6 months

Dear Ayla,

I cant believe that it has been six months since I first held you in my arms. In some ways it has gone so fast, and in others its seems like you have always been a part of our family.

This has been a super fun month! You are becoming more aware of the things around you and and take great interest in figuring out what they are! You love going out and meeting new people and giving them a HUGE toothless grin! You have also experienced some cool things and had many new firsts!

6 month stats

Weight: 11 lbs 13oz
Length: 23.5"

On March 8, you went to your first Whitecaps game and you were a champ!!! Even though onesies don't come in your size (12 month is the smallest), you still rocked it! First you were fascinated with all the tall buildings downtown. Then, you loved looking at everything at the game and couldn't stop looking at all the sights! You got a bit hot in the ergo, but once we took you out your totally enjoyed yourself!! You didn't even mind wearing the earmuffs. 

March 10th we were to Erika's to celebrate Jillian's birthday. You were not in the partying mood so we didn't stay too long. You did like your 30 seconds in the ball pit! You decided that it was nap time after your lunchtime meal!

After a visit to Dr. Larraine, she decided to send your for some tests at Children's as you are not gaining weight very quickly. While mom and dad are not worried, we just wanted to make sure that everything was ok! Again, you were a champ! You had to do a sweat test, which required you to be hot for 30 minutes (you hated that), do bloodwork (you hated that too) and do a stool and urine sample. Everything came back all good :). After the traumatic tests, you went for dinner at Saba and Safta's and behaved as if nothing particularly interesting happened that day. 

We went to Liliana's for a party on St. Paddy's day and we did a handprint art project. You were not the biggest fan of this, but you tolerated it! You also decided that after week of trying that this was the day you were going to roll from your back to your tummy!!! Yeah!!! 

This month mommy has decided to go back to working out so you have been going to childminding a few times a week at the Y. Your first day there was SUPER exciting as there were 2 fire drills. Like always, you took it all in stride and hung out with mommy while we waited for the fire dept to come and fix it.

You are SUPER strong and are able to stand by yourself when holding onto something like the coffee table. This is a very impressive skill for someone your age! Here are pictures of you doing this for the first time on March 23 (24 weeks old).

You also sat up for the first time on March 23. When you sit or stand you like to launch yourself backwards so mommy and daddy have to be very aware of you so that you don't bonk your head!

Sitting comes with its fair shares of bumps and bruises. Her is my favourite "outtake" from you learning how to sit. 

We have been walking as much as we can with Kim and Kate - sometimes in the stroller and sometimes in the ergo. On March 27 while we were waiting for them at the park, mommy decided to put you in the swing at the park. At first you were unsure, but by the end I think you liked it!

March 30th was Daddy;s birthday and you had a rough night! The night before his birthday you woke up at 3:30 and were super fussy. I fed you and you had a HUGE poop! Then you cried for almost 3 hours :( We gave you Tylenol to help you feel better, but you just threw that up. We think you may have picked up a small bug, but it seemed to pass quickly as after your morning nap you woke up happy and smiley! We were going to give you cereal for the first time, but decided against it because of the bug...tomorrow :)


The morning on March 31, you tried cereal for the first time. You are not quite big enough for your high chair, so you sat in the bumbo on the table. We gave you rice cereal and you were a little unsure and first. You at some (we think), but most of it ended up on your bib. You loved trying to eat the bib!

You have also tried (and liked) yam, avocado and pancakes. The pancakes were your choice! Daddy made them for breakfast one day and you were staring at them, so we gave you some! From day 1, you liked feeding yourself. At first I had to put the food in your hand, but now you can grab it from your tray!You always have such a serious look on your face while eating...its serious business this food stuff!

This month you have also become a lot more vocal. You are constantly making sounds, laughs, coos and blowing raspberries. It is so cute to see you interacting with us and other people.

On April 3 (just before you turned 6 months) we went to see Aly (of Alybaby photography) for more pictures. You were determined to not sit for very long on your own that day - but you stood for long time!

 Look at all your crazy faces this month - you sure do have personality!!!

 

You have come a long way in 6 months and I cant wait to see what the next months bring for you! 

Love you tons my little peanut! 

Mommy 

5 months

Dear Ayla,

Happy 5 month birthday!! What an exciting month it has been! You are growing bigger every day and doing new and exciting things! Everyday you seem to have mastered something new! You are very curious about the world around you and you often have a very serious expression on your face as you are taking in all the new sights around you.

5 month stats

Weight: 11 lbs 4oz
Length: 23.5"

You are mostly out of NB clothes, but the O-3 stuff is still too big for you! You doubled your birth weight!!!!

You are getting so good at smiling and making eye contact. You LOVE it when people talk to you, your face just lights up! You have even started to play coy, its super cute! Here are some great smiles!

This month you have started grabbing things....hair, toys, daddy's glasses anything you can! You are starting to grab toys and bring them to your mouth and you have even found your feet! The dangling toys on your play mat are finally being batted (by hands hand feet) and you have even "thrown" your ball a few times. 

The biggest thing you have found to play with are your fingers and thumb! Your fingers and thumb are CONSTANTLY in your mouth! At nap and night time you are able to soothe yourself to sleep, which is amazing!  

