Belated Six Month Update

LG turned six months old 12 days ago, and her six-month checkup was just last week. She clocked in at 26.75 inches and 15 lbs., 5 oz. For those keeping track at home, that puts her about 1.25 inches longer than her four-month visit, and 1 lb., 14 oz. heavier.

And you feel every ounce, too! It's weird. I can hold her for a lot longer now than when she was first born, and I don't get the intense shoulder pain. BUT there's a consistent dull ache around my shoulder all the time. I'm guessing rotator cuff strain, but who knows?

You wouldn't think another 1.25 inches would make much difference, but she's grown out of nearly every article of 3-6 month clothing we have, and most 6-9 month stuff, too. And it's increasingly obvious she's getting too big for the bouncy seat. R.I.P. bouncy seat. You served us well.

Regarding percentiles, which I have lately begun to realize I'm not obsessed with anymore, she's actually dropped from the 95th to 85th percentile in length. Now in any given group of 100 6-month old babies, there are 15 kids longer than her instead of five. However, she's also dropped within the weight percentile as well, from 50th to 35th. She's long and lean, so it's really nothing to worry about, but we have increased the number of solid meals she gets every day from one and a half (sort of) to three full meals. We were planning on doing that after we hit six months (and a larger variety of available food) anyway. She doesn't mind. She's loved solid food ever since we started a week after her 4-month visit.

Her diet is becoming more varied, too. One of these days I'll get a post up about making baby food, but in the meantime, here's a list of what she's eating up to this point.

Carrots
Yams
Rutabaga
Squash
Cauliflower
Parsnip
Banana
Pear
Apple
Rice Cereal
Oatmeal

We tried peas early on, but we were concerned they may have been responsible for an allergic rash on her face. Granted, at that time, a different rash seemed to pop up twice a week, regardless of what else was going on, so it may not have been related. I'm giving peas another shot this week. So far, so good. We also attempted apricots, but they were too darn sour. It's the only thing she's out and out refused to eat after the first bite or two.

The doctor says meat is okay now, so my plan for this Saturday is developing a palatable chicken puree. I've also got mango waiting in the wings, and I hope to get some green beans finished soon as well. Oh, and there is a beet puree in the freezer that I made when I was feeling really adventurous, but I think we're going to hold off a while on that.

That hits the highlights for 6-months, I think.

Oh, right. She had a tooth pop through her bottom gums two and half weeks before she turned six months, and a second one finally broke through the day after the doctor's visit. She can really gnaw the heck out of an apple slice now.

It looks kind of like this.