6 months, 2 weeks

 
 

Everyday we see signs that our little girl is getting bigger. Today, we had to move her crib mattress down two levels because she was starting to grab onto the side of the crib. We don't think she could have pulled herself up, but we didn't want to take any chances. Today, we also realized that we had to move up a level of diapers since she kept having accidents in her size two diapers. Kerala is also on her way to crawling - on Friday night she pulled herself all the way across our bed. She wasn't getting her bottom up, but she definitely has the arm strength so we don't think it will be much longer before we need to do some major babyproofing.

This past week, Kerala had a pretty funny experience at her story time. Apparently, she got so excited that she scared the two toddlers that were sitting in front of her. Ellen wasn't sure if she was excited over the story or the possibility of grabbing the two toddlers in front of her. I hope Kerala doesn't get the reputation around the neighborhood as a bully.

As far as eating is going, we introduced bananas to her this weekend. She seemed to like the bananas a bit more than the rice cereal, but that isn't saying too much. The doctor said that it's not that big of a deal if she doesn't eat the solids since we are just trying to introduce her to using a spoon and swallowing solids.

6 months, 1 week, 1 day

 

Kerala finally had her first real meal of solids - and when I mean real, I mean she actually got a couple of spoonfuls of rice cereal. She still isn't psyched about it, but at least she is making progress. It seems like every day she gets a bit more cereal. She has been grabbing the spoon out of our hands and putting it in her mouth - unfortunately, in the process of grabbing the spoon she gets cereal all over her hands but that's okay. She does reach out to grab the bowl, but so far we have been able to keep that away from her.

The blogged photo is Kerala playing in the tray attached to her booster chair. Ellen had the great idea of filling it up with water and letting Kerala splash in it, which Kerala loved.

6 months, 1 week

 

Poor Kerala has had a cold the last few days. She is super congested and it's just the saddest thing ever. Hopefully, she will get over it pretty soon. Despite the cold, she has actually been in pretty good spirits until the evening. Right around bedtime she gets pretty congested and fights (even more than usual) going to sleep.

Kerala has started to sleep on her belly a bit. Sometimes she will roll over onto her belly and wake up totally upset that she is on her belly, while other times she is perfectly content sleeping on her belly. It's pretty cute to see her pop the binkie in her mouth and then immediately her head falls to the bed - it's amazing how comforting the binkie is to her.

As far as food is going, we have made some progress. Kerala actually is super psyched about water now. She is able to drink from her sippy cup, which is super cute. She has even taken a couple of sips from my glass of water as well. Today, was the first day it seemed like she actually "ate" some rice cereal. It wasn't a ton, but she definitely got some of it in her mouth. Our doctor said that once Kerala has mastered the rice cereal we can add a fruit to breakfast and a veggie to dinner. Hopefully, we will be able to do that next weekend.

The blogged photo is Kerala on the swing at the park. She really enjoys swinging. She is a bit small for the swing, so we put a blanket behind her - otherwise, she is perfectly content. Poor Troy had to listen to me say "not so high" about a million times (I am a bit over protective). Also, check out Kerala and Silas at their music class in the September photos. Kerala and I are really enjoying the class, especially since Tamra and Silas are in it as well.

6 months, 3 days

 
 

Check out Kerala in her cute hat that Ellen knitted for her. It's great because it's big enough so Kerala doesn't realize its on so she doesn't try to take it off immediately. Thanks Ellen - we love the hat! Kerala definitely looks like an urban baby in it.

Kerala had her 6 month doctor appointment today. The doctor said that Kerala is doing great and was even amazed at some of the things that Kerala was doing during the appointment. Kerala more than doubled her birth weight (yay!) and is back to her 75% for height. Her doctor said that we should introduce solids now - start with cereal and once she has mastered cereal add fruits and veggies. We tried cereal again today and Kerala was not a fan. If there is no food on the spoon she will play with it and stick it in her mouth, but once we add the cereal she doesn't want to have anything to do with the spoon. So something to work on. Ellen is going to try to give Kerala a bit of breakfast tomorrow and we will try dinner tomorrow night. The doctor also gave us the go ahead to make our own baby food (everything except for carrots and spinach). Depending on how well cereal is going, Troy and I may try to make up some food this weekend. The only down part to the appointment was the shots Kerala received. She has been a bit fussy today and now has a little bruise on her thigh from one of the shots. We have been giving her tylenol and hopefully she will sleep pretty well tonight. It was a bit difficult getting her down tonight even though she was clearly tired.

6 months!

