Can you actually believe it – my baby girl is 6 months old this Tuesday?! Back in June, 6 months old seemed like an age away, and now here is it, and she’s eating and sitting up, knows her name, smiling and laughing, showing emotions and affection. Ahhhh. I’ve also decided now that she is 6 months, that I will actually refer to her a Lily on the blog now rather than Honey Nut. We do still use that nickname at home, but I’m afraid people are thinking we’re a bit nuts and that Honey Nut is her real name! Anyhoo, here is Lily over the past 2 months. My last update was at the end of 3 months, which you can read here.

That’s 9 weeks of Honey Nut, I mean Lily :-P, all in one go! She has grown so much, you can see how much tighter her pink jeggings are in week 18 and week 24!

What Lily likes:

Dada! The smiles he gets just for being in the room 🙂
Me and Tyler – obvs
Food! Purees, biscuits, bread, she’ll eat anything if it’s near her mouth!
Lying on her playmat and grabbing the hanging toys, and chewing them.
Looking at her mobile and stretching to try and grab them
Sitting up and having toys to pick up and chew
Watching Tyler and grabbing him if he is near
My yellow Iphone
Having no clothes on and chewing her toes
Being in the buggy
Lying on the changing mat
Being sang to or read to
Rhymetime

What Lily dislikes
Jumpers
Getting dressed, having her jacket put on
Car journeys
Having trapped wind
Having her nose wiped
Being overtired and not being able to get to sleep in the daytime without being pushed in her buggy – argh!

How is Lily

Weight/Size – I haven’t had her weighed as I can’t be bothered to go to the clinic. It’s right next to Tyler’s school, but it’s at 9.30am, and I drop Tyler off at 8.45am, so that’s 45 minutes in the cold to kill – no thanks. But I can see Lily is growing, her clothes are getting tighter! At the start of 3 months, 3-6 month clothes was a bit bagger, and now at 25 weeks they are a perfect fit, and some leggings are too tight or too short. She is totally ready for 6-9 month clothes. She is in size 3 nappies.

Food – From 16 weeks, she has been having formula in the day (three 5oz bottles), and I breastfeed her in the evenings, first feed of the morning and for any nightfeeds. I started her on rusk biscuits and baby rice at week 21. From 22 weeks I started weaning her with baby purees, starting with pear, sweet potato, carrot, green beans, parsnip, apple, brocolli. I tried a new fruit or veg every 3 days. I use my Tommee Tippee blender to make the purees – first I chop up and boil the veg/fruit in water to make them soft, and them blend them. I store them in baby pots in the freezer, I have the Tesco Baby pots which hold 40ml. When I need them, I just microwave a pot for a minute or two. I have also bought baby biscuits for her to nibble on between meals, and this seems to stop her crying. The spoons I use are the Boots own-brand 4 month spoons, they have a soft tip which is perfect.

Sleep – She falls asleep around 7 to 8pm while I feed her. Then she cries in the night when she wants a feed, it’s usually 2 or 3 times a time, roughly around 11pm, 2am and 5.30am. If she had a 5.30am feed, she doesn’t have a morning feed when she wakes first thing, she refuses it and is happy just playing or watching Tyler. In the day, she naps when we walk to school 8.15 – 9.15am, and after Rhymetime when I walk around the shops 11.30am – 12.30pm, and again when I pick up Tyler 2.45 – 3.45pm. So those are her 3 daytime naps.

Development – She started sitting up at 24 weeks. She’s constantly stretching to grab things. She leans forward so much, it’s as it she wants to crawl. She can’t roll over though. Her hearing is amazing, any sound can’t distract her and she turns her head to find where the sound is coming from. The teething continues and she chews her finger, like right at the side of her mouth. The teeth are still under her gum though. She is good at listening and pays attention at Storytime in the library. She is loud, and she babbles a lots, making sounds like ‘mum mum mum, da da da’ and she is drooling loads. When she is exciting, she pants like a puppy and her legs kick like crazy. She’s quite strong, and if she actually whacks you in the face with her arms, it hurts!

What we have done

We have done so much in the 9 weeks since I wrote her last update, but mostly it’s getting into a weekly routine with our regular Rhymetimes at The Curve, Salvation Army Toddler Group, and Storytime at Windsor Library. She has baby friends now that she sees each week 🙂 We went into London on our own for the Mothercare Press Show, and she was fab on the train and bus, and happy meeting all the people at the show. She’s a bus regular, as we get one each weekday with Tyler on the way back from school. She’s now sitting up in highchairs at cafes and eating her baby food when we are out, so that’s a new thing for us too. She has also visited Tyler’s school where we got to stay in the class, and all of Tyler’s classmates were so excited to meet her, she certainly was Miss Popular!

How am I

The last update I wrote about how I was finding things tough, and I recently wrote this post about it. I can happily say these last two months have been completely different, and I am happy, I look forward to the baby activities and the new friends I have made. It is lovely to catch up on how our babies are doing each week. I have bought new clothes – ie my colourful coats, my new boots and hat, so I feel happy going out and about, and not feeling drab! Having a daily routine and switching off that TV, has honestly made life with a baby so much more bearable. I feel like I am enjoying her now, and even though she is a drama queen, because my mood is better I can solve the problem and stop her crying much more easily than before, when I couldn’t think straight. I feel I am looking forward to things now, and enjoying everyday.

That’s all I can think of now. So, woohoo, we made it through the first 6 months. Amazing 😀

Oh and here is the latest photo of her. Just heart-meltingly gorgeous!!!