Claire Elizabeth {6 months}

Happy half-birthday, Darling girl! You are 6-months old today! This past month has been full of so many exciting firsts and milestones that it seems you are learning and experiencing something new every day!

We started your 5-month birthday off with your first overnight away from Mommy and Daddy. You stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and you did fabulous! A few days later you surprised me during play time and sat up unassisted for several minutes! You are now a sitting pro and you seem delighted with your new skill, as activity time has so many more possibilities!

While we planned on holding off on solids until you were 6 months old, you became highly interested in food a few weeks ago so, we started feeding you rice cereal on April 19th. You loved it, but weren't quite sure what do to with solids yet. Over the last few weeks we have started introducing mashed bananas and you are loving them! In fact, something clicked last week and you now understand this whole new feeding process. You will now grab your spoon as it comes close to your mouth and are beginning to chew! I cannot wait to begin the adventure of making your food this week! First up: carrots!!

A few other exciting firsts included your first swim and transitioning to the bath tub. Both were successful, not that we expected anything different! So far, you love water and are happy to splash to your heart's content. We love this about you and hope you continue to be comfortable in water!

At the end of April you took a trip to Texas and Arkansas to visit family with Mommy and Grandma. You got to experience your second plane ride and man are you a trooper!! We put you through a 6AM flight with two layovers (each way!). Don't ask us what we were thinking, but you pulled it off better than any 5 month old around! You were content to sit on our laps and babble the entire time. And we were not the only ones impressed with you because fellow passengers were complimenting you left and right. Now long road trips are another story! We learned that you do not like to sit in your car seat for 5+ hours! And silly Mommy forgot to pack the car mirror, so you weren't able to see us most of the drive. Lesson learned for next time!

You still love to babble and talk all the time and just last week you surprised us with a reigning chorus of 'dadadas'! While I'm not sure we can technically coin that as your first official words, your daddy was pretty stoked! Your sweet voice is such a precious sound to our ears!

You have found a new favorite toy/activity in your Exersaucer!  We were initially against buying one for various reasons, but after trying one in the store and seeing how much you loved it, we were sold. Yours came last week and you cannot get enough of it! It allows you to stand unassisted, twist around and play with/chew on a variety of toys. Definitely a great purchase in our book! You are also loving the Jenny Jump Up more than ever since that also allows you to stand unassisted. Standing is kind of your thing-or at least you're trying to make it your thing:) Just don't get ahead of yourself, little girl, we aren't quite ready for you to be so independent yet!

And maybe more than any toy we could buy you, you are in love with cups and drinking, something that we now have to pay very close attention to! If there is a cup within reach, it's almost to your mouth before we have a chance to take it from you. And not that I should be surprised, but your favorites seem to be the clear ones with a green straw...ahem, I promise I'm not addicted to Starbucks! But I do always have my re-useable SB cup on hand and I think you've grown to love it!

And maybe the most precious of all things this month was having the honor of celebrating my first Mothers Day with you! Sweet Girl, it is such a joy and a privilege to be your Mama and I don't for a moment take that for granted! You and your daddy (and your grand parents) made it such a special day for me and one I won't ever forget!

Thank you for being exactly who you are! We love you more than you will ever wrap your mind around!

All my love,
Mama

Official Stats

Height: 27 inches (95th percentile)

Weight: 25 lbs. (99th percentile) 

Head Circumference: 17 inches (75th percentile)