"Mama"

I know they say babies can't associate "mama" and "dada" to the correct person until much later, but I am convinced she knows I am mama. She has been saying mama for a while now when she cries, but just today she mimicked me saying it and has been saying it a lot more. She mostly says it when she is upset, or if I leave the room, but yesterday she said it while I was changing her diaper and then again tonight after her bath. I will never get enough of her sweet little voice.

6 months old!

I cannot believe our sweet baby is already 6 months old! All I know is my mom's answer to every baby question I had in the beginning seemed to be, "oh that won't happen until she is about 6 months old". Haha, seriously I cannot believe it is here already! She is truly the light of our lives.

Activities: Madelyn's very favorite thing to do is to sit up and play with her toys. It is hilarious because she will focus in on one toy and if that toy falls out of reach she will do everything in her power to get it back. It is funny because she realizes when it falls too far out of her reach and will quickly move on to the next toy. Today I left her sitting up with the boppy pillow behind her while I went to the bathroom. I came back in the room and she was on her tummy playing with a toy. She didn't cry or act like it was an uncomfortable switch, just did what she needed to do to get to her toy! She is very good at grasping things and will switch toys from one had to the other, flail toys about, put them in her mouth, study them, anything she can do to explore each and ever object. Sometimes she will grasp a toy and then throw her arms up, drop the toy, then pick it up to start this process all over again.
We try to get in several hours of tummy time a day. She isn't crawling yet, but really lifting her chest and using her hands to spin her body around to reach objects. She loves it when I roll the ball around on the floor. We just got her a beach ball which should be fun. She has also really started to enjoy peek-a-boo and riding the little horsey. :)
Sounds/Social Interaction: She started really squealing/screaming loudly. She also still likes making the razz sound, ah baaaaaa, mama (only says this when she is crying in her crib which is so sad), booo, kkkk, doo. Lately she has been having major separation anxiety. When I leave the room for just a second she will start screaming. The second I walk back in she just smiles. She has definitely learned how to manipulate her mama, haha. This makes it really hard to get any work done around the house! I know it is important for her to have some alone time playing without me, so am trying to encourage this more often, but I have to admit it is nice knowing she likes having me around! :)
Sleep:Her night sleeping has been great over the past month, mostly sleeping about 12 hours at night with an occasional wake up around 11pm. However, her naps have been quite challenging lately. There is absolutely no routine to her napping. I am just trying new things every day to try and find a way to get her to nap during the day. At times she only takes one 45 minute nap a day. This means around 4-5 pm she is really exhausted and has to go to bed by 6 or 6:30. I am debating on whether or not to just let her go to one nap a day? I hear babies don't usually drop their second nap until closer to 12 months, and I really think she would feel better with two naps, but she just likes staying up an playing too much! The crazy thing is, I can tell she is tired but she isn't really fussy. She will rub her eyes and act tired for a few minutes then she is off to the next thing! Seriously, any tips in this area are welcomed!!! I have tried everything, but nothing seems to be working. She will really only fall asleep for a nap on her own or after nursing. She doesn't like to be rocked or bounced. I try leaving her in her crib for 20 minutes tops, but usually she just cries and I give in and go get her. Sometimes she will literally play that entire time.
Feeding: We started solids this month, which has been fun. Madelyn favorite food so far is bananas. She does not like applesauce or jarred pears. Both of these are somewhat tart, so I think this is part of the reason. I have been making her baby food which has been good so far. At first I thought this may be a little time consuming, but has really been fun and well worth it because I think the food tastes better. Especially fruits, because I can let them ripen nicely before pureeing, which she seems to like. The two jarred items I have given her (pears and applesauce), she didn't like; however she loved the homemade pears that were very ripe. She has tried oatmeal cereal, bananas, butternut squash, pears, avocado, and applesauce (in that order). I think we are going to try mango and sweet potato next. It has been really fun gathering and putting together information on starting solids. My favorite resources thus far are http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/index.htm and "Child of Mine: Feeding a Child with Love and Good Sense" by Ellyn Satter.