Our little Libby is 6 months old today! Although I can believe half a year has gone by since we met the little love of our lives, I can't believe how much she's changed in those 6 months. She seems so big and grown up, especially in comparison to her new cousin Morgan, who's only 5 months younger than her. Libby is celebrating by spending the day with Grandma Whitman. She's staying with us this week and watching Libby while Aunt Katie takes her last week of "maternity leave."
Libby had her 6-month check up on Monday and she's doing great. She weighs 14 pounds, 4 ounces and is 24.25 inches long. Dr. Z gave her another A+ and noted that she has a 4.0, lol. We decided we better get serious about starting solids, so we tried oatmeal Wednesday night. She seemed to do a little better with that than the rice cereal. She still doesn't have the swallowing thing down pat yet, so we'll probably stick with oatmeal for a week or so, then introduce a veggie. Any suggestions on which one to start with?
This day also marks a personal milestone: My goal is to breastfeed Libby for a year, but a smaller goal of mine was to get through the first 6 months without having to supplement with formula at all, which I've achieved. I have nothing against formula; I'd just rather not fool with it if I can meet her needs with breastmilk. So I'm very proud to have made it this far, and I feel confident about keeping it up for another 6 months.
Another positive: Libby is sleeping through the night now and taking 3 naps a day in her crib. We used the Ferber method, where you put them in their crib drowsy but awake and when they cry you go in at progressively longer intervals to reassure them, but you don't get them up. The idea is to teach them to go to sleep by themselves, in the right place, without any crutches. By going in their room periodically, you reassure them that you haven't abandoned them, so it's not exactly the same at the "cry-it-out" method. After 5 nights of this, Libby started going to sleep on her own, without a pacifier, and sleeping 10-11 hours. And she's been doing so for the past 2 weeks. She sometimes wakes up once in the night to nurse, but that's still reasonable at her age. Katie used this method on Casey with much success, and some of my friends are trying it now.
So, things are great with Miss Libs and with us. We've come so far in 6 months, and it literally gets better and better each day. She's so much fun!
3 comments:
Happy Half Birthday, Olivia, and congrats to Mom and Dad for doing such an awesome job! She looks so happy and healthy. She is a very fortunate little girl. :)
Happy half birthday, Olivia! We actually just mashed up some avocado for Sophie's first food after rice cereal, and she loved it! Check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com. We really didn't make much of Sophie's food like I had hoped to, but regardless it's a great site. And congrats on the six-month breastfeeding milestone. That truly is an accomplishment.
I still marvel at how quickly the time flies after having a baby! As I approach my 11th month of nursing (without utilizing any formula), I can encourage you that you can make it to a year also! Maddox's first veggie was butternut squash, which he ate without hesitation. That and sweet potatoes seemed to go over very well.
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