Anna at 6 months

Anna's Stats at 6 months:

Height = 26 inches;  73rd percentile

Weight = 17 lbs, 1 oz;  75th percentile

Hed Circumferece = 42.3cm;  50th percentile

 Things Anna is doing:

-Almost sitting up on her own-- still slightly wobbly and will topple over without support.

-Scratching things (mainly me).  She has figured out how to curl her fingers some, and intentionally scratch her fingernails along different surfaces.

-Rolling from front to back to front to back-- but mainly to her right.  Therefore she can still get stuck when she comes up against an obstacle.

-Sleeping inconsistently--sometimes waking up 3 to 4 times per night.  I've started trying to let her "cry it out" if it's been any less than 3 hours since her last feeding during the night.

-Becoming very busy-- her hands are always reaching, grabbing things, people's faces, etc.  This is especially funny to me when she is flailing her arms and exploring my face with her hands while nursing.  She's also very busy exploring her activity center.

-Growling-- the best possible description for the sound she is making all of the time.  Kind of like a bear cub, or shall we say tiger cub, since she was born into a Missouri Tigers family!  You would think this would be a sound of disgust, but she uses it to express a variety of emotions (including happiness).

-Developing an interest in other people's food-- at a birthday dinner for my dad, he was holding Anna while trying to eat his cupcake, and she kept watching each bite go in, and eventually redirected the spoon to her mouth.  Mom and I were crying, we were laughing so hard.  Anna's first taste of "real food" was a carrot cake cupcake-- let's just say that she LOVED real food.  From the expressions on her face, pureed carrots and bananas since then just haven't quite been the same experience :)

 

A few more pictures of Anna at 6 months

Had to document these cheeks!

Anna is one fun little girl!

Anna at 5 Months

Anna's new activities:
-Anna has become more proficient at rolling from back to front, although she gets frusterated once she is on her stomach for long.  This has sometimes had an adverse effect on her sleeping at night.
-Anna has just developed the ability to grab her feet, pull off her socks, and more recently to stick her feet in her mouth.
-Anna enjoys licking things.
-One sweet thing Anna is doing is curling/cuddling into you when you are holding her, and making a loud high-pitch squeal.
-Anna now makes a lot of high-pitch squeals, in general :)

-Anna occasionally has a strong preference that it should be silent while she is eating. Sometimes if Ryan or I are talking while she is trying to eat, she will start making a loud, frusterated, humming noise of disapproval.
-Anna likes to explore people's faces with her hands, when she is allowed to.

-Anna's hands are now busy all the time, ie grabbing Grandma's glasses, batting at different toys, etc.
-Anna is enjoying jumping in her Jumperoo!  Super cute :)

Other information:
-Anna had seemed more fussy for the last 3 to 4 weeks, so I took her to the pediatrician to see if she possibly still had her ear infection. We found out she 1) no longer has an ear infection and 2) is not teething-- the Dr just said she is just at the age where babies "are more aware, and start developing more preferences and opinions", lol :)
-What I have realized is that since Daylight Savings Time (approx 3-4 weeks ago), I have been trying keep Anna awake longer at night, so that she'll sleep in longer in the morning (although it hasn't been working), so her increased fussiness may be due to not getting enough sleep. The last couple of days I've been putting her to bed when she wants to (~6:45pm), and she has been sleeping in later (~12 hours), has been taking better naps during the day, and has been more back to her less-fussy self!   I'm thinking that whoever it was that told me that for babies, "sleep breeds sleep", knew what they were talking about!
-Ryan and I trimmed Anna's hair for the first time, because it was already starting to get in her eyes.







Anna explores the world through licking.

Showing off her new haircut




 

Anna enjoys matching her cousin Clara!  Thanks to my mom for making their Christmas dresses!

Anna at 4 Months

Anna's Stats at 4 Months:

Height = 25 inches;  75th percentile

Weight= 15 lbs, 2 oz;  85th percentile (down from the >97th percentile at her 2 month check-up)

Head Circumference= 41cm;  50th percentile

 

Sleeping information:

-She is developing a more regular sleep/awake cycle during the day. Naps and eating are more predictable.

