Anyway, since the last post, Molly has celebrated not only her 6 months birthday, but also her 7 months birthday!!! And she was baptized last weekend too!
One of the most exciting things about the past two months has been FOOD! Molly is becoming a champ when it comes to eating solids. Granted they are still mostly of the pureed variety but she is also starting to get some table foods to learn to grasp small things, and to navigate towards the mouth.
She is eating meats, and stage 2 foods now. Stage 2 foods from what I can tell just mean more in each serving, and a mixture of foods. Most of the veggies and fruits are a mixture of several. She likes garden vegetable (mixture of spinach, peas and carrots) and Apple/Pear/Banana. She isn't crazy about the meat (turkey, chicken, beef or ham all in gravy), but she still eats well and takes it better when it is mixed on the spoon with a fruit or veggie.
Her normal routine is a bottle when she wakes up around 6:45am. Rice cereal mixed with fruit around 9:30 or 10am. A small bottle around 11am. Lunch of either a veggie or fruit around 1pm. Another bottle (6oz) around 4pm. Dinner of a meat and veggie or fruit around 6:30pm. And a bottle before bed about 7:30pm.
She is still sleeping great! Bedtime has slowly moved from right at 7pm, to closer to 8pm now, which is nice, so we have more time with her and don't feel as rushed. And she sleeps until about 6:30am usually, but I even sometimes have to wake her up if she isn't up by 7am!
She has had a few nights here and there where she woke up only about an hour after going to bed, but that was usually because she needed to burp again, or just had trouble getting comfy I guess. But that has become far and few between now. I think her teeth have bothered her some in the past two months, but that seems to come and go as well. There have been a few nights I have given her Tylenol to help soothe her to sleep, but not much. No signs of any teeth poking through yet, but I am sure they are moving around and giving her funny sensations.
Molly is still not what I would consider mobile, but she is moving more now. She is rolling a little more - front to back - and - back to front. She spins like a top still on her back and starting to do so as well on her tummy. She is sitting up like a champ! We usually still keep a boppy pillow close by for when she tumbles back, but she doesn't need it most of the time.
She is gaining lots of strength. She tries to sit up (sometimes successfully) from a laying down or reclined position, and pushes herself up when she leans forward to grab a toy. One thing she has been doing recently that has us cracking up is when she is laying flat on her back on the changing table, she does what I would call an abs exercise and lifts her head and feet at the same time. We keep teasing that she is going to have a 6 pack soon. She has the funniest expression on her face when she does it too. We love it!
Basically, Brandon and I are just eating her up. We LOVE spending time with her and seeing all the new things she is doing. We LOVE to talk to her, but mostly hear her talk back. She is making all kinds of new sounds. We have even heard a few more sounds than just the AHHHHHH. There are a few Maaaa, Daaaa, or Baaaa's in there. And she loves to scream too. She LOVES hearing her voice. We will talk to her in her sounds, but also regularly too.
All I can say is just how much fun she is right now! This is such an awesome age! Her personality is really starting to come out. And she knows her mommy and daddy well - even to the point where separation anxiety is coming out more now. But she still does great going to others. She just gets shy in a big crowd and usually puts on her serious face for a while and then warms up to everyone. And she can even be a little shy by turning her head when someone talks to her :)
Not only do we love to hear her talk and use her voice, but we also love to get her to giggle. She has the sweetest giggle ever! She loves to play with Brandon's hair. All he has to do is lean down and put his head towards her face and tickle her with it, and she giggles up a storm. But she still ends up with the hiccups almost every time she has a giggle session. So, it is a catch 22 - we love to hear her giggle, but hate to see her get the hiccups.
Daycare is still going very well. There are more kids in her class now, which is fun so that she has more kids in which to interact. There are 4 girls around the same age. In the morning, I usually sit her down on the play mat with 2 of the other girls and they just sit and look at one another and talk and play. It warms my heart to see her having so much fun.
Molly was baptized on Sunday, August 21, 2011 at Guilford Park Presbyterian Church in Greensboro. It was a very special day!! All of her immediate family was there, as well as some other friends of Mommy and Daddy, and of course our wonderful church family. Molly did great! She just took it all in :)
There is so much more I could say, but again, hard to put it in words sometimes. Molly is such a blessing, and even though I don't think it is possible, we still love her more and more everyday.
So, now for the all important stats! At her 6 month doctor's appt on August 5th, she weighed in at 17 lbs 12 oz which is the 75th percentile. And she was 27 3/4 inches long which is the 97th percentile! We are just amazed at how quickly she is growing and changing. She is currently wearing 9 month clothes, and even some are starting to get snug in the length.
God has truly blessed us!
