6 Months of Lil: Just a Joy!

Our baby girl is 6 months old this month and as cliche as it sounds...I can't believe it! It feels like just yesterday we were bringing her home in a pink, silk gown on that late, stormy night on April 7th. This little story will explain why I call LilliAnn "my little joy." The other day mom was telling someone how much she missed Kassidy since he's went to college and how he was "just a joy" to have as a child. I asked her, "mom, am I not a joy?" She replied, "you're my different kind of joy." A few days later mom and I went into Lunch & Such and we saw some ladies that we knew. They "ooo"ed and "ahhh"ed over LilliAnn and how big she's getting and then asked me, "Is she a good baby?" I replied, "she's a great baby...she's just a joy!" Mom looked at me and asked, "Is Reid not a joy?" (as he's jumping on all the chairs in Lunch & Such, pulling on my leg, and screaming that he wants to eat now!) I look at her with a huge smile on my face and say, "He's my different kind of joy." 

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So yes mother, I now know what you mean by that "different kind of joy" statement. Reid's that kind of child like me - high energy, high maintenance, curious, always asking questions, challenging, strong-willed with persistent personality, who was to have things "just right," while LilliAnn seems to be more like Kassidy - laid back, easy-going, self-entertaining, figure-it-out on their own, quick to compliment others, sweet spirited, a "go with the flow" type of child who smiles often. And I do agree, mother, that we are so blessed to have one of each type of child - one who will tell you that you look beautiful and the other who tells you right after that you have lipstick on your teeth. You really do need both - this balance is important. 

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At 6 months LilliAnn is 16 pounds, 11 ounces and 26 inches long. She's in between the 50-75 percentile for both her height and her weight. She's been very healthy in this first year of her life - no antibiotics, no ear infections, and just one or two little "summer colds." Currently, we're right smack dab in the middle of teething! I don't remember much about Reid going through the teething phases. I guess because it didn't seem to bother him much. LilliAnn has had a pretty bad time with teething so far and I've had to give her Tylenol several times. She just got her bottom two teeth at the same time on October 17. She had been running a low-grade temperature all day long and was extremely irritable and wouldn't eat or nurse. As I was trying to nurse her before bed that night she screamed out in pain louder than I'd ever heard her scream before. I felt in her mouth and there they were...her first two teeth! It was kind of unexpected so I yelled, "Jeb, she has teeth!" Reid ran into the bedroom and asked, "What? What mommy?" I said, "sissy has teeth!" So Reid started running around the house saying, "sissy got teeth! sissy got teeth!" 

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About 2 weeks before she turned 6 months we gave her organic brown rice cereal for the first time and man, how she loved it! Right about the time she turned 6 months we gave her apples and at first she wasn't sure of how tart they were, but now she loves them too. Now she's had carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, peas, pears, squash, apple yogurt oatmeal, plum banana brown rice, and multi-grain cereal - all organic. Reid had mostly all organic food until is was a little over a year old. However, I don't think LilliAnn is going for the organic baby food. She likes it okay and will eat it pretty good if she's really hungry, but she just doesn't seem to love baby food. She would much rather still have breast milk - or chicken & dumpling broth, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or green beans off the table!!! She loves the organic Baby Mum Mum rice cracker/cookies, especially when her teeth really hurt. Reid loves them too! They don't have much taste, but he calls them "bum bums" and eats about ten at a time!

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She's sitting up and crawling around everywhere these days - and she's such a fast little crawler! Last night she crawled up two stairs all by herself that went into the elevated sitting area at mom and dad's house. I couldn't believe it! And last week mom put her in her crib to get clothes for her out of the closet and when she turned around Lil was standing up in the crib smiling at her. Pulling up is her new favorite thing to practice. She's starting to understand direction and the layout of our house because now she crawls from room to room and back and forth from the playroom to the living room depending on where she can find Reid. She loves playing with his choo choo trains and loves it when he crawls around the house with her! She thinks she has to be doing everything that he does! 

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LilliAnn Loves:

-watching Reid play Elmo on the computer

-snuggling and crawling around on our bed at night

-taking baths with Reid

-chicken & dumplings!

-when I give her drinks of water from my straw

-crawling over the lower part of the coffee table at the lake

-playing in the sand

-playing peek-a-boo

-talking to her Papa Kelbo

-when mommy gets her belly

-bananas, carrots, & sweet potatoes

-watching Baby Einstein

-pulling all the diapers out of the diaper basket in our bedroom

-the rainforest jumparoo

-her seedling Ivy doll

-playing outside

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Thank you, LilliAnn, for being my little "joy." You have completed our little family of four and we love you so much! I heard the song, "I hope you dance," the other day and I thought of you and all of the things that I want for you in life. I pray that you'll have a tremendous amount of self-confidence and know that you can do anything you set your mind to doing. Take pride in your family, value your body, respect others' opinions, stay strong in your beliefs, notice the "little joys" in life, dream BIG, and pray often. You were named after a great woman and I know you'll accomplish great things!