ellie: 6 months

woah, six months.  my favorite age and half a year since you've been in our lives.  

...  you're sitting!! i love, love, love this milestone.  you figured this out about 2 weeks ago and have gotten better and better at it since.  you love to sit and play with toys and books especially if your sister and i are still right next to you to provide entertainment.  

...  you're eating solid foods!  i wasn't planning on starting this one until after you hit the 6 month mark but you just seemed ready for it.  unlike your sister, who took a while to figure out the food on a spoon thing, you got this right away.  so far you've had pears, sweet potatoes, some banana chunks, a bite or two of avocado (which you hated), a strawberry!, and some of your sister's pouches.  i actually think you would love to go the baby led weaning route because you go nuts over grabbing chunks of food and shoving them into your mouth but you still make me pretty nervous with that right now so we're doing just a little bit of that but mostly purees right now.

...  you weigh 14 pounds 9.5 ounces and are 25 inches long.  you're a little thing.  but that's not a huge surprise. :)

...  you love your sister, the cats, and the dogs.  you've started to smile at the animals when they walk in the room and you love to grab their fur.

...  you successfully road in a stroller for the first time without losing your mind.  you hung out in it for a bit when we were at the nature and science museum and took a long walk with avery and i the other day.  

...  you met your cousins for the first time and it was so cool to see you and your cousin lauren together since you're so close in age.

...  you still are sleeping in our bed.  you're the ultimate cosleeper and prefer that i never leave your side or sight 24/7.

... and on that note i've started to see a bit of separation anxiety develop this month.  nothing huge yet, but you will sometimes cry if i leave the room even if it's just to throw a load of laundry in and you definitely want me to be the one holding you.  i'm sure this will get much worse over the next few months.  

...  you nap twice a day, once in the morning and when your sister takes her nap, usually around 1 pm.  one of the nice things that has happened this month is that you've started napping in the car.  this has been huge for our days since you've pushed that morning nap back and if we had to wait around for you to take it we would never get out of the house.  

...  you actually do really well on the go.  you're usually happy to hang out in the ergo as long as i'm moving (no sitting or standing around!) and can nurse in there too, which makes things really easy for me.  you also hate your carseat slightly less than you used to although you don't love it.

... free/into the mystic by zac brown band is your jam.  that song is seriously like the baby whisperer to you.  if you're completely losing it you will stop crying immediately once you hear that song.  i've been using it's magical powers with you since you were really little and it still amazes me how much you love it.  sometimes we listen to it over and over.  i can't complain since it's my favorite song, too. hopefully you'll be a country fan just like your mama.

...  you grab anything and everything and immediately put it into your mouth although you're drooling much less than you were before.  we no longer have to put a bib on you unless you're eating.

...  you're wearing mostly 6-9 month clothing although a few 3-6 months still fit, too.

i think things keep getting easier and more fun by the day.  this past month has brought a lot of changes and i know you're not going to slow down any time soon.  we love you, e.