Eulee's Half Birthday

Has 6 months really passed since Eulee joined our family?  It's amazing how quickly and slowly time can pass.  Quick because everyday flies right by, slow because Eulee seems stubborn with the sleep thing.  For some reason she doesn't want to get with the "sleep through the night" program.  The problem is that her sleep is still unreliable.  Some nights she sleeps from 8pm until 5-6am, I nurse quickly and she sleeps another 2-3 hours.  Other nights she wakes around 3:30am and cries for an hour.  Seriously?  Aren't we done with this?  Like I said, unreliable.  So we never know what each night will bring.  Some mornings I feel pretty good, other mornings I'm dragging.

Eulee had her 6 month appointment and it looks like her body is evening out a bit.  She only gained about one pound, so she's in the 40th percentile for her weight now.  Here are her stats--

Weight: 15 lbs 11 oz (40th percentile)

Height: 25.25" (25th percentile)

This month Eulee has accomplished so much!

1. She grabs both her feet now!  As a matter of fact, she grabs everything.  She has that baby-pinchy grab.  You know, the kind that pinches and scratches your skin...grabs and rips out your hair, especially the ones by your neck...you know, the grab every parent loves.

2. She can roll around...but she only likes to roll towards her left.  (I love Eulee's face in the bottom right picture when Eli is "petting" her head.)  And now that she rolls, she even sleeps on her tummy!

3. She is "talking" louder now and echoes sounds.  She "talks" like she's screaming and screeching.  Then if you echo what she says, she keeps going.  It's so cute to have a "conversation" with her.  It's hard to get a good video of this because once she sees the camera, she doesn't continue what she was doing.  She still "talks" in this video, but it's nowhere near as loud as how she normally sounds.

4. She loves sitting in the Bumbo.

5. She is starting to like the Exersaucer.  It's not her favorite thing, but the kids entertain her while she's in it so she'll stay in it.

6. She started eating solids!

So far she loves bananas, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.  When we feed these to her, she actively leans forward to get more.  She even gets upset if I don't scoop it fast enough.  

She's ok with brown rice.  And she doesn't seem to enjoy papaya.  When we feed her the papaya, she arches her back, cries, and looks away.  What do you think?

Here is her first bite of solids...brown rice...

I just love first solids pics, don't you?

7. She has a short-temper.  When she gets upset, she starts to breathe quickly and loudly, as if she's hyperventilating.  Then she starts to stomp and kick her feet.  It's cute...for now.

8. She has found her thumb...and she enjoys sucking on it, too!  This should mean better sleep for us, but so far that has been a myth.  She still enjoys sucking her favorite finger, too.  Weird!

9. She has this smile that looks like she's going to explode...like there's so much happiness she can't contain herself....with the crinkly nose, squinty eyes, and kicking feet.  We LOVE it!

10.  She loves to be entertained by her siblings.  She laughs whenever they do funny things and she just adores them.  And the kids all love to hug her and make her laugh.  Evie used to call her "Louie," but now she's her "Loulee."  So, we're getting there.  Although I have to admit that Louie and Loulee are pretty cute nicknames.

For her half birthday we had some ice cream cake with some of my family.  It was a joint cake for Eulee's half birthday and my belated birthday.

Happy half birthday, little one!
(look how serious she looks in this pic!)