Audrey is 6 months old!

Our Audrey Elizabeth is already 6 months old!  I cannot even believe it.  In another 6 months, we are going to be celebrating Audrey's 1st birthday.  Wow, the time is really flying by!

Weight:  16 lbs 4 oz (50th percentile)
Length:  26.5 in (75th percentile)
Clothes:  Size 9 months (6-9 months).  She's really in between sizes right now, but just this week, I feel like she's outgrown most of her 3-6 months outfits and pajamas.  She is so long that she is outgrowing her clothes lengthwise!
Diaper:  Size 2
Food:  Audrey started eating vegetables (peas and green beans) this week!  Carl and I were looking forward to introducing her to the green vegetables because we thought she'd make some funny faces.  But her first taste of peas was uneventful.  She acted like it tasted just like her cereal.  Again, her easy-going nature carries over to eating, too.  She's such a happy and flexible baby!  Here is her current schedule, as of this week after her 6th month birthday (times are approximate):
6:00am - I nurse Audrey
9:00am - 5oz bottle at daycare
10:20am - Cereal at daycare (mixed with formula)
1:00pm - 5oz bottle at daycare
2:00pm - Vegetable pack at daycare (peas/greenbeans)
4:00pm - 5oz bottle at daycare
6:30pm - I nurse Audrey, then we feed her vegetables and 1tbsp of cereal mixed with formula (oatmeal, rice, or mixed grain)
8:00pm - I nurse Audrey just before bedtime, then we top her off with about 2 oz of formula
I am still pumping at work, so she usually gets about 6-8oz of breastmilk and 7-9oz of formula in her 3 bottles at daycare.  One of the teachers at daycare just suggested that we start mixing fruit with her cereal, instead of mixing it with formula.  They have been impressed with how well she is doing with her solid foods!  We'll start the fruit with the cereal at the end of this week.
Sleep:  As long as Audrey gets the extra 2oz of formula right before bed, she sleeps like a log until about 6am.  Most mornings, she wakes up between 4:30-5am wanting her pacifier, but she falls right back asleep.  In fact, I have to wake her up at 6am to feed her and get ready for daycare.  Over the past week and a half, she has been sleeping mostly on her side and stomach, as opposed to on her back.  We always put her to bed on her back, but she rolls over almost immediately.  Over the past few weeks, she hasn't napped hardly at all at daycare.  Some days, she'll have a couple decent naps, but other days she doesn't sleep at all.

Audrey is now getting her knees under her when she's on her stomach and starting to lift her belly up off the mat.  She is rolling all over the place and moving herself 360degrees using her upper body.  If we put toys in front of her or to the side, she will do everything in her power to reach out and get them.  She's really close to being mobile.  Watch out!  I think she would just jump up and start running if she could.

She is sitting up really well now.  I can sit her up between my legs on the ground and she will hold herself upright.  She's still a little unsteady and tips over to the side if she doesn't have anything supporting her, but she's getting stronger everyday.  She really likes to bend forward and hold her toes and even tries to put them in her mouth.  And if she's on her back, she reaches for her feet and holds them.  Happy baby yoga pose!

Audrey is now reaching for and grabbing everything!  She likes to play with rattles in the car.  She'll hold them and keep herself entertained for a considerable amount of time.  Just 2 weeks ago, we noticed a big change with her reaching for everything.  We were at dinner with Aunt Ashley, Grandma & Gramps Patton, Uncle Scott, and Grandpa Hahn.  Ashley was holding her on her lap before our food came.  Everytime Ashley would pick up her glass to take a drink, Audrey would reach for it like her life depended on it.  And now Audrey is so focused on and will reach for everything, all kinds of different objects.  She has even started reaching out for people.  Several times, if someone is holding Audrey and someone else walks up (me, Carl, Grandma/Grandpa Larson, Grandma/Gramps Patton, one of her aunts), Audrey will reach out to the other person for them to hold her. 

There have been a few times over the past month that I've had to go grocery shopping on Monday night.  So I go to Jewel right after I pick up Audrey from daycare.  Audrey is so happy and fun on our grocery-shopping trips.  And she's such a hit with all the ladies that work at Jewel!  At the fish counter, at the checkout... everyone wants to see our pretty little girl.  And she just smiles at everyone.  I'm a proud Momma!

Audrey has been laughing for all of this month, but it's more and more regular now.  Carl and are I pretty silly... we will do anything to hear that girl laugh.  It's the best sound in the whole entire world!  And over the past couple weeks, she has really started giggling and belly laughing.  Love it!  She laughs watching Chief and Bixby wrestle around, at Carl hopping or dancing, when going up and down the stairs, when we tickle her, when we make funny noises... She is the best baby!

Happy 6 months, Audrey Bear!  We love you!!!

Here are some pictures from this past month:

Audrey got to meet her Great-Grandmother Patton
at the end of March. 

Audrey just loved her!

Colby Marr and Audrey.  True love!

