6 months

It is hard to believe that it has already been half a year since this girl was born.

These pictures were taken on a Sunday morning while mom was away.
Steve had to dress her in her Johnny Cash onesie one last time before it no longer fits.

Time really is flying by. It seems like just yesterday we were cradling our newborn in our arms. Now she is sitting up on her own, grabbing everything in sight, and moving around by way of her army crawl.

Kate had her six month check-up on Thursday.

Checking herself out in her favorite mirror while we waited for Dr. DiMundo.

She impressed Dr. DiMundo again. This time it was with her fluid crawl to sit move that she has been working hard on the last few weeks. Dr. DiMundo said most babies don't do it until they are closer to 8 months-old.

At the appointment we learned that Kate has baby eczema. She has had a rash since Thanksgiving that has come and gone, but gets worse after she spends a day crawling around the house. We thought it was from that or maybe connected to teething (her second bottom front tooth just broke through last night). But, DiMundo said it is eczema. We are hoping that keeping her coated in special creams and Aquaphor will do the trick to keep it until control and eventually she will out grow it. There was one day last week when we were very concerned because it spread all over her body, but it is better now and so far Kate is not scratching and does not seem irritated by it.

Otherwise, she's doing great and is continuing to grow. She's tall and has a big head! Here are her latest stats:

Height: 26.5 inches - 75th percentile (2 inch gain from 2 months ago)
Weight: 16 lbs. 2 oz. - 50th percentile (almost a 2 pound gain)
Head Circumference: 43.0 centimeters - 75% percentile (1.7 cm bigger than 2 months ago)

At 6 months old, here are some of the things that Kate is up to:

She is very eager to explore everything and see how it tastes. Anything she can get her hands on goes directly in her mouth. That is, everything except solid foods. She is still not interested in eating. Last week she went from gagging and refusing to swallow during mealtime, to just refusing to open her mouth at all. Dr. Dimundo said she is not ready. She said Kate is so active and focused on mastering crawling that it's all she can probably think about right now. We are going to take a break and try again with some new food options and feeding methods in a couple of weeks. 

We are also hoping that as she gets more settled with her new movements and her teething eases up, her good nighttime sleep habits will return. The last few weeks have been rough as Kate has been up 2-4 times a night for long stretches of time. Sometimes she wants to eat, but other times she is just awake and doesn't want to be in her crib.

Happy Half Birthday Kate! 

We sure do love your fun and inquisitive personality that we are seeing more of every day.
We can't wait to see all the places you'll go.