Six Months In
Hello everyone! I officially have a six month old! I feel like it was just yesterday that we were planning on her arrival…and now she’s her own little person!
Olivia is a smart little baby. She started saying “mama” and “dada” at four months, much earlier than I thought she would. She also learned how to roll over and sit up (with support, but still) ahead of the curve. I’m amazed at how much she can do in such little time on this Earth. I hope she stays smart her whole life!
Olivia giggles on her own now, which is very cute. I caught her doing it earlier today when she was playing with her keys. The keys have a FOB that plays music when she pushes a button and she was pushing it over and over to stop and start the song, which was apparently hilarious to her. Her laugh is much clearer and brighter than it was when she first started a few months ago, and I have a feeling it’ll become more and more like mine…loud and happy!
I’ve been feeding her baby cereal since four months, and started her on purées not too long after. It’s fun to watch her discover new tastes, mostly because of her faces. She hates prunes, to the point where she would rather spit them out than swallow! I don’t blame her (although when I tasted them I thought they were pretty good). Her favorites so far are sweet potatoes and peas, which her father loves but I dislike very much.
Matt is really bad at feeding Olivia, mostly because he doesn’t like to be sticky. Unfortunately for him, Olivia covers both herself and whomever is feeding her in food, so he’s disgusted every time he has to feed her. I don’t mind taking over the meals for the baby. I have fun doing it!
I’m spoiled because Olivia has been sleeping through the night pretty solidly for the past month or so. I know her teeth are going to start to come in very soon so I expect sleepless nights to return as soon as that happens. Right now, I’m trying to take advantage of her sleep by waking up a little bit before she does so that I can actually be awake and alert by the time she starts crying for me. Getting her breakfast prepared, brushing my teeth, and making myself coffee is about where I get before she wakes up. It’s honestly a good way to start my morning.
The one thing that bothers me about her sleep is that she refuses to sleep on her back now that she’s in the crib. In the bassinet, she didn’t really move all too much; she just stayed on her back and slept. In the crib, she’s got a lot of space to roll around in her sleep, which is okay and good! But she consistently sleeps on her stomach, which freaks me out. Everything I’ve seen and heard says “back is best”, meaning she should always sleep on her back so her airflow isn’t restricted. Every time I try to lay her on her back, however, she rolls over instantly and sleeps on her stomach.
It’s rare that I peek in on her sleeping and see her on her back. Matt sleeps on his stomach so she gets it honest…but I’m probably going to worry every night until she’s out of the SIDS range. I guess she’s okay because she can roll over and move her head if she wakes up because she can’t breathe…but thinking about that even being a possibility makes me anxious!
I’m six months postpartum, which is pretty cool as well. Matt has been doing a good job checking in on me and making sure my regular and seasonal depression don’t compound too much with my PPD (which hasn’t technically been diagnosed, but I was prrrrreeeetty depressed at one point and didn’t even realize it). I’ve also been trying to have more interaction with people outside of work and Olivia, since I’ve kind of shut myself away to make sure the baby is taken care of. I’ve been hanging out with friends and trying to make plans to look forward to.
I’m also attempting to do one productive thing around the house every day so that I don’t get bogged down by the anxiety of a cluttered house. That part is hard when I’ve got Olivia to myself all day on the weekends, but I think once she’s able to keep herself entertained for longer stretches of time it’ll be easier.
One thing I’ve started is physical therapy! As we all know, having a baby is a lot of hard work. My body hasn’t fully recovered (which is completely normal, who knew), so I’m going to physical therapy three times a week to try and help my body bounce back a little faster. Today was day two, and I’ll tell ya…it’s hard! The workouts are obviously very low impact, but trying to get my pelvic floor involved is where the challenge is. I can do leg lifts and squats and shit like that no problem, but working my pelvic floor into the equation is tough. Obviously, two days isn’t going to magically make everything better, but I think physical therapy will help immensely with my healing process.
Six months is a huge milestone for babies. Olivia will be mobile very, very soon! Matt and I have to baby proof our house still, which will have to happen much sooner than later. Liv is great at rotating in place, and she’s starting to slowly scoot on her stomach across the floor (like a lil worm, it’s cute). Today, she got into the crawl position and I thought she might try to do it…but she plopped back on her stomach instead. Soon, that little girl is going to be zooming around on those hands and knees! I can see the determination in her eyes every time she attempts to move. She’s good at climbing already, which makes me nervous because I think she’s going to climb on literally everything as soon as she’s fully mobile.
Olivia’s first words (besides “mama” and “dada”) will be happening in these next six months. I think back to when my dad told me my first words were “Abby, no!”, as I yelled at our cat. I’m wondering if she’ll yell at Freya when she speaks for the first time? Her little voice has already made sounds that sound like “yeah”, “uh-huh”, “nuh-uh” and “I did it”, but they’re not 100% words quite yet. The fact that she can already make sounds I can kind of understand blows my mind. I have a feeling she’ll be ahead of the curve when it comes to talking, just like she has been ahead of the curve with all the other milestones babies hit as they grow.
I’m looking forward to Olivia’s growth and seeing her discover the world as she gets older. It’s going to be interesting these next six months, but I’m honestly looking forward to her birthday. Turning one is a big deal for the parents (and technically the baby, but mostly the parents). I’m hoping we’ll be able to celebrate with everyone who loves her! In the meantime, though, she’s gotta keep using that big brain of hers to learn and grow. I think she’s going to do well!
Thanks for reading! I like these little Liv Updates. I hope you do too! Olivia is my favorite person, so I jump at the chance to talk about her. Her little smile brightens even the darkest of days!
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Next week is the Monthly Update! I hope I get the playlist done by then…in the meantime, thank you again for reading! I’ll see you here next week!
