Six Months: Abby Becomes HappierThis month has seen a huge change in Abigail. She's gone from complaining almost all the time and needing to be walked or paid attention to almost constantly to being happy to sit by me and play with toys (or washcloths...or empty juice bottles...) while I'm doing things like making dinner or folding clothes. For the first time since she's been born I'm not having to do household work at top speed while she's sleeping but can actually set her down and know she'll be fine by me for a while. Being able to sit up - which she started doing consistently around the second week of July - has almost made her a different child. I can even take showers without her hollering from the bouncy chair the whole time...as long as she's sitting in the tub with me while I'm showering. We definitely have a close attachment at this point.
Abigail still doesn't have any teeth but she is intensely interested in eating. I've begun giving her baby crackers, but so far it's just for fun because she's interested. |
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I'm waiting for her teeth to come in before I start actually giving her food, but the brainwashing to like drinking water is progressing nicely - every time I'm holding her and drinking water and she watches me, I give her some. She's gotten pretty good at drinking out of a cup when she's thirsty, though when she's not she tends to spit the water out and end up soaking wet. She also drools so much that I've begun putting bibs on her to try to keep her a little drier, though I notice her skin's doing just fine and shows no sign of eczema from all the moisture. She's just very...damp.
In general, Abigail is getting really enjoyable to have around. Mom Turner says babies should go from newborn to six months because that's when they get fun, and while I've always loved her I have to admit that her increasingly bright alertness and interaction makes her better company by the day. She's definitely begun discriminating between Mom and everyone else and appears to have acquired a concept of "strangers" - up until now pretty much anyone could hold her as long as she was being held the way she liked being held, but Ben tried to give her to a friend she wasn't familiar with recently and she cried like she was being murdered. Thankfully for her, we have lots of people around all the time and she's very familiar with her aunts and uncles and grandparents, so she's no longer getting "peopled out" like she used to when she was younger and enjoys being held by and interacting with her extended family. I'm glad of this because I remember how much I loved being at my grandparents' house when I was little and all my aunts and uncles were still at home. I think that's when I decided I would like to have a big family someday. Never underestimate the thought process of a three-year-old!
In general, Abigail is getting really enjoyable to have around. Mom Turner says babies should go from newborn to six months because that's when they get fun, and while I've always loved her I have to admit that her increasingly bright alertness and interaction makes her better company by the day. She's definitely begun discriminating between Mom and everyone else and appears to have acquired a concept of "strangers" - up until now pretty much anyone could hold her as long as she was being held the way she liked being held, but Ben tried to give her to a friend she wasn't familiar with recently and she cried like she was being murdered. Thankfully for her, we have lots of people around all the time and she's very familiar with her aunts and uncles and grandparents, so she's no longer getting "peopled out" like she used to when she was younger and enjoys being held by and interacting with her extended family. I'm glad of this because I remember how much I loved being at my grandparents' house when I was little and all my aunts and uncles were still at home. I think that's when I decided I would like to have a big family someday. Never underestimate the thought process of a three-year-old!
