6 Months

And another month has come and gone. Last week Colette turned half a year old. We celebrated with a fantastic trip to the Knoxville Zoo and by discovering 2 more teeth coming in!




Weight: 17lbs 8oz

Height: 28"

Sleep: Hit and miss. I blame the teeth. Most nights she goes down at 9, wiggles around at 3, wakes to eat at 6, then sleeps until 8:30-9. Tuesday night was terrible and she was up every 2 hours (possibly something to do with the shots she got that day as well), but the next night she was out like a light from 9pm-8am.

Clothes/Diapers (Sizes): 6-9 months in clothes and size 3 diapers

Diet: Mostly milk. We started giving her pureed foods once a day about 3 weeks ago... and after a week of that and her not being terribly interested, we gave her a break. We're just now starting agin and will go full force back into it on Monday. So far she's tried sweet potatoes, bananas, and squash. Squash made her cry. She no likey the squash.

Milestones/Firsts: She sits up like a pro and she's so close to crawling I can't stand it. And neither can she. If there's something just out of her reach she gets up on her hands/or knees (not both at the same time yet) and gets sooo frustrated that she can't get what she wants. We also have 2 more teeth coming down as I mentioned earlier! (Top front teeth!) I was changing her diaper  in the back of the car and just happened to look up while her mouth was open and there they were! She's also really sounding out her consonants nows. The bababa's and the dadada's flow like the river.

Likes: Chewing, drooling, chewing, chewing, drooling. She loves to laugh at the dogs when they come around. Loves being outside, going for walks, and playing on a blanket with her toys.

Dislikes: Squash. Shots.

Things I Don’t Want to Forget: The way she's starting to reach out for her mom. So sweet.

As for me: I'm doing great! We're spending a lot of time out of the house when we can on the weekends which is nice since I'm cooped up all week. AND I actually read 3 books last week. (The Divergent trilogy) Every free moment, which is usually only around bed time, I had my nose in the Kindle reading because I couldn't put it down until I got to the end.. and then there was a lot of ugly crying. A lot. I'm generally a really slow reader because I go over every detail, but I started reading Allegiant before Colette woke up Thursday morning and finished it Friday night. Probably a new record for me.

 

Our pediatrician says she looks great! (We already knew that though ;) ) And Colette actually didn't do too bad with the shots this month either. She wailed for about 30 seconds and then it was over. And it wasn't as loud as it has been in the past. Poor sweet baby.

 







 

By the end of the summer, Colette will be a well traveled little girl. In June we'll be flying solo to Michigan for my friends baby shower. (YAY! I'M SO EXCITED!) I'm a little terrified, mainly because I hate flying. I think everything else will be okay. I don't have to take my pack-n-play or carseat and I plan to check a bag, so that's good news! It's certainly a plus that Lindsay already has those things and no baby yet so we can borrow them :) I just have to be prepared to deal with the crying when/if it happens. The flight is roughly 2 hours, so hopefully it'll go smoothly.

After that we've got 2 beach trips and then our big Disney trip. Lots to prepare for!

Here's some photos from the last little while: (TN Aquarium, Knoxville Zoo, Coolidge Park)







 

[caption id="attachment_906" align="aligncenter" width="560"] A day at the aquarium make for one sleepy baby[/caption]





 

















 

[caption id="attachment_917" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Probably one of the happiest moments of my life[/caption]





 

[caption id="attachment_920" align="aligncenter" width="560"] I'm pretty sure this bird just killed another bird and stole it's feathers[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_921" align="aligncenter" width="560"] First time in a high chair at a restaurant![/caption]

Snow and My First Week Back

Well. It was certainly an eventful first week back at work. Up bright an early on Monday to feed the little one and pack her things for her day at Grama's. It wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. Don't get me wrong, I love that little baby and would snuggle her all day, but I also got a lot done while she was away. I think it helped to know she was just down the street too. AND I was awfully busy getting back into work mode. Tuesday was pretty much the same. Wednesday was quite different, though. Cory decided to stay and work from home due to the impending snow. His mom came over to our house to watch the baby while we worked for the day.

The snow wasn't much to speak of by the time work was over. Later into the night it really started sticking.. It was a really heavy, wet snow. The electricity started flickering around 9 and I immediately filled up some jugs of water (we have well water so if we lose power, we also lose water) and gathering candles and the flashlight. After putting the baby down for the night around 11 I went to bed as well. A little after midnight Cory woke me up to tell me the power was officially out. We pulled the pack-n-play into our bedroom and moved the baby (who did not wake up, hooray!). Power was still out when we got up. I had a conference call at 8am that I had to dial into, but I was pretty useless for anything else work related without electricity. We eventually trekked (via car) the couple of miles over to Cory mom's for the day.. or so we thought it would only be a day. 25,000 without electricity in the Chattanooga area. We came back to the house a few times a day to make sure the dogs were okay, but we stayed at Cory's mom's Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday. Our electricity was finally restored late Saturday afternoon.

The saddest part of the electricity being out is all the food that was lost in the refrigerator including, but not limited to, our Valentine's dinner of a 2lb porterhouse steak. I was so sad. I was able to salvage the stash of breastmilk I had in the freezer, so that's good news.

We're lucky we were able to get out of the house and have somewhere to stay. I can't imagine being in the cold house with a baby and no electricity.

For Valentines Day I met Cory for lunch at the best little burger place in Chattanooga, Merv's. So good. For dinner we got (free) Olive Garden take out and spent the night watching TV and playing with the baby. It was supposed to be a no gift holiday, but alas... that husband of my got me a gorgeous diamond and pear necklace. Love that guy. He's too much. We were in Orlando at Magic Kingdom last Valentine's Day, but I think it's safe to say that this year won by a landslide. All because of a sweet little baby.

The electricity was restored just in time, too. Colette's (fairy)godmother came down for the night to visit on Saturday. Much to her dismay, Colette was not very happy to see her. Poor thing. She was actually pretty cranky Saturday and Sunday... and well.. last night too.

And now we're back to another work week. Our nanny started yesterday. She's very sweet. I'll report back on how having the baby in the house is once we've done it a few more times.

Here's a few shots from Snowpocalypse and Valentine's Day.



[caption id="attachment_771" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Our yard is somewhat of a tree limb graveyard now[/caption]





[caption id="attachment_774" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Sleepy giggles[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_775" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Her eyes are starting to turn brown :)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_776" align="aligncenter" width="560"] someone loves big bird[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_777" align="aligncenter" width="560"] love[/caption]