6-month check-up

Aubrey has been eating like a champ so I was really excited to see how things would go at her appointment today. She is 24.75" long and weighs 15 lb 1 oz. Todd said they freaked him out at first because they put her height and weight in the 3rd percentile and started talking about endocrinologists and crazy stuff, but then they realized they had her as 9 months not 6 and that made a huge difference. She is in the 25th percentile for height and 45th for weight. The doctor said everything looks great, despite the little virus she had, which has led to some sleepless nights over the past week. Todd said she did fine while the doctor examined her, but when the nurse gave her the shots, she made the most awful face and opened her mouth like she wanted to cry, but no sound came out. He said it was so sad to see her in that much pain. But, luckily he brought a bottle with him and that made the world ok for her again. Luckily, she won't get anymore shots until her 1 year visit. She got the cool Tweety bandaids again, but as another sign that she is growing up, she pulled the first one off before I got home so she could see it. And then she pulled the 2nd one off shortly after.

I see a tooth

Todd was getting Aubrey out of the car and putting her in the stroller when I heard him say "I see a tooth." I thought he was kidding, but sure enough I opened up her little mouth and there is just a sliver of her bottom left front tooth sticking out from her gum. It seems like she has been teething forever, so I am glad to see something is finally happening. I would take a picture, but she doesn't like me messing with her mouth (but I guess if my gums were sore, I wouldn't want anyone messing with my mouth either), so I guess I'll have to wait 'til it is sticking out a little bit more.

6 months old

Wow. I am the mommy of a 6 month old. Hardly seems real. Just 6 short months ago this little girl came into the world and changed me so much. It is even more amazing how much she has changed in 6 months. It is so amazing to compare pics of her from when we first brought her home to now. For a reference, here are two pics of her in her bouncy seat.

4 days old

6 months old

Milestones this month:

*Sitting up like a champ
*Started solids
*First 4th of July and fireworks
*First time swimming
*Started sleeping on her side

I can say without a doubt the last 6 months have been the best but most challenging in my life. Who knew something so tiny would make my life better everyday. This little girl is an amazing baby and I am very proud to be her mommy.

We have a sitter

Aubrey has been working on sitting up for over a month now, just needing a little support, like my hands on her thighs or the Boppy around her. Not anymore. She can sit by her self really well for 20-30 seconds on a flat surface before she gets tired and face plants or falls to the side. I am so excited about her sitting up. That makes life so much easier because she can sit and play and I don't have to hold her up like I did before. Once she gets a bit better at sitting, I am ditching the infant carrier and moving to her convertible seat that is waiting for her in the garage. I am so tired of carrying that heavy seat, but she can't sit in a buggy or high chair at a restaurant, so I have to wait a few more weeks.

Mmm, solids

Aubrey's pediatrician gave us the go ahead for solids at her 4-month visit. I was not ready at that point and decided to revisit it at 5 months. I bought the spoons and boxes of rice cereal and oatmeal right before she turned 5 months, but still wasn't ready when she turned 5 months. Finally, last Saturday, I took the plunge and decided we would go for it. I mixed a tablespoon of rice cereal with a little bit of breast milk and sat down to feed her. As I leaned in with the spoon, she opened her mouth just like she had been eating from a spoon her entire life. Todd and I have figured out she sucks her thumb after each bite to help move her tongue so she can swallow. She did pretty well with that feeding and we decided the journey to real food started with a success.



We have tried rice cereal, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes at this point. Her favorite has been the sweet potatoes so far, but I am sure that will change as we add more foods in. It's exciting and sad at the same time that my little girl is not solely being nourished by me anymore. I know breast milk is still her main "food" but she hasn't had anything else since she was 4 weeks old and I have been so proud of that fact. But, I know it was time to move on to the next phase, but it still makes me a little sad.

After the rice cereal...not so messy

But, the sweet potatoes were messier and much tastier, too

3 goals met!

It's been a pretty good week for me because I've almost hit all 3 big personal goals I set earlier in the year.The first was to successfully breast feed for 6 months, which I will meet on 7.26. There were many times in the first 2 months I didn't think I would make this goal. To say Aubrey and I struggled with nursing would be understatement between thrush that wouldn't go away, the general pain of early nursing, and then a pretty low supply to start with. Finally, the thrush went away, the pain subsided, and then when I went back to work and started pumping on schedule, my supply dramatically increased. Which leads to the next goal.

I hated pumping right from the get go. Even when it hurt to nurse, I still would have rather nursed than pumped. I knew I would have to pump at work to keep enough milk for Aubrey to have at day care, so I decided to try and pump enough to where I could stop the last month and still have enough for her. After doing the math, I figured that would be around 800 oz of milk, which seemed like a huge number. I didn't think I would be close until September or October. Well, once I figured out my pumping schedule, took the fenugreek and blessed thistle, and drank the right amount of water, my supply sky rocketed. So much that I was storing an extra 12 oz every night. This coming from the woman that struggled to get 12 oz a day total at first. I am proud to say that this week I hit that goal. I have put our deep freezer to good use. I am so excited that I reached the goal. Now, my Christmas present to myself will be the joy I will feel putting that pump away. I still hate pumping worse than anything, but it was motivating to store away that much milk and know I was doing the best I could for Aubrey.

The 3rd goal I reached this week was fitting in my bridesmaid dress for Todd's sister's wedding in October. I had to buy the dress when I was 9 months pregnant and I had no clue what size to get. After talking with the saleslady, I decided on my size and hoped for the best. I picked it up the Saturday after Aubrey was born and couldn't even zip it a quarter of the way. I've tried it on several times since then and could zip it a little more each time. Well, I tried it on again today and was shocked that I could finally zip it all the way. I am nowhere close to happy with what size I am right now, but at least I know the dress will fit. Hopefully, I can loose at least 10 more pounds by October. I owe all of that weight loss to breastfeeding, because I eat like it's going out of style and stay too exhausted to work out. So, as much as I hate pumping, I am thankful that I have been able to loose the weight because of it. A lot of good things have come out of my stubbornness to provide milk for Aubrey and I am so glad I stuck it out through the tough times. Aubrey is fat and happy and I am getting skinnier and happy, which is all I can ask for.

First 4th of July

Aubrey's first 4th of July started on July 3rd. Mooresville has their family celebration with fireworks on th3 3rd. We had a picnic dinner and then watched the fireworks. We weren't sure how Aubrey would handle the loud noises of the fireworks, but she was fascinated.



For July 4th, we went swimming at Todd's parents' neighbor's pool. We tried to find a floaty for Aubrey to swim in, but Target was all out, so we just held her in the pool. She loved kicking her legs and splashing us in the face with the water. So, I am going to start looking for a swim class for her so we can spend some more time in the pool.

With Todd in the pool

After swimming, we had some grilled steaks and homemade ice cream, which Aubrey seemed pretty jealous of. She decided to pass out before it got dark, so she didn't get to see the sparklers we bought. But, it was amazing that a bunch of 20-year olds (ok, and 1 30-year old) can be so easily entertained by sparklers. It was a pretty chill 4th, but exactly what we needed after the last few stressful months.