6 months

Aven,

My little flower girl. You are already 6 months old! Hard to believe but then when I look through the photos and videos and think about you even weeks before, I realize how much you have grown and changed. Your stats: you weighed in at 13lbs 6 oz one day before the 6 month mark and you are 25"long. You have grown 5.75 inches since you were born and more than doubled your birth weight. Last night I saw for the first time two little white stubs poking through the bottom gums in your mouth. It won't be long until your toothless smile changes shape with teeth.

You still wear mostly 3 month outfits but I have started getting you into some 6 month things. Grandma brought you some adorable leg warmers that you wore without hesitation the next day on our hike and to church. You can now easily roll from your back to your front and you will sit there and push yourself up with your arms and look around at the world. You giggle and laugh especially with Daddy, he can be so silly. You stick to a pretty regular bedtime between 8 and 8:30 and usually get up between 1 and 2 times during the night, sometimes, but rarely 3. You don't seem too interested in food so far but you are a good nurser. You can eat a lot in a short amount of time: speed nurser. You will sit in the Bumbo for a little while but you like to move around a lot more than it lets you. You now use the exersaucer, your playmat and the bouncy chair to hang out on. You also will just roll around and hang out if we lay you on a blanket on the floor. You love watching the dogs and you often smile and reach out for them (they often give you many kisses that you don't object to also). You take the binky out of your mouth now and play with it. Nights are usually pretty easy when you wake up. I feed you quickly and usually get you right back to sleep. You still love going outside and on walks and just in general like looking around at all of the world and nature. You now like watching other kids play and talk to you--especially your friends at daycare. You still like being sung to. I sing to you when I am folding laundry, taking a shower or doing the dishes to keep you entertained; Daddy sings you to sleep at night.

You continue to be obsessed with putting things in your mouth no matter what it is so we will have to be careful. Yesterday you drooled up a storm but then I found your incoming teeth as an explanation. You like taking showers and have taken your first bath that was not in your baby bathtub. You kicked and splashed around for ever! It was quite messy but super cute. The book you seem to really enjoy lately is called Grande Pequeno (it is also in English: Big Small) by Leslie Patricelli. I try to check out books from the library that have other languages like Spanish. That way I can learn some words along with you. We usually read Goodnight Moon every night before you go to bed. You talk to yourself a lot! You are a very verbal baby and often when I am talking you watch my lips and kind of move your mouth at the same time like you are trying to figure out how I am talking. You do some fun screaming but not as much as you did before. Although very cute it can be a bit ear piercing. You really sound like you are trying to mimic adult language when you talk to me or yourself, it is really fun. Our favorite nicknames for you are pumpkin (Daddy calls you pumpkin pants or turnip head) and sweat pea.

You are in general a pretty good and happy baby. You can play independently but you like to be held and read to or played with. I am excited to see what this next month will bring. We will be taking you on your first long car ride down to Medford, Or and your first plan trip to California to visit Grandma Geneva and Mommy's cousin Gina, husband Matt and baby Ava.

Thank you for blessing our lives and giving us purpose so far. I love watching you grow and know you will be an amazing little girl.