6 months

Lilli's been working on her brain growth ......

Length: 26" (50th %ile)

Weight: 15 1/2" (50th %ile)

Head circumference: 17" (75th %ile)

Apples and Pears

Our little baby is getting big! She certainly feels heavy after jiggling and rocking her to sleep in my arms. She's almost too long for her infant car seat. With a new wardrobe and a space-age high chair she's ready to start the second half of her first year. She certainly looks older now with her features filling out and more hair framing her face, a la Liza Minelli style. Her second tooth made an appearance this past week and she's testing them out on anything she can get her hands on. She left an impressive bite mark on Jon's arm (take that Daddy for trying to make me sleep!). We're more cautious about letting her pull our fingers towards her mouth and those razor sharp two teeth! Thankfully she's been relatively respectful of her main source of food! However the spoon gets it and whatever solid food happens to be on the spoon is sometimes swallowed. Mostly the food concentrates on her chin in big globules. Pear and oats is Lilli's favourite meal so far. Rice was a little too constipating. Sweet potato too weird. Apples too tart. Banana too gloopy.

Lilli's learning to get around .... and around ..... and around. She spins in slow circles on her belly, sometimes inching forwards, sometimes pushing backwards. She loves hanging out on the couch where she sits, lounges and rolls among the cushions. Each cushion feels unique to her constantly exploring fingers and toes. Her wobbly sitting position and her ability to spin or shuffle to desired toys has given her some slight independence and control over play time. And I've discovered a new toy in my cell phone. Lilli spends the final hour of every nap curled up warm and content in my lap while I play the computer game installed on my phone. I've never spent much time playing computer games and consequently I'm terrible. I have an irritating habit of pressing the wrong keys so my little man jumps when I want him to attack or runs in a suicide mission off cliffs when I want him to jump over the pixel ravines. It's taking me a while to progress through the castle levels while my princess, who I must free, languishes in a dungeon. But I have time. I fear the cell phone will die before I complete my quest.

Putting Lilli back to sleep is very similar to playing my cell phone game. It's ridiculously easy to make the wrong move and wake her up. Then the soothing process starts all over again.

Level 1: Rocking Lilli to sleep in arms

This level has few obstacles, but requires constant motion and arm power.

Level 2: The slow descent into the crib

Must gently lower sleeping baby into crib without giving the appearance of moving. Avoid cold and wet drool patches on the sheet at all costs. Crib creaks and a bumpy landing can prove deadly.

Level 3: Removing arms from baby

Tips to completing this level include averting head so your breath doesn't disturb the sleeping princess, ensuring a smooth and slow withdrawal of your arms from under baby's legs and shoulders, taking your time and avoiding those crib creaks. If you fail at this level you return to level 1.

Level 4: Exiting room

Squeaky floor boards and a creaking door make this suspenseful level deceptively challenging.

Level 5: Reward

Varied rewards may include 10 minutes slumped on the couch before returning to level 1, a cup of tea and 15 minutes on the computer or 30 minutes of knitting.

Notes from Lilli

Hiiiiyaaaaa! Hiiiiiyaaaaaa!

I love making sounds. My favourite is my new squeeeeeek. I practice my squeeeky voice every day. It makes Mummy laugh. I also enjoy coughing. It seems to get Mummy and Daddy's attention. Usually I babble to myself or to anyone who is listening. It's fun seeing what sounds I can make.

There is so much to do during the day. So many things I can see. I wish I could get to them. I can't seem to move though. I try really hard and sometimes I can roll or wiggle over to toys on my mat, but there must be a way to explore all those other interesting looking things in the room? And hey, what are those "feet" things on Mummy and Daddy's legs. They look really fun. I just want to sink my sore gums into them, but I'm not allowed.

Sore gums, yes they hurt. Mostly at night. I have a sharp tooth which gets a little bigger every day. And I drool a lot. It's given me a rash. I hate it when Mummy rubs cream under my chin. She tells me it'll help my rash, but I don't know. I wish I could stop spitting up. The milk doesn't taste as good as it did going down. And now I can taste the horrible rice cereal Mummy and Daddy have been feeding me. They think my grimaces are funny. I want to chew on the spoon, but Mummy always dunks it in that soupy rice mixture first. Yuck ... cough cough ....

I bumped my head. That also hurt. It was scary too. I've been practicing sitting with Mummy's help. I'm very wobbly. But it's a great position to survey my toys spread out at my feet. There was a new toy, a small plastic pot, which looked really tasty. I made a lunge for it and got it. With my eyebrow. Owwww. I had a big red bump on my head and I cried a lot. Mummy and Daddy gave me lots of cuddles. It was worse than the injections I had last week at the doctors. I like going to the doctor. I enjoy seeing everyone. There was a nice lady in the waiting room making me laugh. Mummy tells me that I caught a cold at the doctors, because the next night this clear slimy stuff started running out of my nose. It's hard to breathe through my nose. I have to use my mouth.

This cold thing and my sore gums have been keeping me awake at night. But the last couple of nights have been much better. Mummy and Daddy are looking happier. Naps are still tough though. I don't understand why Mummy wants me to sleep so much during the day? But I do enjoy listening to her sing my lullaby. I like to join in with her.

I also enjoy chewing on Mummy's chin. When I'm up on her shoulder because she's burping me or cuddling me, I wriggle around so we're facing each other and her chin is right there. It's great for chewing and I can gaze into her eyes at the same time! I like to keep her head still, because she tends to shake and make funny noises, by placing my hands on each of her cheeks. That's good too because it's nice to feel Mummy's skin. I like feeling different textures with my hands and feet. When I'm feeding I love rubbing my bare feet against the silk cushions. The bed sheet feels pretty cool too and makes a good swishy noise under my finger nails. But the best is the magazines and books Mummy sometimes reads when I'm feeding. I love scrunching the pages and scritching and scratching the paper with my finger tips.

Hey, so I have this new game which I play with Mummy and Daddy when we're on the bed after bath time. They want to dry and dress me, but they have to catch me me first! It's so fun!! I can wriggle backwards and flip over and scoot sideways. It's really difficult to catch me. I love watching their faces when they try to put on my diaper or my PJs. I practice my moves at night time too, but sometimes I get stuck against the bars of the crib. Once my arm got trapped between the bars and I couldn't move. Thankfully Daddy heard me shout and freed me.

We went to a fun party on Halloween, though I didn't get to wear a costume. But I did see all my "May Babies" friends, who were in costume, hmmmm. They had all grown so much, just like me. Some had teeth, some also had problems sleeping. Also this week I hung out with my buddy, Jamie, in the park. Mummy seemed to really enjoy the colours of the leaves, berries, ferns, clouds and the water. Yesterday Mummy took me for a walk along the canal with a friend of hers. She was really nice to me and I really enjoyed gazing at her face. It's nice to look at a different face every once in a while.

Gotta go! Lots of things to do, but Mummy says it is nap time. I wonder if she'll let me sleep on my tummy? It's my favourite sleeping position. I like to bury my face in the mattress. Today my forehead is red because I got to sleep tummy down last night. Byeeeeee ....