Soooo, a lot has happened in 3.5 months!.....my going back to work being the most noticeable. While the adjustment wasn't easy, Tilly is thriving in daycare, and mama is a stronger woman because of the entire experience. Motherhood and the hormones/emotions attached are no joke guys.
Tilly is actually going to be 7 months on Friday, but I wanted to recap her 6 month favorites! She just has so much personality packed into 16lbs of chunk. At her 6 month check up she was 16lbs, 2.5 oz and 27.5 inches long. She continues to be very long - 95% or greater...
Ever since Tilly realized she can see what's going on better from a seated position, she has hated laying down...unless its to sleep. She started sitting on her own right around 5.5 months....which was also the first time we started trying some solid food! July was a big month over here.
6 month favorites:
Food: haha - our girl likes her food! She's been continuing to eat somewhere between 28 & 32 ounces of milk a day, and eats solid food 2-3 times in between bottles. When you're feeding her you have to be able to keep up with her pace, or expect a very unhappy kid! So far, she hasn't disliked anything we've thrown at her, and that includes cereal, fruits, veggies, egg & peanut butter. We got these
teething wafers, and they're the perfect thing for her to play with and slowly work on feeding herself. Franklin loves that Tilly is eating solids now - because he often gets lots of her "leftovers" that end up on the floor. Another food related favorite is the
high chair toy I was given at our baby shower - she can't throw it on the floor and she loves to play with it/chew on it! I brought it to a restaurant with us the other day and it was perfect - it stuck to the table and helped keep her entertained while we ate! It's also important to note that I specifically remember feeling like we had way more bibs than we would ever need....since she hardly used them as a newborn....but I was so so wrong. Between home and daycare girlfriend goes through bibs like crazy - we ended up going out and getting more the other day!
Muslin swaddle: I can't believe the last picture I posted on her sleeping she was still being swaddled. We've come so far since then! We quickly stopped swaddling her once she fully transitioned to her crib, and she's continued to be a champ at sleeping through the night. A couple months ago, she woke up screaming at midnight two nights in a row, and we discovered our kid was a blanket kid (she gets it from her mama). As soon as you put a blanket over her she pulls it up to her face and falls asleep. At daycare there have been a few times we've forgotten to bring one, and they literally have to give her an extra sheet to use instead - otherwise she won't settle. Whatever works! She hasn't gotten attached to any particular swaddle, which is good - so we intentionally rotate them constantly. My favorites by far are still
these - if I ever had to go out and buy more I would choose these 100% of the time. We never rock her to bed, she is always put down awake and soothes herself to sleep. In the mornings she lets us know when she's ready to get up - sometimes you'll watch her awake on the camera for an hour or so before she either falls back asleep or decides its time to get up. We really couldn't be luckier when it comes to her sleep. She's even started taking better naps! We've never stressed her nap schedule much, but more often than not now she will take at least 1 nap thats an hour or longer, which does wonders for her attitude also :) She can roll back and forth on her own easily now, so you never know what position you're going to find her in!
Sophie: Yes, its basically a glorified dog toy. An expensive glorified dog toy. Yes, it's worth every penny.
Sophie + Tilly = BFF.
Foam playmat: We rearranged our downstairs the other day, to make our living space more open and kid friendly. We bought
this foam playmat, because it was cheap and not a rainbow...and its done the trick perfectly. I LOVE the
little nomad ones, but I couldn't justify the price tag. This black and white one is at least slightly subdued, and is the perfect place to plop her. She isn't crawling yet but is trying REALLY hard - so this is a nice soft surface when she rocks over onto her belly. She also loves to sit in front of her
walker and play with all the buttons - I find myself singing along with the learning farm song like a crazy woman more often than not.
Wildbird Ring Sling: Don't get me wrong. I loved my solly when she was a newborn. It was perfect for getting her to nap while I did stuff around the house, it worked magic when we flew to Charleston....I will keep it and love it with our next child. BUT. The ring sling wins baby carrying MVP award. When Tilly was 12ish weeks old I started feeling like she didn't love being up against my chest in the Solly - she had started becoming more aware of everything around her and didn't like not being able to see. I got the ring sling thinking that maybe that would help - and it's been perfect. When she's awake it allows her to take in the world around her, socialize with everyone she sees, etc. etc...but just like the solly, when she gets tired, she passes right out. I've used the ring sling in all sorts of settings, and its perfect. I bought one of their chambray doubles - Tilly's never been petite and the doubles are supposed to give slightly more support as they get heavier. Some people say they can be difficult to break in, but I didn't find that to be true at all, for me anyway!
Beach Tent: Between beach visits and music festivals -
this tent has gotten more than its moneys worth of use this summer! It is SO easy to set up and take down, and is just the right size. Tilly can nap in it, I can nurse her in it....all three of us can sort of fit in it when we need a break for the sun. Ant and I joke that we should have always had one of these, kids or not.
