Happy Half-Birthday, Miss Madelyn!

Half-way to a year, oh my!  Madelyn turned six months old yesterday!  Here's what she is up to now:

• wearing mostly 3-6 month clothing, but some 6-9 month clothing
• wearing size 2 diapers
• She has learned to sit.  Although I still like being right there with her, she does a good job and usually doesn't need any help.  She can still be a little topsy when reaching for things sometimes or if she is tired.  She is getting to where she doesn't like the Bumbo seat as much as she used to...I think she just prefers to sit on her own now.
• Madelyn is starting to move.  I'm not sure if we should call it crawling or not, but she is definitely able to move herself forward to reach something she wants.  It takes a little bit of coaxing, but she is moving (almost more pulling herself forward).  I think she'll be crawling away full speed soon.
• Favorite toys:  Lulu in a Tutu, her jumperoo, her Nuby teether, her picnic basket, Spot--her pull along doggy, her lovies, anything she can chew on
• She nurses about every 3 hours, taking about 15 minutes or so to eat
• She had her first taste of rice cereal yesterday.  She wasn't too interested, but we'll keep trying at dinnertime each day.
• Maddie will try to drink water, either from our cups or from her sippy cup.  I think more of it ends up on her than in her mouth.
• Sleeping habits have been all over the place this month.  She went from getting up once a night to getting up 3-4 times a night, sometimes for hours at a time when we were in Taylorsville.  Her sleep habits have gotten back closer to normal since we've been back home, but not as consistent.  Hopefully we'll get back there again soon. 
• She goes to sleep while I am nursing her.  We turn on her Sleep Sheep to listen to the ocean waves and snuggle. 
• She loves sleeping on her belly with her little behind up in the air--just like her Daddy used to do when he was younger. 
• Maddie takes about 3-4 naps per day, usually about 30 minutes - 1 hour long.  She naps in her swing most of the time, but she has started taking some of her naps in her crib.  I have to "bop" her up and down while she has her head on my shoulder to get her to go to sleep for a nap.  We're taking baby steps to get her sleeping in her crib for all of her naps, as she is starting to get a little big for the swing.  She loves the swing, so that will be a sad day when she no longer fits...
• Maddie loves putting everything in her mouth.  She constantly has her fingers, a toy, a blanket, or anything else she can get her hands on in her mouth.  We have to watch her while she is napping in her swing, because she has been known to reach up and grab her hair bow and put it straight in her mouth.
• Her favorite song is still "Wheels on the Bus."  We've made up some of our own verses and she loves them.  "The Maddies on the bus go ha, ha, ha," "The Hersheys on the bus go ruff, ruff, ruff," and anything else we can think of at the time.
• Her stranger anxiety has gotten better over the past month but she is still a little weary of strangers if she is tired or hungry.  She's getting more and more attached to Mommy and Daddy every day.
• She is making a wider variety of noises, making more consonant sounds now.  Sometimes it sounds like she is saying, "Hey!"  Her newest is "dadada."  Cody likes to think she is saying Dada, although I'm not sure she knows what she is saying.  Or, maybe she's just already becoming a daddy's girl...
• She had her first thunderstorm, and it didn't even phase her.  She went to sleep in the middle of it and slept right through it.
• We all went strawberry picking together for the first time.  Maddie rode in the carrier with Daddy while we picked strawberries (too bad she is a little too young to eat them), and then we all looked at the animals (they had goats, rabbits, pigs, peacocks, and a turkey).
• She likes playing with her toes.  For the first time the other day, I saw her trying to get her feet in her mouth.  I knew it was coming...
• Maddie loves being outside.  We try to go outside everyday.  We have started going on jogs as a family each evening with our new jogging stroller.  We've been going right before we put Maddie to bed, and it really seems to relax her. 
• Her hair is starting to get longer and thicker.  She had some bald spots along the sides and back of head that are starting to fill back in with hair.
• Her eyes have remained a beautiful blue.  The only change is color is that they have gotten brighter since she was born.  It's probably really unlikely that they will change at this point, but we'll think they are beautiful no matter what color they are.
• She will go to the doctor for a 6 month check-up in a couple of weeks, so I'll post stats then.

Happy girl!

Cracking up at Daddy

6 month photo from Portrait Innovations