Okay, even though I am so far behind on all of our traveling pictures, etc..., I feel the need to write this stuff down and post a few pictures of Alison. She is growing up WAY too fast and is changing daily...seriously. We love her to pieces, and despite her high pitched shrill screaming (usually only in the highchair these days), she is such a good baby! Zachary would not know what to do without her and I LOVE that. He wakes up wanting to play with her and when she goes down at night before he does, he asks for her and wants to go see her. So sweet! He really does do well with her, except for the occasional shove here and there. He does really well sharing his toys with her, for the most part, and is good about telling her what she can't play with. He says, "No ma'm...that's not a toy!" and then takes it away...too cute! Alison is almost sleeping through the night again, and I say again because before we left on our "adventure" for 6 weeks she was sleeping through the night. By the time we got back, however, she was waking up multiple times a night! I've only gone to her once in the past 6 nights and it was because I got up out of a dead sleep, forgetting that I wasn't supposed to go get her...ha, ha! I have high hopes that she will be sleeping peacefully ALL NIGHT long within the next week! She is eating three meals a day and nursing 4-5 times a day. Now that she isn't nursing in the middle of the night, it usually turns out to be 4 times a day. At her appointment last week (she was 7.5 months old) she weighed 14 lbs., 14 ounces. She is tiny, but she is meeting all her developmental milestones and she is growing (just slowly), so the doctors aren't worried. She has gained exactly 3 lbs., 3 ounces since her 4.5 month appointment, so she's gaining about a pound a month. It's actually pretty bizarre considering the amount of food she eats! Anyways, I think she was like in the 10th percentile for height and almost the 20th for weight. As little as she is, she has no fear and is SO busy! Seriously, she is the most curious little thing ever! She started crawling 2 days before her 6 month birthday. Nursing has been a little difficult because of how easily she is distracted, but she has gotten a little better about focusing. She pulls up on everything (since 6.5 months), crawls everywhere (including up the slide in the playroom), and has even stood by herself for a second or two without holding on. I think she might walk a little earlier than Zachary...what do you think? As far as other milestones go, she does occasionally wave, she drinks from a sippy cup (since 5.5 months), picks up small "puffs" and other foods and gets them to her mouth, and listens to the word "no" sometimes. We are working on signs, but I think we are a little ways away from that still. Oh, and she has two teeth (since 6.5 months) and is working on about 6 more it seems! So far, Zachary has beat her on getting teeth fastest (and in weight and height, of course) but she has been quicker with everything else! It will be interesting to see how her language development compares.
6 months
7 months