-She is regularly sleeping 11 to 12 hours straight at night, Wooh-hooh!   At her 4 month check-up, the doctor was suprised by this, and told her that she could still be getting up 1 or 2 times a night, if she wanted.

-Most of the hair on Anna's head is approaching 3 inches long, except for the 2 inch nearly bald spot on the back of her head. Proof that she is sleeping on her back, per the pediatrician's recommendation.

 

Other information:

-She has rolled from back to front (approx 3 times over a 3 week period), and more recently from front to back (2 times).  These have not been repeated often, so could have been an accident :)

-Bibs have now become a regular part of Anna's outfits, due to increased drooling.

-She has her first ear infection, and has been a bit more vocal and emotional because of it.

-She is trying to grasp at different objects, and noticing more things in general (such as taking time to look at and evaluate my scarves)

-She has developed the fine motor skills necessary to grab and hold onto my hair!

-She is now laughing and squealing when you pretend to eat her sides and tummy, and also when you kiss her cheeks.

-Whenever she is starting to get tired or is relaxing, she has a new "go to" position... two fingers in mouth, one hand over eyes/nose area...

Anna was a pea pod for Halloween :)

A few photos of Anna's Eldon visit...

 

A photo with the tripod on Roger & Caryl's visit to Columbia... we had a really pretty 70 degree week-end right before the temperature dropped.

 

 

And the grand finale...

 

 

Anna at 3 Months

Things Anna is doing:

-Smiling a lot more.

-Talking a lot more.  Anna and Ryan have some fun conversations, where he's trying to imitate her different vocal noises, and she's encouraged to try out some new ones.

-"Sleeping through the night" sometimes, if you mean sleeping 7 to 8 hours straight  (even if the 8 hours ends at 3:30am)

-Getting startled and crying at loud noises such as her daddy 1)coughing 2)laughing 3)cheering while watching sports

-Becoming less interested in her swing.

-Becoming more interested and better at using her pacifier-- this is becoming the key to calming her when she's fussy and helping her to take her afternoon nap.

-Enjoying having books read to her (especially her books with high-contrast, black and white pictures.)

-Laughing consistently at two things in paticular:

1) When I'm pretending to eat her hand.

2) When I keep leaning in to kiss different parts of her face.

Anna being three months old also marked the end of my 12 weeks of maternity leave and going back to work (only one day per week, though).

Thankfully Anna is in good hands :)

A few more photos of Anna at 3 months old...

Visiting her Uncle John's house





 

First visit to Arkansas-- she did a lot better on the car ride than expected!



All dressed up and ready to attend church at FBC Eldon.

Anna will imitate someone sticking out their tongue at her.



Here Anna is busy talking.



This is an expression she makes when concentrating
 on making new vocal sounds.



So far each stage of Anna's life has been so fun for us-- we really enjoy her!

Anna at 2 Months

Anna had her 2 month check-up on Monday.  Here were her stats... Compared to other girl babies her age...

-Head circumference = 50th percentile (this would have been higher if measured around her chubby cheeks!)

-Height= 75th percentile (23 inches long)

-Weight= So, the chart stops at >97th percentile, and Anna is above the >97th percentile (14lbs)!  She's a good little eater!

Anna at 1 week old;  8lbs 2oz

Anna at 2 months old;  14lbs

Things Anna is doing:

-Smiling back at someone's smile

-Smiling in response to someone making her legs kick around

-Quickly retracting her feet when they are being tickled

-Cooing in response, when someone is looking into her eyes

-Exploring making diverse new sounds. One example was when we were watching "Mirror Mirror", the wicked step-mother cackled, and Anna tried to mimic her :)

-Trying to chime in when Ryan sings to her

-Prefering to be held in a sitting position

-Snorting a lot! One of Ryan's nicknames for her is "Our Little Snorter"

-Enjoying relatively loud music, especially the band Third Day-- this is Ryan's trick to putting her to sleep when she is fussy.

Anna is happy next to her cousin Clara-- one of her first
 genuine smiles caught on camera.