Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Happy 6 months Mila!

6 Month Stats

Weight: 17.3 pounds (72nd percentile)

Length: 25.5 inches (31st percentile)

Eating: you are still taking a 5oz bottle every four hours and are LOVING your solids at night.  You have now tried most of your fruits (as well as vegetables last month) and you love everything except bananas (although you don't hate them) and prunes (which you do hate). I started making your baby food and so far you like it. Although we had a projectile vomiting incident with peas the other night and I didn't move out of the way in time. Yikes.

homemade sweet potatoes on the left and apples/bananas on the right

Bedtime: you're going down a little later at night due to the time change but that's nice because we can enjoy the sunlight later. We have been working on sleep training you and now you put yourself to sleep on your own every night.  On a good night you will go down at 7pm, sleep until 1am and take a bottle and then sleep until 7am.

Awake: You are so curious!  You are playing with all of the toys we have bought you and you love sitting on your own.  Sometimes when you wake up in the morning you will just lay in your crib and play with your feet, telling yourself all kinds of stories.

Naps: You are napping a little better but we are exhausted from trying to sleep train you during the day. You just don't seem to need that much sleep.  We've got you to the point where you will take a 40-45min nap in the morning and an hour and a half one in the afternoon; so we will take what we can get.  

Diapers: you are in Size 2 Pampers Swaddlers still. I don't know why we try any other diapers, those are seriously the best.

Clothes: you are growing like a little weed and are mostly wearing 6mo clothes and 6-9mo sleepers.  Right on track.

Favorites: your most favorite thing ever is being outside. You love looking at everything and have even started blabbering to yourself.  Auntie Ping got you this dog toy (a toy that's a dog, not an actual DOG toy) because she knew you would love it and she was right. You smile so big when you are playing with it!  

Development: you're getting better at sitting on your own and you are so strong for your age. I must say, if it's doing nothing else, the amber teething necklace is definitely helping with your drooling. Just yesterday you rolled over from your back to stomach....watch out mom and dad!

Dear Mila,

Half birthdays are a big deal around here, little love. Somehow the stars aligned, twice, and I was born on your Great Grandma Fisher's half birthday and Aunt Sissy was born on your Great Grandma Foley's half birthday.  Not sure how that happened once, let alone twice, but since then we all loooooove us some half birthdays.  If, for no other reason, it gives us cause to celebrate.

Somehow you have turned into such a little baby this past month. I cannot believe AT ALL that you are half a year old. Seriously, where did the time go?! You are no longer an infant, but I am not sure you're a baby either.  You have such a personality and you have started getting mad and frustrated; it's actually kind of adorable.  At dinner, if we don't feed you fast enough or we take too long of a break, then you get so mad and you start screaming and throw a fit. You have started throwing your pacifier out of your crib too; sometimes you just slip it down between the bed and the wall but other times we find it in the middle of the floor!

You have also grown so that you stopped putting your head on our shoulder, instead you prefer to have it up, arched in every direction, taking in all of the sights.  You are SO curious, we should've named you George (badoom chhh!).  You can barely sit still anymore; you are constantly wiggling around.  You're starting to reach out for people and you've started holding on when you're in our arms. It's adorable.

We are now a swaddle-free house (which I am kinda sad about, I would've swaddled you until college if I could) and you are well on your way to sleeping through the night (again).

This month you went on your second plan ride, to Kansas, and you were the star of the show. Your great grandmas couldn't get enough of you, but then, really, who can? You had your first taste of snow but, like most, you were over it in no time.

March is turning out to be a good month for you.  You celebrated St. Patrick's day, March Madness is in full effect tomorrow (many red & blue KU outfits to come!) and Easter is next weekend.

Love you sweet pea,

Mommy

holding your own bottle

ignore the mess...we put AC in our house!

Gonzaga lost to who??

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hippie in the House

I had been hearing some really good things on Amber Teething Necklaces and I messaged a girl from high school on Facebook that I need was kinda "crunchy" (this is a good thing!) and she totally sold me when she said she put one of these necklaces on her baby at four months and she never even realized her daughter was teething until she looked inside her mouth and saw a couple teeth! Sold!  If you're like me, you thought these necklaces were for the baby to actually chew on; however, that's wrong.  Apparently amber is a natural analgesic and is absorbed into the skin and is said to help reduce inflammation, relieve pain from sore gums and lessen drooling on teething babies without the use of over-the-counter drugs and remedies. Who knows if it really works but I am willing to try it and, if not, at least it's a cute little accessory.

you can see the necklace on Mila right by her green shirt

I have recently joined a North Orange County mom's group, with babies born September 2012-March 2013, that's kind of conducive to my full-time working schedule and went on a walk with a group of the mom's yesterday. It was nice to get out of the house and talk with some other moms that have baby's Mila's age.  Five mom's were on the walk and we all had little girls; hopefully I can keep going to their meet ups and our kids will become fast friends.

I also made the unfortunate decision this weekend to break Mila of her swaddle.  She is still waking up multiple times per night and my research shows this is because she can't put herself back to sleep. She has been swaddled since she was born in a SwaddleMe sack, which is AMAZING and has led to some great sleep for us but, with her arms bound, she's unable to put her pacifier in her mouth or suck on her fingers in the middle of the night. In addition, I think we are just days away from her being able to roll from back to stomach and, once that happens, she definitely can't be swaddled anymore.

