Happy 6 Months, Raegan!

Raegan is 6 months old!

I'm several days late on this post. We took a trip to the beach on the actual day that Rae turned 6 months old (more on the the beach trip in an upcoming post).

Nonetheless, here are some highlights of the last fun month!

Raegan is sitting up! I am so thrilled about this feat. Not only has it opened up a whole new door for her independence, but it also allows her to explore and be entertained more while at Daycare. At Daycare, before she could sit up, Raegan would either be hanging out in a bumbo seat, bouncy seat, etc. Granted, her teachers do spend some one-on-one time with her, but they can't sit with her like I do at home while handing her toys (over and over) that she knocks to the floor. Now that she can sit up, Raegan can sit at Daycare and play with all of the toys that are within her reach. This makes me very happy.

Playing at home

But, after a while, I assume my old position. I'm really good at lying down. :)

As mentioned in a previous post, Raegan got her first tooth this past month. Since then, she has cut another...and, man are they sharp!! (I speak from first-hand experience.) They may not look scary, but believe me-you should be afraid...very afraid.

My own personal weapons. Just ask my mommy...

Raegan is loving music more and more. "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is her favorite song! Ok, that and her bath song that her daddy made up. :) If she hears either of these songs, she stops what she is doing, looks up, and immediately throws a HUGE smile at whoever is singing these favorites tunes. It's the sweetest thing!

She is still loving her feet...and, beyond grabbing them, she is all about putting them in her mouth. I know, I know...this is what all babies do. But, I'm still going to mention it and I'm still going to think it's cute because MY baby is the one doing it right now. ;)

So much fun

Silly tights are in my way

yummmmmmmmm

She has started getting upset when we leave the room. This isn't ALWAYS the case as there are plenty of times where we can leave her while she is playing and then come back a few minutes later with her never making a peep. But, there are definitely times (starting this past month) that she doesn't want daddy or mommy out of sight. An example......My heart officially broke into a million pieces when I dropped her off one day at Daycare this past month and instead of immediately starting to play like she normally does, she whimpered, looked at me, and cried as I started walking out the door. (And, thus begins the guilt...) Typically, Raegan is really social.(She has no problem with letting others hold her, play with her, etc.) At the same time, I guess all babies will be babies. When they really want their mommies and daddies, they are going to let you know. Let the research on handling "separation anxiety" begin...

Along the same lines as the above-Raegan has started reaching for us. I love love love this.

Since the day we started feeding Raegan rice cereal, she has been extremely interested in holding her own spoon. I let her. Every. Single. Time. And, since day 1, she has done a really good job with feeding herself. Yes, allowing her to hold her own spoon prolongs the whole feeding process. And, yes, she gets a lot messier as a result. But, why deprive her of this? In all actuality, she is great about getting the spoon straight into her mouth. So, while she may only be in the 17th percentile in weight, this girl has some serious hand-eye coordination.

My first solid feeding besides rice cereal. Sweet potatoes...today is Thursday...I like them today

Raegan is starting to recognize her name. I think that most babies typically do this a little earlier than 6 months. But, let's be honest, this is probably our fault. (Our=me, Chuck, my family, friends, etc) I have this thing about calling people by other names than their actual name. I'm going to estimate that the percentage of time that I call Raegan "Bitsy" or "Stinker" or "Sweetie" or "Punkin" , etc versus her actual name is, oh, right around 70%. Oops!

She has several new favorite toys:

#1: Raegan loves to play with any and everything that is NOT a toy. Why do babies do this? I used to think that they just wanted to play with things that adults always come into a lot of contact with as an attempt to "be like adults". However, I've noticed Raegan's desire to play with things that she has never even seen any adult have contact with. Sure, she loves the standard cell phone, remote, water bottle, etc. But, she also likes random objects that she rarely sees anyone coming into contact with. Like the coffee pot....

Clearly more interested in the coffee pot as opposed to her 16 toys I've fervently placed within her reach.

#2: My mom has given Raegan various little gifts from my Grandma Carol (who is deceased). Grandma Carol often kept generic gifts in one of her chest drawers in order to have them in case she needed to give as presents. When she passed away, my mom apparently got all of the items from her gift drawer and saved some. On special occasions, she gives Raegan gifts from the stash. So thoughtful and sweet. One of Raegan's gifts from Grandma Carol is her all-time favorite toy!

Raegan loves her little squeaky Bunny.

#3: After countless hours of picking up Raegan's toys after she threw them down, pushed them off her bumbo tray, and/or accidentally dropped them-I decided to get aggressive on finding a toy where all of the above wasn't possible.

What's wrong with these toys, mommy? I can't push them off my tray!

This has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of 6 month milestone; however, I couldn't resist posting these pics. Take a look at our 6 month old ballerina! She looks like a natural to me... ;)

Preparing for my pirouette

AND....Plie'

Life with Bitsy keeps getting better and better. My heart feels like it's going to explode because I love her so much. We are already thoroughly enjoying month 7.

Happy 6 Months, Raegan!