Half a Year Old!

 
 

Morgen is six months old, and we are happy to report that she is still a very "well baby".

Her fighting stats are:

length - 64 centimetres 

head circumference - 42 1/4 centimetres (prominent forehead = genius baby)

weight - 7760 grams, approximately 17 pounds

At yesterday's appointment, we asked the doctor if "sleeping through the night by six months" was the same as "the golden trimester". In other words, mythical? These days, Morgen wakes up three or four times every night. We have been assured that babies do eventually sleep through the night. And we decided that we will have to take steps to help this along, if it hasn't magically occurred by, oh, say, January. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy believing in myths. But still, the only way I can keep up with this is to nap during the day with the baby, and at some point, I'd like to be doing other things while she naps. Like cleaning the house, or reading a book, or updating the blog. Or maybe I should just enjoy the altered lifestyle that we're currently living and spend some more time in the moment? Thoughts anyone?

In other news, Morgen doesn't want to roll over, nor does she want to use her hands to hold up her trunk, or to stop her face from coming into contact with the floor when she tips over. During tummy time, she adopts a kind of weird baby yoga pose, curving away from the floor and holding her arms and feet up in the air in order to rock back and forth (think: belly button equals fulcrum). At any rate, although this means that Morgen isn't meeting one of the physical milestones for her age, I'm not allowed to stress about it unless she is still doing this at 8 months old. Doctor says: "Ok, so I've never seen that kind of reaction to tummy time before. That yoga pose is hard! What's it called...? But otherwise, she's a perfect baby, with just a bit of eczema! She's just FINE." Yeah, so if anyone has anythoughts about why my daughter wants to be a yogi and not a crawler, I'd welcome that too. 

But hooray for six months! That's half a year old - and full of smiles and giggles and fun games like peek-a-boo and drop-the-toy-woopsie! Where does the time go?

Still working on the whole swallowing thing ...

Mmmmm, sweet potatoes! Morgen's adventures with solid food continued this week as she got her first taste of a vegetable. And while it wasn't a complete success, we are happy to report that orange is really Morgen's color.

In other news, Morgen also spent this week getting acquainted with her new plush doggy toy, courtesy of Beth, David's mom. Here she is giving her new puppy a kiss, which seems to be her favorite activity with all plush toys. Just remember the joy of the puppy toy, Morgen, because when you get a little older I am going to have to rely on you to help me to convince Mommy that what our family really needs is a dog of the non-stuffed variety! 

Solid food at last!

  Morgen is into the rice cereal these days...well, two out of the last six days she was into it, and she humoured us for the other four. Next stop: sweet potatoes.

And, in case you are concerned about our weird looking highchair, here is the proof that it's ok. If the Germans like it, it's good enough for me. Oddly, there aren't any North American badges of approval on the box...

 
 

Horsey rides on Daddy's knee are pretty exciting when you are an advanced 5.5 month old.

Morgen has reached new levels of excitement, it seems. Today, she was so excited to be in her bath that she stood up (despite my attempts to keep her safely settled DOWN in the water), and then squeaked and stamped her feet. I had my hands on her, and it was only for a moment, but still, it happened. She is becoming more and more assertive every day...and I am finding myself even more inspired to learn about Geminis and consult her star chart...anything to give me the heads up on interacting with our little girl. 

And the bath isn't the only thing that we enjoyed more than usual today. Morgen also discovered for the first time that she can actually sit up in her stroller. I was happy to see her work that out. We rolled along for a good fifteen minutes, me with a big smile, and Morgen with lots of bouncing and gurgling, before she slipped backwards and fell into her usual subway habit of staring at strangers until they look away. Next time we go out there will be far less slumping along looking dejected and far more leaning forward and chewing on the rail. Or playing with Mortimer. Or looking at stuff. 

Happy Hallowe'en (From Captain Pumpkin and the Sugar Kids)

Captain Pumpkin and the Sugar Kids did their best to spread Hallowe'en cheer and treats this evening. I hope you and your candy girls and guys did the same.