Six Month Update

Natalie turned 6 months old last week. Will someone please tell me how time manages to pass so quickly??!! One of the best parts of motherhood is watching my baby change and grow and learn new things all the time. There is never a dull moment!



These are some of the things Natalie has done during the past month:

-maintains better balance while sitting up
-can stay on all fours for a short time if we set her down in that position
-blows raspberries with her lips
-consistently sleeps from 7:30 pm to 5-6 am before feeding (sometimes she will wake up around 3 am and we give her the paci, but we decided to follow our pediatricians advice on "cutting her off" from feedings in the middle of the night to help train her to sleep and let me get more sleep, too)
-first trip to the water park (which she tolerated much more than I expected!)
-laughs more
-wrinkles her nose and makes a snorting sound which is hilarious!
-tries to drink out of a cup if we hold it up for her. It's adorable to watch her little lips moving trying to drink water! Talk about cheap, simple entertainment for her and us!

Her 6-month checkup with the pediatrician isn't until next week, but she weighed 16 pounds the last time I weighed her a couple weeks ago. I tried leaving her in the church nursery once, but she only lasted 10 minutes before they came and got me because she was hysterical. On one hand, I'm glad that she has a strong bond with me and I pray that we always have a close relationship, but on the other hand, I hope she doesn't have long-term separation anxiety. I know it's totally normal for her to have some separation anxiety, but I hope she decides that the nursery is more fun than clinging to dear ol' mom all the time :)

Natalie,
You are a blessing. I thank God for you each and every day and I'm still in awe that God gave you to us. You are beautiful, inside and out, and I can't wait to see what is in store for you. It's getting harder to remember what life was like before you were born, but that doesn't even matter anymore. My life is more abundant with you in it. You made my lifelong desire to become a mom a reality and with God's help, I'm committed to being the best mother to you that I can be. I love you!