6-7 Months

• Thinks kids are HILARIOUS! They only have to look at her and she smiles and coos and laughs. Ivan, the twins and Jessa seem to be her favourites.
• Flew again at 6 ½ months and impressed everyone around her. Someone said she flew better than the drunk guy 3 rows up J
• Grins from ear to ear when Mum or Dad smiles at her – looks really goofy since she’s all gums, scrunches her whole face into a smile
• Doesn’t know quite what to do with a sippy cup, but really enjoys squeaking it against her gums and chewing on it
• Is incredibly patient when it comes to having her nose sucked when she’s sick – I think some part of her actually enjoys the vacuum effect J
• Says “dadada” occasionally (with her tongue between her gums)

At 6 ½ months, Teagan attended her Daddy’s graduation from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and “saw” him receive his Doctorate in Physical Therapy and receive his hood. When I say saw, I mean she was there. She conveniently fell asleep (amongst a roaring crowd, no less) before Brandon was called, but all the better for me to take pictures of the ceremony. She was very well behaved for the rest of it, and we didn’t have to step out once! I wore comfy shoes in anticipation of having to roam the halls of the Thomas and Mack Center with a restless baby, but she was cool as a cucumber the whole time. It helped that it wasn’t like a 3 hour church block where she needs to be quiet as a mouse. With people screaming and shouting for their graduate, Teagan’s squeals went relatively unnoticed. What a champ!

Modest IS Hottest: Daddy Edition

Stumbled upon this gem the other day:

 He's ever so modest when it comes to hiding his hooters.

I'm Curvy and I Like it!

I hope you're sitting down for this one: SHE'S AN EATER! I'll allow you a moment to recover from the shock and surprise of this most recent declaration. Naturally, her rail-thin, practically wasting away parents are stunned that their offspring would take so well to solid food :) If you haven't sensed the sarcasm yet, you may not know me very well at all. 

Teagan's love affair with "food" (have YOU tasted baby "food" lately?) began with rice cereal at 5 months.I feel like I waited long enough that she wanted it. She wanted it bad. Here she is diggin' in on her very first try:

 Judging by her expression, and the burgeoning third chin, I'd say it was a success.

We've moved on to bigger and (I hesitate in saying) better things. She's faced off with:

• bananas
• applesauce
• pears
• avacado
• squash
• peas
• sweet potatoes
• prunes (more to come)

and so far, avacado is the only one that seems to have bested her.

And by "bested" I mean plugged her right up. Several days of pure agony each time she even thought about #2."Prunes, prune juice and more prunes" came the cries of sympathetic grandmas and doctors. The effects were almost instantaneous. And pungent. Here's a picture of the cuter end happy after chowing down her prunes with a side of prunes. The aftermath on the other end was the stuff of horror movies and scary stories. Sometimes I can still smell it at night.

I'll have to look it up, but I think she's setting records in the How Fast Can A Baby Down A Jar Of Baby Food category. I can't seem to shovel it in fast enough - she whines between every mouthful. At this point, it would be incredibly beneficial for me to be ambidextrous and double-fist the spoonfuls of goodness. Sometimes she'll slow down to savour the flavour. We encountered a particularly tart jar of applesauce at the cabin last week. She made this face after almost every spoonful, but always came back for more.

It's not often that the food disappears before her appetite, but just once she's sent us the message that she's finished.

Try as he might, he just can't seem to lactate, so it's been really nice for Buddy to be actively involved in feeding Teagan of late. She certainly seems to enjoy it - perhaps because she gets dinner AND a show. Nothing is boring with her Daddy...especially bum changes. The running commentary is an absolute treat listen to.

I must confess that now is the first time I've worried about Teagan's diet. I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to nurse Teagan and have it come fairly easy to us both - and I recognize that it's a rarity and I'm really grateful. After months of being told that breastmilk is the best thing I can feed my baby, it seems like all of a sudden it isn't adequate when it comes to iron and other things and I find myself worrying constantly that I'm not feeding her enough. The doctor reassures me that at 17 lbs. 12 oz. she's doing just fine and that 3 jars a day + rice cereal is probably sufficient. Buddy was a wee bit disappointed at her 6 month stats - she's fallen from the 95th to 90th to 85th percentile in weight. But one look at those healthy thighs (the rolls at the back of her knees are two of my favourites) tells me she isn't wasting away. Just like her mummy.

5-6 Months

• Smiles at strangers
• Grabs hair and loves having it in her face
• Typically gentle with people’s faces – holds their face in her hands instead of scratching and clawing J
• Loves to eat
• Semblance of a schedule, but still adjusts really well when it gets disrupted
• Thumps her chest with her right arm when she gets excited
• Got SUPER constipated just before 6 months
• SCREAMED whenever she tried to poop
• Pooping “bricks” and wedges that stick between her cheeks
• Bum was red raw and sore – heartbreaking to see
• Gobbles up prunes, but not a huge fan of prune juice, unless she was really in pain and she’d drink it right up
• Able to pick up her binkie and put it in her mouth…often upside down or sideways, but she seems to like it that way and will suck on it like that for quite some time

It’s the end of an era: she’s rolling. Gone are the days when I can leave her on the bed while I run to grab something in another room. She has to be watched constantly now, which is a wake-up call, to be sure. She rolled once on a Thursday and by Friday she had rolled all the way across the room!

