The Morris Family: February 2011

I know it is so cliché, but, we simply can't believe our little girl is already six months old. She is growing up so fast. It is nuts.

She had her six-month check up on Friday and, other than a lingering cold, she had an excellent report, and we are so grateful for her continued health. She remains in about the 50th percentile for height (25.5) and weight (15.5), and her head continues to come down and is now around the 75th. Developmentally she is right on track. We still battle the reflux/puke, but since she has been sick it has drastically decreased. We are holding our breath that is not just her bug, but that she is growing out of it!

New developments over the last month (sorry for all the detail, feel free to ignore this part and skip to pictures much further down. I'm trying to get it all down so I can print these updates for her baby book and don't expect anyone other than family to care to read all of this):

-Sits on her own! She loves playing with toys while seated. She does "topple" over and rolls around, but prefers to sit and play.
-Everything goes in her mouth! She loves her Giraffe and we are trying to encourage an inclination to little brown monkey or pink and brown “lovee.”
-Enjoys "babbling," especially when she wakes up or is tired. She still says dadadada and dad all the time. But, we have heard a few Bas and now she is really in to tatata. Not sure how she does that without teeth.
-LOVES her jumparoo. She basically loves standing and jumping anywhere and all the time. She is now really playing with all the toys on her jumparoo and can remain fairly entertained.
-Likes to watch Praise Baby. I enjoy the music, but to be honest the videos creep me out. But, Mattie loves it and will watch for 15-20 minutes which is great. She will show some interest in Sesame Street and likes Abby’s Flying Fairy School. But she is way more in to Praise Baby. We watch it about every-other day. I think the slow moving objects and pics are better for her development. Sometimes she seems overwhelmed by Sesame Street. She has a REALLY short attention span, so the TV is my only chance to get a few things done or washed. I love Veggie Tales and can’t wait for her to be in to those videos!
-She has peek-a-boo down and really loves the itsy bitsy spider. She enjoys singing and we do a lot of that. She is also a sucker for anyone dancing for her. We make fools of ourselves for a smile all the time.
-Cut her first tooth about two weeks ago (left front bottom). It has not seemed to bother her one bit, but she loves feeling it with her fingers, tongue, and lips. It makes for some great faces and funny photos.
-Has now tried apples, pears, bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, avocados, and carrots. She is still not really in to eating. She has a little fruit or veggie mixed with powdered cereal and milk each night. She makes a huge mess!!! Some nights she actually eats some of it. Now we are going to start trying to "eat" food 2x a day. I'm not looking forward to the mess :).
-Eats about 6 times a day and averages around 5-6 ounces or nurses for 20 minutes each time. I'm very nervous about this tooth situation and we have had a few close calls. Since she has been sick, we have been giving her bottles a lot because she seems to handle her congestion better. I’m not loving all the pumping, but it does help me avoid the tooth.
-Naps about 3 times a day. Usually two 30 minute snoozes in the morning and around lunch and then a longer nap in the afternoon. She is very unpredictable.
-Loves her bath at night!!! She is growing too big for her sink tub, so we may be moving to a big girl tub soon. We feed her “real” food around 6:30, give her a bath at 7:00, and then her last bottle at 7:30.
-She is usually asleep by 8:30. This is the ONLY routine we have. During the day she is really hard to schedule. But, she usually sleeps from around 8:00pm to 7:30am with one feeding between. That feeding we have never been able to predict - anywhere between 2 and 5am. . It is not too bad though, because she eats and goes right back to sleep. Every few weeks she surprises us and sleeps a 12 hour stretch.
-Her hair has yet to fall out and is growing in lighter and lighter. It has a touch of gold/red in there, too. When it is wet it is curly, but still dries pretty “pooffy."
-Eyes are still blue and look just like mine! From the nose up she is definitely her momma, but her nose down is a spitting image of her dad. She definitely has her dad’s skin and is super sensitive. She is constantly breaking out in little rashes from all the drool, puke, or just a garment rubbing her the wrong way. This baby is always covered in aquafor – she is pretty greasy.
-We think she knows her name. She responds to Mattie and we often try other names with little or no response….we’ll see.
-We are so grateful for the love and support of our family and friends. Mattie’s Nana (Jeff’s mom) comes once a week and I’d be lost without her help. My mom is here about once a month and is always anxious for her next visit. We have started skyping with my parents and Mattie seems to be a big fan.
Jeff and I fall more and more in love with Miss Mattie every day. I am enjoying being at home with her and appreciate my hard working husband who provides financially and emotionally for us all right now. We are truly lovin this new stage as Mattie continues to become more and more interactive! She is such a blessing.

The Morris Family

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

6 Month Report

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Lots of New Pics