Six Month-ish

Everything below spans from about five and a half months old to six months plus almost two weeks old. So. Six Month-ish is what I'll call that. Here's what our inquisitive little Layla has been up to!

Solid foods! Ok, so here's my thoughts on this. I don't know why parents are in such a hustle to give babies solid foods. Friends who haven't done this yet my advice is: wait as long as you possibly can! Why? Is it because my child doesn't like it, or refuses to eat? Or throws food? No, none of those things. Poop. Yep. That's why. Solid food poop stinks. I know, I'm so gross, but that's the truth of it, and my thoughts on waiting for solid food. Anyway, obviously it has to start at some point.

We gave her the spoon to inspect first, because it was new and very interesting to her. Layla likes it!

Our doctor advised us that there is really no reason to start with cereal (I know there are differing view points on this) so just pick something in the first food stage section and go with it! I decided to try avocado.... and she liked it!

Our home has carpet, but it is really thing, low pile carpet that is glued straight to the concrete foundation so it isn't ideal for a rolling baby. We got a cushy big rug from IKEA and Layla absolutely loves rolling around on it!

Layla is getting stronger, and sitting up straighter and for longer! She can't get there by herself, but when I set her down she stays sitting up while playing with a toy for several minutes before flopping over. I try to be close by to catch that little head, but she is getting better at landing gracefully.

I switched from feeding her in her BeBePod (similar to a Bumbo chair, but in my opinion much safer) to a high chair in an effort to minimize distractions. It didn't really work, but if she wants to keep flashing me these cute little smiles, then I don't mind it taking 20 minutes to get down two tablespoons of food :)

Layla also got her first cold last week! In this picture, we had just stepped out of my steamed up bathroom to sit on the bed for a few minutes to see if the warm mist helped with her cough. She was a pretty good sport about it, even though all of the coughing, sneezing, and runny little nose. Ok, so she was actually pretty lousy about the runny nose, and after successfully cleaning out her little nostrils multiple times, I can say with confidence that it would have been easier to paint the nails of the local barn cat. Regardless, she is almost completely well again, and I am so glad to have that behind us.

For Layla's playtime, I put her on the rug in her room and place a few of her toys out within reaching distance. I usually put away her laundry, empty the diaper trash, or pop in and out of the room doing other chores that require two hands, and since she can't crawl yet, I can be confident that she's safe for the couple of minutes that I am out of the room (she is SO close to crawling now, this easy time is about to come to an end). Well, I apparently didn't leave the toy she wanted out, because when I came back into the room, Layla had wiggled herself into the toy box, pulling out every item in it and tossing them behind her as she finished with them. She's a curious little thing, and as she becomes mobile, I know I will REALLY have my hands full!
And for those who care to know stats, at her six month appointment, Layla was 15.5 lbs and about 27 inches long.