on my hair, grabbing it, chewing on it. She also like when I take a strand of my hair and run it over the side of her face.

She loves to ride on our shoulders. Well, she acts really cool about it, like its normal, but it always makes her content. & sometimes when Jonas has her on his shoulders he will run and as they get to me, I cheer for them and it is the happiest for us all :) The shoulder thing also works much better with her Papa because he has no hair. ha.

She doesn't have one in her crib, but Zara loves to sleep on a pillow. She is just so comfortable.

High chairs. I guess because they are the new and exciting way to sit. Oh, and carts at the store.

DOES NOT LIKE:::

If I walk away or take her away from Jonas.

If a toy is taken away.

If we wipe off her face.

This was a fun time. One lady stopped to wave and one guy stopped to dance for her :)

Sleep:::Sleep was a bit thrown off due to travel. While we were away, she slept 7-8 hours and woke up only to nurse a little through the night (once or twice). Random naps throughout the day either in the ergobaby wrap or stroller. She was still this way for almost a week after we returned. Now, she is getting back to her normal schedule- bedtime around 9:30- 10pm until 7am. Then a morning nap, afternoon nap and evening nap that varies in length, but adds up to around 3-4 hours a day. It seemed like a lot to me, but I looked it up- she is just right. We have done without the swaddle a few times, but it really works with her.

My little traveler:: I was so proud of Zara while we were away. She did incredibly well on the plane and only cried once while we landed in a tiny plane, it was scary and made me want to cry too. Z went on the bus, the train, spent all day going around the city several times, she was in her ergobaby and a stroller. I was super nervous but it was truly a success!

Eating:::: Our schedule was going strong until we went to Germany the past couple weeks. I pump or feed Z at almost the same time everyday and always have a certain amount of milk prepared ahead. So when we went on the plane and I could not pump, bad things happened. 5 oz. of breast milk went bad and I was dangerously close to Mastitis with a crazy looking clogged duct(TMI, sorry). A lot of people were involved in getting a breast pump for me the night we got to Hamburg. My pump would not work and it was an emergency (which sounds funny now, but it was really concerning). Our friends ended up finding a compatible cable. A miracle. After that, I had no extra milk and for 2 weeks so I nursed Z on demand. It was nice, even though it caused her to wake up once or twice each night to eat. I loved having her constantly close. Anyway, we are half way through my goal of breastfeeding for 1 year. And I don't mind if it goes longer if I can just stop pumping at work. It is so. annoying. When we got home from our trip, I had to supplement with formula. I had to swallow my pride to do that because I have a hard time going back on something that I am determined to do (not because formula is bad). Plus, I think it is some kind of validation that I am doing a good job. Still working on getting back to our schedule...

Solids: Z has been incredibly interested in our food. She whines so much. So I decided to go with her and I give her bread or fruit to chew on and let her have tastes of things I am eating. This weaning thing is really fun for both of us. Z loves the following things: banana, mango, apple, pear and mixed fruit or fruit with cereal baby food, chewing on most bread, fresh oranges, tomatoes and watermelon. We watch her closely, of course  and love all the messes. Especially those crackers that dissolve and stick to everything :)

New things:::Zara is sitting up now. She does it pretty well but still falls over at times.

Sometimes when I am holding Zara she will have a serious face on and just laugh all of the sudden. Love it!

Raspy baby screeches are a delightful sound and we get to hear them pretty often. I know I will love every stage of being her Mom, but sometimes I wish we could stay right here.

Zara may not crawl yet, but she gets around. She rolls to different places.

& she plays most of the day, it is her thing.

She grabs everyyythingggg. While we were in Germany, she totally dove into my ice cream cone. It was so fast. Sometimes I am amazed when I pick her up and she suddenly has a piece of paper or some random object.

I think she knows us..like me and Jonas..she gets excited(for a moment) when we havent seen each other in a while.

We still don't have teeth, which is really surprising. She drools less than last month(oh, but we still have drool). She has really been chewing on her tongue these days.

The bath and water are her favorite. We took her to the pool and she was obsessed !

She loves to wiggle and has really started to toss around when we change her diaper.

Z is developing nicely. She can stand (with help) so well. She plays a lot, reaches for things and turns them around. She babbles. She sits like a champ and can for a while. She can lift herself up if her head has fallen forward. She stays incredibly engaged with her toys. She can get up and almost crawl, it will happen anytime now. And she loves to put anything and everything in her mouth!

Oh Z. I wish I knew how to soak it all in all the time and I wish that the days didn't go by so fast. It really hurts me that they do. Sometimes I wonder how I can miss you so much when you are right next to me. I love you so much. But we get all of these moments and I know I should never complain because we been spared so much tragedy & I need to stop being such a serious lady because you. are. delightful. Happy Happy Happy sixth month!