What's Molly Up To At 6 Months Old?

Molly turned 6 months old this week and she's growing like weed! There are days when I get home from work and I swear she looks bigger than when I put her to bed the night before! She's changed so much recently and is doing new things all the time, so I thought we'd just give you a list of what she's up to and what makes little Miss Molly special at 6 months old:

• Molly loves to experiment with making different noises...squeaks, squawks, chirps, and coos. Sometimes she sounds so much like a bird that I've taken to calling her my "Little Birdie", especially when she starts flapping her little arms like bird wings. Lately, her two favorite sounds to make have been yells and these little melodic sighs. Anytime she's playing, she'll yell loudly in delight at her toys. When she's lying in her crib going to sleep, she likes to sigh over and over again, experimenting with different pitches...high ahhhhhhhh...low ahhhhhhhh...medium ahhhhh. I love to stand outside the door just to listen :-).


• One of Molly's favorite things to do is to play with "the other cute baby" in the mirror. She'll sit on my dresser for quite a while talking to, petting, and poking her look-alike playmate in the big mirror.


• Molly's favorite book, which we read every night before bed is "Baby Giggles." Each page has an adorable photograph of a real baby and she'll talk to and stroke the pages just like she does with her mirror reflection. She'll spend a few seconds studying each baby's face and then flip the page to see the next one. She prefers to read the book from back to front.


• Every night before bed, she likes to play with her caterpillar from her GG and Pop, especially the puffy pink antennae.


• She sleeps stretched out on her back with her hands tucked behind her head, like she's relaxing on a blanket at the beach staring up at the clouds.


• She LOVES to stand up. She'll stand fully upright in her exersaucer and step alternately with her feet. She's thrilled when Mommy or Daddy holds her up so she can "walk" or "dance."


• Molly technically started solid food when she turned 6 months old, but I'd say in the last week, she's actually eaten a total of maybe 2 Tbs. of brown rice cereal. Most of it either ends up on her bib or left in the bowl. She doesn't hate it, but she doesn't love it either. Occasionally, she'll open her mouth wide for another taste, but after a few bites, her lips are pursed tight and she's done. We're taking it slow and letting her get used to the idea gradually.

"WHAT?!?! You expect me to like this weird, squishy stuff?"

• One sure way to get a smile out of Molly is to play peek-a-boo. We started with a big burp cloth that we'd put over her face. She'd pull it down and smile broadly when we'd say "Peek-A-Boo". Her dexterity is getting so good that we've graduated to a tiny washcloth folded in half. She's able to, with great aim and accuracy, pick up the corner of the cloth and pull it off.


• Molly's most mobile time is when she's getting changed. As soon as she's naked, she starts kicking her legs, pulling her toes into her mouth, flapping her arms like a bird, and trying to roll over. Something about being naked brings out her rowdy spirit.

Here are a few pictures of our 6-month-old Molly:

Daddy and his little thug get into some trouble together while Mommy's at work.

Molly lets us know her opinion of all this snow by bringing out "The Lip."

"I triple-dog-dare you!" All we need is a flagpole :-)

Eric improvised a Batman utility belt for Molly so all her favorite toys are at her fingertips and he's not chasing them down from where she's thrown them all over the room. As you can see from her blurry arms, she's flapping her little "bird wings" at super-sonic speeds, as usual.

A 3-Re-Heat Afternoon...

You can usually gauge the craziness of my day by how many times I have to reheat my coffee. I just re-heated my coffee for the third time and finally enjoyed the Oreo that's been sitting on the coffee table for the last 3 hours. Life with an almost-6-month old is bound to be a little hairy sometimes, but some days are worse than others. Indulge me as I share my afternoon with you...

A typical weekday afternoon starts with me arriving home around 3:25pm. Eric starts work at 3:30 so he has about 4 minutes and 30 seconds to give me the run-down on naps, feedings, and diaper changes before giving me a quick squeeze and closing the office door. My homecoming usually coincides with either the beginning or end of a nap. I generally have at least 20 minutes to myself if Molly is finishing a nap and possibly over an hour if she's just starting a nap. This is when I savor my one cup of coffee for the day that Eric has brewed for me in the moments before I arrive home (FYI-I'm married to my HERO!!!). Occasionally, Molly will wake up and I'll have to reheat my coffee after a diaper change and feeding. At worst, I'll have to re-heat twice.

Well, today was a 3-times reheat afternoon! First of all, after two snow days and two 2-hour delays at school this week, Molly's schedule is totally wacky and she woke up from her second nap 20 minutes before I got home. She was geared up to go and Mommy's coffee time was traded in for Molly's playtime. After some rousing floor play, a tickle fest, "standing" practice, a lively reading of Dr. Seuss' ABC's, and a feeding, I settled Molly in her exersaucer. No sooner had I curled up on the couch with my reheated coffee and a few cookies, then I heard the unmistakable sound of what can only be described as a "poop explosion"! The pungent golden poo had flowed out through the diaper legs and down her pants to fill Molly's socks, shoes, AND the bottom of the exer-saucer!!!! The mother of all poop explosions!

"Who, ME? I wouldn't create a poop explosion!"

After a bath, diaper change, clothes change, rinsing out all the soiled clothes in the sink (which was interrupted by Molly bumping her head. Ahhhh!), and reheat #2, Molly proceeded to spew copious amounts of spit-up on her playmat, fall on said spit-up and ROLL in it!!! After having a good laugh and another clean-up job, I gave up on savoring my hot cup of coffee and, instead, spent the rest of the evening squeezing my beautiful girl, blowing raspberries, kissing cubby cheeks (and fingers, and toes, and knees), and reading boardbooks...Well, I was reading...Molly was licking the pages.

So, here I sit, savoring my cup of coffee that was brewed 4 hours ago and re-heated 3 times. But, I don't mind. I got to listen to my daughter giggle uncontrollably today when we read the train book. I got to see her face light up like the sunshine when I walked in the door this afternoon. I got to watch her jump up and down in delight when she played "Old McDonald" for the tenth time in her exer-saucer. I got to watch my daughter fall asleep in my arms with her tiny hand wrapped around my finger. I got to be a mom today and I'll get to be a mom again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. Truthfully, I'm starting to like reheated coffee.

Security Lotion?

For some, it's a blanket. For others, a teddy bear or favorite doll. But for Molly, it's a bottle of Eucerin Calming Creme lotion. Every changing session begins with her writhing around like a fish out of water, craning her neck until she can see her precious Eucerin. Then she HAS to get her hands on it and hug it to her chest before the business of changing can begin. I guess I'll start to worry if she wants to take it to kindergarten with her :-).