6 Months: Palmer's Life

Tomorrow (July 21) marks Palmer’s “half birthday.” 6 months. Already!

6 months,16 lbs 12 oz, 25 1/2"

Sleep:

Palmer continues to have a really great night time sleeping routine – she still sleeps 11+ hours a night. The day time naps however aren’t always so fantastic. Some days we can get 2 great naps from her. Other times naps don’t happen at all, which makes for one tired, grumpy little girl and a tired mommy! Her new thing for sleeping is sleeping on her tummy. With her being so active and moving so much, there isn’t too much I can do as far as positioning her, but we are OK with that because it means she isn’t sleeping on her flat spot anymore!

New Skills and Developments: 

1. Sitting up! Palmer can sit up so well now! I’m amazed at how much strength her little back has! She can sit for long periods of time and just play. I hardly have to worry about her falling over much anymore.
2. She is so active and mobile. Although she isn’t crawling yet, she sure is trying! She rolls all over the place. We can’t keep this girl still! We can put her down in one spot and not long later, she has turned herself upside-down, backwards and across the floor or crib! Guess we need to get on those baby gates, pronto, because I don’t think it will be too much longer before this little girl is moving at full speed!
3. Independent play. Palmer is content just playing by herself for short periods of time, which is good for both Palmer and Mommy! She will lay on a blanket and play with her toys or lay in her crib and just giggle and sing to herself.
4. Temper Tantrums? It’s beginning already. It’s mostly only when she is tired, but it still happens. If she doesn’t get her way, she’s not happy!
5. Curiosity. Palmer has become so much more curious in the past month. She wants to see everything that is going on. She likes to watch Leaf outside. She wants to watch me in the kitchen. She likes to see what’s going on everywhere. But, with this curiosity comes distraction. Since she is always wondering what’s happening elsewhere, she gets distracted very easily which can make feeding time or nap time a challenge!

Palmer’s Favorites

1. Leaf! Palmer LOVES Leaf! She giggles when she pets him. She giggles when he chases the ball. She giggles when she rides him like a horse. She giggles when he lays in the grass. Palmer loves him and I think he is really starting to warm up to her more! It’s so cute to watch! They will be best friends soon (until she starts to torment him I guess!)
2. Swimming! This girl loves to swim. Whether it’s at the Henderson outdoor pool, the little blow up pool in the back yard, or the bath tub, she loves the water! Now she is learning to splash and play in the water more. She gets pretty excited – it’s too cute!
3. Her Jumparoo. Palmer is now learning to jump while in it. Before she use to just play with the toys on it and listen to the music. Now, she jumps and dances and squeals because it’s so much fun!!
4. Bananas. This girl loves food and I think bananas are her favorite! She has yet to really dislike anything we have given her. I’m not sure if we got lucky and she won’t be a picky eater or if she just loves anything she can get in her mouth.
5. Reading stories. We read Palmer a book nearly every night. She is so attentive to the stories. She sits so nice and still and watches you read and touches the pages. Super cute!

We also started cloth diapers this month. We’ve only been using them just a few days, but so far, I like them. I’ll have to make a post dedicated to cloth diapers again once we’ve used them longer!

Our Thoughts:

Rewards: It’s so great to see how much Palmer is developing. I am amazed at how much this little girl can do already! She surprises us more and more every day. People told us “She may be a month behind and may take some time to catch up to other babies” but we haven’t seen this at all. In fact, she was quick to roll over, quick to sit up, quick to do many things. I’m sure she will be quick to crawl, walk and talk too. This little one doesn’t let anything stop her!

Struggles: I am having a hard time finding activities that are age appropriate for her which will encourage learning. Yes, I know she is always learning, but I find if I don’t come up with new things for her to be doing, I get bored. 12 hours of daytime with her, most days is super amazing and fun, but it’s also exhausting and can get boring if I can’t find things to plan!