6 Months!

I know that everyone always says this, but....I can't believe Mary Katherine is 6 months old! It really sounds old when I think that she's 1/2 of a year. Mary Katherine celebrated her 6 month birthday with her first ear infection and a trip to the doctor. Not so fun, but we did get to see how much she weighed---a whopping 20 lbs. 3 oz. !!!

I feel like Mary Katherine has grown and changed so much in the past month. She still very much dislikes being on her tummy. It takes about 5 seconds before she rolls over on her back. I've decided she might just scoot on her back rather than crawl. That would be a funny sight! She does a pretty good job sitting up. She topples as she sees an object she wants and lunges toward it. She's very active with her hands and wants everything she sees. As you can probably see in most pictures, she still has the blocked tear duct. That will be something we will probably be dealing with in the next month or so.

She's a great solids eater and has loved getting to explore different tastes. She now eats green beans, peas, avocados, squash, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and cereal. In two of the pictures above you will see her chewing on a teether with a frozen strawberry inside. She LOVED that. It also made a very BIG mess! Her tooth continues to come out and it looks like she might be getting the second lower one soon as well.

I took most of these pictures today. As you can see, she wasn't feeling the best. The top left picture cracks me up--it's as if she's saying, "mom...I'm tuckered out".

Guzzler!

Mary Katherine has shown a lot of interest in my drinks lately. I've let her try drinking some of my water out of the cup a few times and she loves it. I don't give her much, although I think she would drink it all if I let her! Today everytime she saw my cup she would lunge at it and make grunting sounds.

The Eruption!

Yes...you may have figured it out...Mary Katherine now has her first tooth. A couple of days ago she was unusually cranky. I took a look and overnight the very top of her lower front tooth had popped out. Now (two days later) the full top surface of the tooth is out. I know you really can't see much from the photos, but it's the best I could do.

MK and Mom

Sew TIme

Since I've somewhat given Roger a hard time in some of the posts, I better give him more credit...I've been wanting to sew now for a while, but haven't had good space for the sewing machine. Roger made me this desk to fit in the corner of the room downstairs. It's perfect. Now I just have to get to work on those homemade elastic-waist cotton denim jeans he's been begging me for. Pockets or no pockets in the rear...what do you think???

Plastic Bags

Now what is it they say about babies playing with plastic bags?

What a day!

Mary Katherine and I enjoyed the nice day outside today. It was close to 70 degrees and relatively low wind. MK especially likes the walks now that she gets to ride facing out instead of in the car seat!

Speaking of addictions...

Okay...this post isn't really about MK, but her dad. Roger has an addiction--a serious addiction. You may be wondering if I should post this, but I think it's time we get it out in the open. Roger loves pickles--not just any pickle, but Best Maid hamburger sliced dill pickles. He eats them out of the jar at all times of the day--in the morning before going to work, right when he comes home, and through the evening. It's like an alcohol addiction as in I can smell it on his breath after he eats them.

Two nights ago is when I confirmed that this love has become an addiction. Mary Katherine was awake around 2:00 and I wondered if it was a little too hot so I asked Roger if he would go downstairs and adjust the thermostat. When he comes back upstairs he leans over to kiss me and sure enough I smell the pickles. I asked him why in the world he was eating pickles at 2:00AM and he said he had a craving for them. So in the time that he woke up, went downstairs, and adjusted the temperature he craved pickles! Addiction! Too bad I couldn't get a picture to post of him sneaking in the pickle jar in the middle of the night.

A typical feeding...(lately)

For the past few days Mary Katherine has decided to fast during the daytime and get most of her nourishment at night. This means I am up three times a night and she is content eating then until I force her off.

During the daytime is a different story. This is typically how the nursing has been going... We get to a quiet, non-distractive, part of the house and I make sure I have "everything" out and ready for her. If I get her in the assumed position without being ready then she may refuse it all together. Very "gently" I quickly try to get her to latch on. If she does latch on then that's when her hands get busy. The hand underneath is clawing at my love handles. At first you don't mind. Then after a little bit it starts to really irritate you. Her hand just constantly opens and closes trying to grab on to my fat. The other hand meanwhile wonders around my face grabbing my nose, mouth, and even better sometimes it finds the other breast. Again, so irritating! But I don't want to do anything to make her quit nursing so I let her continue.

After about 2-3 minutes of nursing her head begins to arch. I try to get her back on but am unsuccessful as her whole body is now making a backwards "C" while passing gas at the same time because of all the strain in resisting mom's breast. We try the same on the other side with the same result. We usually continue this process until she begins to cry and then it's then that I give up and accept the reality that I will probably still be feeding her 3 times a night until she's one. Uggh!

Oh no... the starting of another bad addiction

MK found the Cheetos bag while Roger was making his lunch yesterday. As you can see she enjoyed it!

(Don't worry she didn't get any of the cheetos.)

Lookin' Good!

Who can resist a chubby baby in a two-piece? I just happened to come across this adorable swimsuit on-line when I was looking for an outfit for MK's 6 month pictures. It was on sale and I thought we better make sure she's prepared for the summer. Look out summer, here we come! Mom thinks she's going to be a knock-out. Wouldn't you agree?

I'm not sure what she's thinking with the look she was giving me. I don't think she really enjoyed the modeling session.