This month was Valentine's Day and you looked adorable in your 2 outfits, both of which were too big for you! We went to Sarah's house for a Valentine's party. Although you slept through most of it, everyone loved having you there! 

You have become really good at grabbing things (like hair) and are starting to play with toys! You are content to spend more time on your play mat with toys, which always end up in your mouth! You are also happy spending more time on your tummy and are rolling more consistently onto your back when you are tired. You are super close to rolling from back to tummy and you are even starting to try and "wiggle worm" when on your tummy. You are going to be on the move soon!!

 

We also had some adventures with the weather this month! One night the furnace stopped working for 1 night, we lost power (again), had a tree hit the house and it snowed! All of these adventures make for some great photo ops!

This month you have been playing with your voice. You are laughing a bit (which is super cute), making a high pitch squeal which we call your "pterodactyl" and you are blowing raspberries. Your raspberries are adorable, but you are spitting everywhere!! You are also drool bombing a lot, mostly on daddy!

You are sleeping really well at night. We bath you before bed every night because you love it! After bath its 3-5 stories before your last feed and down for the count. You are slowly moving your bedtime up (some nights to 8:30) and that means that you are getting up earlier too (7:30 some mornings). You are usually up 1-2x/night for a feed, but you fall back to sleep fairly quickly. During the day, you are awake for around 1.5-2 hrs before you go down for a nap. You are napping regularly in your crib :) Mommy is able to put you in your sleep sac, give you a kiss and then put your down. After a few minutes of sucking your thumb, you are sound asleep! 

We went to our first swimming lesson and mommy even dunked you under the water 3 times! You were stunned the first time we did it, but the other 2 times you liked it. We are still going to baby time at the health unit on Tuesday mornings and story time at the library on Wednesdays.  

4 months

Dear Ayla,

Happy 4 month birthday!! Every day you are growing and doing new things that amaze your dad and I. You have such a sweet personality and your smile can light up any room!!! While you are not giggling yet,  your smile gets extra big when you think something is funny or when you see mommy or daddy. You know who mommy and daddy are! I cant wait until you giggle!

4 month stats

Weight: 10lbs 6oz
Length: 22.5 inches

Its so cute that you can still fit (or finally fit) into the outfit we bought for you to come home in. You didn't wear that outfit home, but that was the original plan! As cute as you were on day 1, you look much cuter now with all your "chub"!

A BIG milestone was when you rolled over from your tummy to your back on January 10 (13 weeks 5 days). We were visiting Brian and Phaedra downstairs and I put you down to show them how close you were to rolling over and then you did it! You did it 3 more times that day! I have tried to take a video of it, but every time I tried, you just lay on your tummy and cried! 

The day you rolled over the first time

You and I are very busy during the week. We go to a baby time group at the public health unit on Tuesday am, the library for story time on Wednesday am and most afternoons we go for a walk with Kim and Kate. Kate is 2 months older than you, but you have known her since you were 5 weeks old. We met her at our first baby group in Newton and they live very close to us. In a few years, you and Kate will be going to Kindergarten together!

You and Kate outside your future school

Another BIG thing we did this month was go swimming! On January 18, Daddy, you and I went to the YMCA for your first swim! You were in the water bobbing around for about 40 minutes and you LOVED it!! We have been back twice more since then!

In the bath, you are now becoming a HUGE splasher! You get in the bath and you start kicking with your left leg and then the big slashes come!! You are getting water everywhere!!! You love it! You are so happy in the bath! At night you let us know when you are done and ready for your bath. Most nights you spend between 30-45 minutes in there. Videos of you are hard to get, you get camera shy when mommy brings out the video camera. This video was taken on January 27.

After bath you love your naked time (where you kick and kick)and you listen very intensely to 3-5 stories. You even looked at books on your own one afternoon, it must have been a good book!

"Reading" Moo, Baa, La, La, La

When we are out and you meet people and they make eye contact with you, you are now giving big smiles. Everyone meet meet says how cute you are with a big smile! I agree 100%! If you are in the right mood, you may even make small noise for them. 

When you see mommy and daddy you make happy noises and you are often babbling away when you are happy about something . You make noises like "lowl" "looo" "ooo" "bly" "oowwl". You are most vocal in the bath, playing on your play mat or at night when you are "telling us" that its bath time. Here is a video of you talking to Sophie the giraffe on January 15. 

You also have started to suck on all your fingers and thumbs which you seem to enjoy immensely. 

you have even tried to get your whole fist in your mouth, unsuccessfully! As a result you also have stated to drool a lot, but mommy and daddy don't mind the occasional drool bomb landing on them! At night, you often suck your thumb to help get yourself back to sleep. 

As much as you enjoy lying on your back and being on your tummy, you also love to be held upright. This is because you have always loved to jump. But now you also like to walk up our legs and chests and ride your 'imaginary bicycle'. Such an active girl!

You are starting to sleep more at night, you have even slept through the night a few more times, but most nights you are up only once for a quick feed. During the day you are usually up from around 1.5-2 hours before you go down for a nap. Most morning naps are around 45mins -1.5hrs and then you have a long afternoon nap that can last over 3 hours some days! Most nights, you usually take a quick power nap for around 30 minutes before daddy comes home from work. This nap usually happens on mommy!

Love you Gator! 

Mamma