Six Months!

How is it possible that my baby girl is already a half year old?!

Sweet Shelby turned six months old last week on St. Patrick's Day.

We had her six month check-up yesterday afternoon and found out she now weighs 18 pounds & 8 ounces, which is not even 2 pounds more than what she weighed at 4 four months old. Perhaps we are slowing down a bit in the weight department..ha! Shelby was in the 90's for all of her percentiles {weight, height, & head circumference}. She also had shots at this appointment and cried hard for about 15-30 seconds {with real tears running down her cheeks..talk about breaking a mama's heart!}, but then went right back to smiling. Shelby was pretty fussy yesterday evening from the shots, but fortunately we scheduled a late afternoon appointment. So by the time we were finished with the appointment, shots, and stopping by the pharmacy on the way out...all we had time for once we got home was a bath, nursing, and bed. Derek took Shelby upstairs to rock her to sleep, and she was out in less than two minutes! Those shots wore her out!

The pediatrician gave us the green light to start trying more solids. So we plan to let Miss Shelby taste some veggies in the coming days!

Here is what Miss Shelby is up to these days...

--on a very good routine, which does this Type A mama's heart some good! She wakes up at 6 every morning (a little early for my liking...but I can't complain b/c she is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!), takes naps at 8am & 1pm that both last about 2 hours or so, and goes to bed at 6:30 or 7pm. Shelby nurses 4 times a day (when she wakes up at 6am, when she wakes up from her morning nap, when she wakes up from her afternoon nap, and right before bed. (This is the Babywise schedule...it didn't work for us until Shelby was about 2.5 months old...but now we are religious with it, and it works like a charm.) She also eats cereal once a day.
--sleeping through the night for 11 hours. :)
--still loves to be swaddled for naptime & bedtime
--enjoys rice cereal, but is a very messy eater!
--sitting up on her own! :)
--loves reading books before naptime. I usually sit her up in the glider in her bedroom when we read stories. I always put her down leaning against the pillow, but now she is leaning forward to get as close to the pictures in the book as she can. It's the most precious thing in the world. :)
--still has not rolled from her back to her front...and for that matter, she hasn't rolled from her tummy to her back in a looooong time. The pediatrician didn't seem too worried about it and said that babies of Shelby's size sometimes take longer to roll over b/c they have a lot more mass to move around. ;)
--no teeth yet!
--had her first little sunburn on her cheeks this month. This mommy promptly ran to the store and bought 75spf, which we now apply every afternoon before heading out for our daily stroll & trip to the swings. Shelby has very fair skin, and the Biloxi sun is strong!
--wants to hold/get her hands on anything we have in our hands...cups, cell phones, remote controls, you name it..she wants it!
--likes to hear the ABC's, nursery rhymes, or other songs when she's fussy :)
--loves looking at her reflection in the mirror!

Shelby, we love the sight of your sweet smile and big beautiful blue eyes, the sound of your infectious laughter and high-pitched {and ear-piercing} squeals, the touch of your little hands as you reach out to grab our face, and every other little thing about you. We love you!