Carla is 6 months old

When they say time flies with kids, they aren't kidding!

It's been six months since Carla joined our family. Six whole months! A half a year! 

          [ okay mama, I'll hold still if I can have Sal's kitty cat]

It's mind boggling where time has gone. 

I want it to slow down. 

Well, no. I don't, actually. I want some aspects to speed up, but when it comes to my kids growing up, I'd like it to go a little slower. 

I feel like I haven't been prepared for her to reach the milestones she's reached at the rate she is reaching them. In my mind, she's still an itty bitty newborn. In reality, she's a full fledged baby that is already asserting her independence and not needing mama so much. 

In the past month, Carla has started taking bottles (she can almost hold it herself), scooting and laughing out loud. Oh, and she can make some awesome raspberry sounds with her mouth as spit shoots out. It's cuter than it sounds, I promise. 

                

                          [ "I told you mama! No kitty, no laying still. See ya!"]

Carla weighs in at 6.5kg ( 14 lbs, 5 oz) and measures 65.5 cm tall. That's almost a two pound gain from her last weigh in. She's just about grown out of her 6month pajamas and I haven't got any larger ones for her yet. I was hoping to make it until our next trip home in her current pjs. That's not gonna happen. Binding feet might be normal in China, but not for my girl. I'll be buying some bigger ones soon.

Our girl loves to eat. She started eating purees shortly after turning five months, and has yet to try a food she doesn't like. Her least favorite is applesauce, and favorite would have to be peas. Other favorites have been pumpkin, zucchini, banana and mango. Next up on the menu are green beans and carrots...and maybe avocado if she's lucky. 

                

                      [ "Peas are my faaaaaaavorite. I'll cry when the bowl runs out."]

No teeth yet, but I suspect by the end of the month she will have one poking through. Her mouth is a faucet and she loves chewing on things. I hope it doesn't affect her sleep much, as she has continued to spoil us with 7:30 bedtimes and 5:30-6:30am waking. Her naptimes have been shorter (two naps of about an hour each) lately, but I've read that this is normal when babies are mastering new milestones....like crawling! 

                         

                 ["It's okay mama, he's just trying to stop me from getting his excavator."]

Although NZ and I are excited to see her gaining mobility, there is one person in our house who isn't so sure about his sister getting into his things. Out of all our toys, she prefers Sal's excavators and cement mixers- the ones made in China, with small, breakable and swallowable parts. 

Sigh.

Her first words might just be, "Not for you, Carla" as Sal and I say this to her multiple times per day. She loves anything that lights up and makes noise, so it's pretty easy to redirect her to something else. I know its only going to get harder to keep her occupied. Afterall, Sal's toys are the coolest. 

Maybe, just maybe, we will get her a few new "Carla safe" toys for being the sweetest little girl we know. Each day with her is the best. I just want to pick her up, kiss her and say, "Thank you for being ours." 

We love you Carla. 

TEN months

Wow, I have fallen behind on my regular posts because I have been diligent about getting my thirty days of thankful posts up each day. I never thought that posting each day would be so stressful ( I kid, I kid).

sit still? haha. yeah right, mama.

But something worth blogging happened this past week.

Sal turned TEN months old.

If there has been any one month that I've seen the most dramatic change in both growth and development, it's been these last four weeks. Four weeks ago, we returned from our trip to the states with a little 18 pounder who was just learning how to stand holding onto somthing for dear life. He could pull to a stand, freeze, and trust-fall with no one to catch him. And now, I sit on the sofa, marvelling as my 20 pound son re-arranges furniture ( namely, kitchen chairs) around the house. Slick tile and hardwood floors make for awesome chair sliding. Who needs a walker when you've got chairs?


Movin' chairs

Not this guy.

He pulls himself up, and maneuvers with ease. He can bend over and pick something up with one hand. He has a better awareness of his surroundings, and falls much less than he did just last week.

It's amazing. It really is.

He also got his first haircut, by yours truly, and although I was afraid I'd hack it, it didn't turn out half bad. We also started brushing his teeth since he now has eight teeth, with two more on the way. This kid seems to get his teeth in fours. Cah-razy.

Along with the cutting of teeth, we've also been victims of sleep disturbances over the past few weeks. At first I blamed jetlag, then I blamed teeth, and now, well---I'm not sure what it is. He is waking without fail,every night at 10:00p and sometimes again around 2:00a. We let him cry it out, and he goes  back to sleep 75% of the time, the other 25% it escalates, so we get up and change his diaper, feed him and put him back to bed.

He had a visit with our pediatrician here this past week, and he has grown 5 cm (1.5 inches) and gained just under 1 kilo ( 2 lbs) in 5 weeks time. Perhaps all this growing is contributing to the nightly wake up? Who knows, but that's a whole heck of a lot of growing to do in such a short period of time. It's been his biggest spurt yet.

Sal is an eater. His favorite foods this month have been spaghetti with dad's sauce, blueberries, fresh pumpkin and mama's homemade goldfish crackers. He'll try anything once. Sometimes even twice. The only food he continues to refuse are peas. I find it funny, because he will eat things like capsicum and kidney beans, but not sweet peas. He has also decided that breastfeeding-is-so-last-month and has weened himself off on his own accord. I finally gave up trying to force the issue, and grumble, grumble my way into the kitchen to scoop out the formula. It was a good run while it lasted. To be honest, I never thought I would last as long as I have and am totally okay with being done.

The toy of the month.

As far as playtime, this month has been so fun. It's so rewarding to watch him grow up into this little man. We spend a lot of time with other children, generally a year older than his age, and he does his best to keep up with them. He's quite observant and there are times it looks as if he wants to say, "Hey guys, throw the ball to me!". I want to tell him, "It's just a matter of time, bubba..You'll be off running with the boys, having the time of your life." He has a fondness for anything with wheels, so I treated him to a few little construction trucks that he has spent hours rolling around on the floor, sofa, and his dad.

We love you Salvatore!