Teagan and I had a moment today (4.9.11). We came home from Women’s Conference and we laid down on the bed together and just “chatted”. We gurgled back and forth and she stroked my face and pulled my hair. I love when we make eye contact and hold it – I catch glimpses of the future when we can have actual conversations and it’s a beautiful thing.

We took a picture of all of the Richards grandchildren when Shawn & Annie visited in April 2011. It was quite the production. Nine boys and five girls in jeans and matching white shirts was absolutely adorable! Unfortunately, our timing was a little flawed and poor Landon was woken up from a nap and was less than pleased. He screamed the entire shoot and Teagan ended up beside him and wound up crying as well. So Teagan, arguably The World’s Most Contented Baby, winds up being immortalized in the family photo red-faced and screaming. Awesome. 

 

6 Month Check-Up

• Palouse Pediatrics – Pullman, WA – Dr. Lennis Boyer
• Height: 26” (75%)
• Weight: 17 lbs. 12 oz (85%)
• Head Circumference: 43 cm (75%)
• Daddy came to this appointment – the first time he was available
• Daddy held Teagan for her shots, which she took really well, crying only from the shock of the needles and calming down very soon after
• Mummy & Daddy are older and wiser now and kept the Tylenol coming, avoiding a fever and extreme fussiness (you have to expect a little)

If a baby rolls over in the living room and no one is around to see it, does she make a sound?

Absolutely she does.

I initially intended to capture video of Teagan beginning to roll over from her back to her tummy - an exciting new development that no longer allows me to use the bathroom while she chills on the bed. The footage turned out to serve an additional purpose: preserving for posterity evidence of our social caterpillar (that's a social butterfly in the making.) Pay attention around 0:19...

...when she hears my voice and realizes that someone is indeed in the room with her. Then all of a sudden, all is right with the world. Teagan just needs to know that someone is paying attention to her. At all times. She's been known to start fussing if you should have the nerve to break eye contact with her for longer than 2 seconds. I don't want to use the word "Diva", but...

First Things First.

I thought it apropos for the first post to detail some of Little T's firsts. We're keeping track of everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. Feast your eyes on her firsts...

HER FIRST TASTE OF RICE CEREAL

HER FIRST TASTE OF FLOWER

HER FIRST TASTE OF TOE

HER FIRST GENERAL CONFERENCE

HER FIRST WEDGIE

HER FIRST BEDTIME STORY

 

HER FIRST "I CAN DO IT MYSELF" MOMENT

  HER FIRST ENCOUNTER (of many) WITH DORA ¡Hola! Soy Teagan.

 HER FIRST JUMPING PHOTO (many more to come)

Obviously she's squeezed years of experience into a mere 5 months.  Thanks for wanting to keep up with Teagan's life in the fast lane!

Luck Be a Baby Tonight

The more I speak to other mothers, the more I realize that I am one lucky mama. Please know that the following is not me bragging about my mothering skills (still working on those - apparently they don't come standard) but rather I am recognizing how incredibly fortunate I am to have such an amazing baby. I can sense that you are skeptical of the awesomeness of my daughter. An amazing baby, you ask? Yes. And here's why...

Let's start at the very beginning. Despite causing a wee bit 'o' trouble getting out here, she had nursing all figured out from the get go. The first time we met, she had her mouth wide open, ready to eat. She wasn't messing around then and she hasn't slowed down.

It's been nice not to worry about her weight - let's face it, with parents like us, we didn't think we'd have to :) Her head is certainly a good size. Maybe a little TOO good.

And while bath time can be a little bit tricky trying to ensure we clean between each and every roll, she is enjoying her baths more and more. And I just can't get enough of her chub, even if it adds some extra nooks and crannies.

I feel so very fortunate to have a world class sleeper on my hands. On Christmas Eve (so aptly timed - a wonderful present!) she began a 6 week stint of sleeping for 8 hours at night and then...wait for it...went back down for a couple more hours. Cue the Hallelujah Chorus! And please note that I recognize that I'm incredibly fortunate to have a baby that sleeps well at night and my heart goes out to those mothers of babies who don't value sleep as much as Teagan.

That said, she isn't a napper by any means. But when she sleeps so well at night, it would be a little ridiculous to complain, wouldn't it? But, under the right conditions, she'll sleep for a few minutes. And by "the right conditions" I mean either in my arms or curled up in her bouncy seat. If she's in someone's arms - fantastic! Good hour long nap - easy. However, she seems only to be able to last 20 minutes in the crib or anywhere else. My solution? Curl her up in the bouncy seat and let her snuggle into it enough to trick herself into thinking she's being held, and just make sure every few minutes she has some breathing room :) Please don't judge me!

 

Now, I've never been a morning person (Buddy will enthusiastically agree) but this little woman is. She's been good for me, because how can you wake up unhappy to her sweet little face! (Unless, of course, it's 4:00 AM!)

She has a big, beautiful smile...and bigger thighs. Feast your eyes on the chunky monkey herself. She smiles constantly and it warms my heart. I actually got a real, full-blown baby giggle out of her last week, but regrettably didn't catch it with the camera. Hopefully there will be more of those to come. And with parents like us who put her in all sorts of weird situations, she's bound to chuckle a little. But if not, I know we certainly get a kick out of her...

Starting to wonder if there are any downsides to this angel? Me too!