Thursday night I put her to bed without her swaddle and we made it an hour before I gave up and put her back in it. Last night was much better, but we're still a long way out! We have also been quick to jump up and go in as soon as she makes a peep so I also let her cry a little and make noises; I gave her three minutes before I went in...and it was the three longest minutes of life!  She woke up, probably 10-15 times last night but was able to put herself back to sleep half of the time (the other time I forgot she was supposed to be self soothing and I got up and went in and sssh'd her).  So, say a little prayer for us that she learns how to self soothe sooner, rather than later, so we can all get some sleep around here.

Mila is sitting up on her own almost completely now, but when she gets a little excited she still flops over. I mean, sometimes that happens to me too, though.

Here's a video of her rocking out:

she's got her mini pushup down!

our little muñeca

first time we've seen her nap on her side

Hard to believe she will be six months in a week and a half!

Mila's 1st Trip to Kansas

This past weekend was a very special one for me as Mila made her first trip to Kansas.  The main reason for this trip was for Mila to meet her great grandmas but there were plenty of other visits scheduled for Mila's "coming out party," or, as I like to call it, Mila on Parade.

Robert, Mila and I flew from LAX to Kansas City on Saturday morning because there are no non-stop flights to Kansas out of Orange County. Non-stops with a baby are a MUST.

A friend of mine with a baby similar to Mila's age recently made the trip from Chicago to San Francisco and had a Boppy Lounger; I knew I needed one immediately for our flight and, luckily, another friend had an extra one.  This lounger was another MUST for a long flight with a baby because we were able to keep her in the middle seat without having her touch anything disgusting.  Had there been someone in our row it would've been much easier to have her on this on my lap rather than having to hold her the entire time.

I don't know why this entertained her, but it did

Mila did great on the plane ride, slept for half the way and was otherwise a happy baby.  When we arrived to Kansas City it was COLD.  Sadly, it was 82 degrees when we left Huntington Beach...I'm lucky I managed to get Robert on the plane!

there were all kinds of new toys at Nana and Papa's house to play with

 Saturday night after getting settled, I put Mila to bed and Robert and I hit the town for some much needed bestie time (don't worry, Robert had Whitney's boyfriend to hang out with!).

whit. anne. meg.

Sunday morning came very quickly; we just can't do it like we used to anymore.  We had to get up and get on the road early, though, to go visit Grandma Foley (my mom's mom) in Marceline, MO.  My Grandma Foley just celebrated her 90th birthday, is a pillar of love and I think meeting Mila maaaaaay have been her favorite present.  

five generations of lovely women

She couldn't get this big smile off her face the entire time we were there. It was so great for the two of them to finally meet each other.

the fun was too much for daddy and Mila

Unfortunately we didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted in Marceline because we had to get on the road back to Kansas City to meet up with good friends for dinner; it was an old Sigma Kappa roomie reunion!

Lori and one of her favorite bebes

 Monday morning we got all bundled up and left the house to go see Grandma Fisher (my dad's mom), who also lives in Shawnee, KS.

At 88 years old my Grandma Fisher is nooooo fuddy duddy. She is such a little firecracker and and cracks me up every time I talk to her. She wouldn't put Mila down the entire time we were visiting her and Mila was quite content sitting in her lap.

four generations of love

After another too-quick visit, we left Grandma Fisher's to go get some good 'ol Oklahoma Joe's Kansas City BBQ for lunch, but not before Robert let Mila touch eat snow.  She liked it at first but then started crying, probably because it was too cold; you and me both, baby doll.

After lunch we went up to my sister's school to visit her classroom and the other teachers that have heard so much about Mila.

school's in session

I think one student said it best when she commented, "She's a celebrity! Everyone wants to touch her!" My other favorite comment was a little boy who said, "It's spitting something out of it's mouth."  Some of the other kids thought she was Erin's baby...apparently she needs to work with them on understanding the concept of time!

Monday night we went over to Jet and Leondro's house for dinner and the KU game.  They have a little boy, Andre, who was a little lover of Mila; he would make such a good big brother! We will adopt him as Mila's :)  Jet had saved all of Andre's baby toys so he had a great time getting them all out and showing her how to use them.

baby jackpot!

Tuesday, after a morning nap,

we went down to my mom's work to meet all the Andrews McMeel Universal peeps.  My first job was at AMU so I am sure it was crazy for some of the people that were still there to see my all grown up AND with a baby AND a cutie husband (aka my arm candy).

brrr. i'm cold.

i'm right on top of that, Rose!

 Tuesday night was the last stop for the Mila train and another special one for me: we went to visit the three boys I nanny-ed for. It's still very hard for me to believe that I started with them when they were 7 and 9 and now they are 18 and 20; seriously when did I get so old?

Mila. Meet Codr. 

Mila LOVED listening to David play the piano. Her eyes lit right up!

my little girl and my three boys, Sam, David (he's not a cut out in real life, it's just hard to get the three of them together in one place!) and Dan

Mila, Dan and Sam

one of my favorite moms and my little love

I wish this wasn't blurry :(

 Tuesday night we went to dinner with my parents and sister and Bret.  Wednesday we just hung around the house before leaving a little early for the airport to get in some last chance BBQ.

Then, sadly, we had to board the plane and head back to warmer weather.

While I was excited for everyone in Kansas to meet Mila and vice versa, words cannot begin to describe what it meant to me to introduce Mila to her great grandmas. I will never forget the look on both of their faces and the time they spent together.  My heart pretty much exploded with love.

Until next time, Kansas, much love. Mila out.