 
 

Well Kerala turned six months today. In honor of her half birthday, we tried a bit of rice cereal for lunch. Up until this point, she had been exclusively nursed with a bit of formula this past week. She did not appear to like the cereal very much at all. She maybe took half of a spoon and then spent the rest of the time trying to avoid having the spoon near her mouth. It's funny because everything else she tries to put in her mouth, but not the spoon. We also tried giving her a bit of water, but again she was not super psyched about the water. She did enjoy throwing her sippy cup, so that's a start. Grandma Perry was able to witness Kerala's first "solid" meal today, so that was nice.

This past weekend, we enjoyed a really nice bbq at Chrissy's and Sean's. Kerala was super pscyhed to see her friend Valerie Violet. Kerala squealed at Valerie and kept trying to munch on Valerie's shoes, which was a bit odd. Lately Kerala has been obsessed with whatever has been on her feet (check out the pictures of her trying to munch on her pumpkin slippers that Grandma Perry got her). We wrapped up the weekend with a visit from Grandma Perry, which was very pleasant.

Also, thanks Chika for the post about Kerala's outfit. Believe it or not, we got that outfit for $.75 from the Salvation Army! Troy and I are going to head there this weekend to see if we can get some cute fall clothes for Kerala.

5 months, 4 weeks

 

Lately, we have been able to explore Kerala's closet a bit more and put her in clothes 6 - 9 months old. Everything is still a bit big (some are really big), but it's nice that she is moving up in size. She does have quite the range - there are a couple of sweaters from when she was 0 - 3 months that she can still fit into, but for the most part she is in either 6 months or 9 months clothes.

Kerala has gone to sleep so well the last two evenings. When I put her in her crib she doesn't fuss at all, but instead goes right to sleep. Although I doubt it will, I hope this trend continues. I wish I could say that napping is going as well. Kerala had a particuarly rough time going to sleep during the day - some days she falls right to sleep and some days she does everything she can to fight sleep. Any suggestions for naptimes would be greatly appreciated by us (and Ellen)!

This week Kerala attended her first story time. A local children's shop hosts story time every Wednesday. Ellen said Kerala was fascinated by the other children there and the actual storyteller who was apparently very animated. Ellen and Kerala even picked up two new books that Kerala is really enjoying chewing on. One day she will love to read and not just eat her books.

Finally, I forgot to mention Kerala's new activity in the bathtub. If you trickle water from a cup right in front of her she tries to grab it with her hand. It's really cute to see her grasping at the water and trying to figure out why she can't grab hold of it. Also, bathtime seems to be getting more and more crazy with water splashing. We bought her these cups that she can fill up with water and she has gotten quite good and splashing the cups so that water goes everywhere (including all over Troy's face).

5 months, 3 weeks, 4 days

 

Lately, Kerala has been trying to grab everything in sight - including the camara. If she is anywhere near the camera, she starts to do everything she can to move towards it, which is pretty funny to watch since it's a lot of wiggling around. Her interest in the camera lets us take some pretty good close ups of her.

Today, Kerala seemed to have a pretty rough day sleeping wise - Ellen has noticed that Mondays tend to be the hardest day for her, which is a bit sad. Overall she seems to be adjusting to Ellen really well and super pschyed to see her in the morning, but I think it is hard for her after we have been together all weekend. Although this past weekend, I didn't get to play with her as much as normally would because I get pretty sick and ended up having to go the doctor on Saturday to get antibiotics. Fortunately, my illness did not prevent us from going to music class with Tamra and Silas. It was really fun to go to music class with a friend - unfortunately, now someone I know will know how horrible my voice is.

5 months, 2 weeks, 5 days

 

Kerala has officially moved from her infant stroller to her infant/toddler stroller. She seems to like it for the most part, although she does have a hard time going to sleep in it because it doesn't recline as much. We have been pretty busy since we last posted. Our friends, Joel, Chika and their two sons - Noah and Ren, were in town. Unfortunatley, I was unable to visit with them because I was working, but Troy and Kerala got to hang out with them. Kerala and Ellen went to yoga on Friday. Ellen said that Kerala was a big hit in the class. Over the weekend, Kerala went to a birthday party for her friend Camille who turned one years old - happy b-day Camille! On Monday, we headed to the zoo with a few other families. It was really hot and sunny, but overall a really good day. Kerala was great - she really didn't fuss much during the day.

I can't believe it, but in two weeks Kerala will be 6 months old! We are anxiously looking forward to her first meal of solids after we get the clearance from her pediatrician.