Holy cannoli! I actually just had a cannoli, so I feel extra special saying that. But now I'm sad there is no more cannoli. Anyway, SIX MONTHS. Half a year! Indiana's Half Birthday! What the heck? Another six months and she'll be a year? No. I wont hear it. Time flies when you're having fun!
And man, this last month was fun. As soon as we figured out Indiana's sleeping thing, she became the happiest baby. I mean, even happier than before. That baby needs her sleep, and when you give it to her, she's happy happy happy. I think in her five month post I mentioned we did some sleep training with Indiana, which was life changing. This past month we also nap trained, which was waaay harder, but had a similar effect. Where sleep training took her about a night to get the jist of things, nap training took about a week. It was ROUGH. But sooo worth it. And her naps still aren't perfect. You just gotta watch her like a hawk and if she starts getting sleepy, put her down to nap! And boom, an hour to two and a half hour nap! If you keep her up too long though, it's more of a struggle. She gets crazy and then when she does fall asleep, it's usually a crappy 30-40 minute nap. Respect the naps! Anyway, sleep training is a hot topic but I'm a fan. Indiana too. Nothing like laying your baby down, her falling asleep without a fuss (this does NOT always happen), and then picking up a happy well rested baby hours later! Plus, FREE TIME. What?! I'm still terrified to turn on the sewing machine for fear it will wake her (one day we will not live in such close quarters) but I have cut out a pattern for a baby sized dress. Eeee!
Aside from Indiana conquering sleep, she's done lots of other fun stuff this month! Not quite the dramatic changes from month 4 to 5, but she's still developing like crazy. No major signs of crawling, but she can roll all over the place now. It's her preferred mode of transportation. Front to back, back to front. Which means she's been sleeping on her belly about half the time. More specifically, face down into the mattress. Which means we've been paranoid as hell. But I'm trying to roll with it! Ha ha, punny. She can stand if you prop her up next to something, like the couch. She's really great at sitting up on her own, no hands! Everyday she can do it for longer, and I'm talking a while. She has to be in the mood though, sometimes I'll sit her up and she's just like nope I'm a floppy newborn again. She found her thumb! Some might think that's a bad thing but really we're all about it. She's awful with a pacifier and I mean, if babies suck their thumbs in the womb it's gotta be natural and okay, right? She doesn't do it all the time, but when she's sleepy she does and that's the important time. She's all about grabbing faces and giving open mouthed tongue-y kisses. Gross but sweet. Still very into putting evvvverything into her mouth. We are SO ready to see what she does with solid food. She watches us eat and even mimics chewing motions with her mouth. That girl wants some food. She starts this weekend and we're doing baby-led weaning. Here come the fun poops!
Overall Indiana is just generally pretty dang fun. Smiles and chuckles like crazy when we play with her. We haven't had a full on laughter session, but I'm eagerly waiting. "Talks" more and more. She's learned to scream, recreationally. Like with all her lung capacity. It was really funny at first but now I'm like... dang, my ears. It's awesome when she does it in public. She is very into the cats. She screams and smiles whenever they come into view. And then tries to grab them and give them open mouthed kisses. She loves them. They're still on the fence, but pretty tolerant. Greg is more patient than Sophie. We've started listening to classical music for an hour or so everyday. She mostly seems to not notice it, but I'll dance with her and every now and then I swear she's really listening. I love classical music, I'm hoping if we start her young she will too! I've got a baby piano on her Amazon wish list... I mean, if she's a child prodigy I wont be mad. She likes books, but mostly she wants to chew on them. We read all the time, and every night before bed. Likes to swim! Her little legs kicking in the water are probably the cutest thing to ever grace a pool. And Indiana LOVES her daddy. I've said this before, but y'all. You should see her face when he comes home from work. Daddy is the cool one. Maybe not as cool as the cats, but cooler than me for sure.
The rough parts? She still loses it if you walk away from her. She needs someone close, but oddly enough if there's a cat by her she's probably cool. Hasn't really had any fear of strangers yet though. She flirts with everyone. Oh and this has been happening her whole life, but she cries if you sneeze. It's sad but so cute. Indy gets psycho in the evenings. Not like crying or anything, but just like legit, a crazy baby. It's kind of funny, but also scary. No one needs sleep more than Indiana, I swear. Really this last month has been a good one. Such a change from the month before, that month was HARD. I know we'll have hard phases again soon enough so I'm just trying to soak in all the relative "calm" while I can. We still have rough days where I am just counting down the minutes until bedtime, but mostly it's been goooood.
Size-wise she's bigger? Still wearing six month clothes, but we've moved on to size 3 diapers. I have no idea what she weighs because our scale at home is super inaccurate. She's got a check up on Tuesday (and the dreaded shottttsssss), so we'll know then. She's getting more hair, finally! She's got lots of light brown fuzz coming in, looks a bit like a buzz cut. Still extra golden in the sun. And here we are at six months and she still has blue eyes. I think they're gonna stay. Tell me they're gonna stay!
AND WE'VE EXCLUSIVELY BREASTFED FOR SIX MONTHS! WOOOO! This is a big deal for me. Breastfeeding was something I wanted to work so badly and it hasn't always been easy but I'm so glad we've gotten as far as we have. And we're gonna keep on going! I love it. Indiana is so not cuddly, so our nursing time is the closest to snuggles I get. And I love that I am totally responsible for growing and nourishing that little marshmallow baby! It's a good feeling. I know breastfeeding isn't or doesn't work for everyone and that is so okay, but I love love love it. I'm proud of us.
I think that is my current favorite photo of her. She's such a goof. A goof who cannot stay still.
So happy half birthday, Indiana! It's been the most radical and wonderful six months of my life. You da best baby, and we love you so so so much. Thanks for being you and don't you ever quit, ya cutie-patootie.
And it was only a matter of time before this started happening:
These photo sessions are going to get more and more