With Grandma Larson at the Dancing With the Teachers
competition.  Grandma Larson won 2nd place!

Look at those baby blue eyes!

I love this picture!  It's such a happy picture.  Audrey LOVES her Daddy!
She looks a lot like him, don't you think?

Grandpa Larson's birthday 4/14/12

Gramps Patton's birthday 4/17/12

Visiting Gramps & Grandma Patton

First Day of "School" (Daycare)

Monday, January 9th was a big day for Audrey and me.  The time had come... My maternity leave had ended and I had to go back to work.  I wouldn't say I had been dreading this day, but it made me sad that this special time I was able to spend with Audrey was over.  I was looking forward to getting back to work and seeing all my friends and co-workers.  And I knew Audrey was going to do well at daycare... well, I could only hope.

Sunday night (Jan 8th), I got bottles ready, diaper bag packed, breast pump packed/ready, made my lunch, laid out my clothes, and laid out Audrey's clothes.  I wanted us to be ready so there were no surprises in the morning with our new routine.  I can only hope that this continues and I'm this organized from here on out.  *Fingers crossed*

Audrey and I were up earlier than we had been in a long time!  Try... 12 weeks.  Here is Audrey's "First Day of School" picture.  I tried to get her to stand on the doorstep outside, but we're just not there yet.  JK!  :)

Isn't she cute and happy?  She was so excited about her first day of "school".  I was overall just nervous about the day.  About dropping her off for the whole day and about starting at work again.  But it went better than I expected.  I approached the day like a band-aid... just rip it off and not think about it... just drop her off and not think about it.  It's something that needs to happen, and I know she's in good hands.

Audrey is attending Mary Sears Children's Academy on Rt 30 in New Lenox.  There are a couple different teachers in her room, Ms. Andresson and Ms. Craig.  They both are so nice and so sweet and love Audrey.  I feel good about them taking care of my baby during the day.

Carl came with me on Monday so we could drop Audrey off together.  He knew it was going to be tough on me, and it was so good to have his support and to have him there with me.  Driving to the daycare with Audrey in the car, I started to get a little teary, but I just turned on Eric & Kathy (the morning radio show that Carl loves, just ask him about it.  He can't stand Eric & Kathy, but I enjoy it most days and haven't listened for 12 weeks!).  Anyway, I just tried not to think about what was happening and that I was about to drop off my baby for the day.  But everything went just fine.  The Director, Miss Kathleen, commented on how I "was doing well" and that most mom's are crying as they're leaving.  I replied, "I feel like I'm going to throw up... let's just get out of here."  Anyone that knows me well knows that I get nauseous when there's a big change or when I'm anxious or nervous, so this was not alarming.

I called to check on Audrey around lunchtime on Monday and they reported that she was doing well.  She was eating well (she was on her 2nd bottle) and she was really happy and having fun listening to music and reading stories.  That made me feel so good hearing that.

When I went to pick Audrey up on Monday night, she was playing on the activity mat and having fun.  I picked her up and held her... so excited to see her.  In fact, I was so excited, I forgot to bring in the carrier from the car!  She started crying when I put her in the carrier.  And it continued on the way home.  I stopped in a bank parking lot and tried all 3 types of pacifiers I had in the diaper bag, but nothing would console her.  I felt terrible.  She finally fell asleep after a few minutes of driving, but then woke up when we got home.  I was convinced she hated me for dropping her off at daycare and that she had forgotten who I was.  Turns out, Audrey only slept for about 30 minutes during the day on Monday, so she was overly tired.  We gave her a bath and Carl put her to bed in her crib.  And, guess what?  She slept all the way from 9pm to 5am!  Whoa!  And on Tuesday morning, she was super smiley again and our normal, happy and fun baby.  What a relief!

And Tuesday went really well.  Carl got off work a little early, so he picked up Audrey from daycare.  When I got home, she was happy and our normal baby.  She got up once during the night on Tuesday.  Wednesday, she slept a lot during the day, and then she slept through the night again that night.  In fact, she slept from about 9:30ish until 6:15am.  I couldn't believe it!  She is tuckered out from all the fun they're having at daycare.  Thursday, she slept a ton during the day again.  They are impressed with how good of a sleeper she is.  Thursday afternoon, when I picked her up, she was playing with another baby who is about 9 months old. Audrey was just smiling at her.  So cute.  And when she saw me, she gave me a huge smile.  Melt my heart!  All afternoon/night, she was just so precious and happy.  I hope I never forget that face and that toothless smile.

We get a report at the end of the day that documents when and how much she ate, when her diaper was changed and if she pooped, when she napped, and what activities they did that day.  They also put a comment on the sheet, and each day they've commented on how much they enjoy Audrey and that she's had a great day.  I love it!  She's going to make so many friends there and learn so many things.  They asked us to bring in family pictures, so I brought in pictures of Audrey with both sets of her grandparents, her mom & dad, and all 3 of her aunts.  I saw yesterday that they put them up on the wall.  They really care about my Audrey and our family.  I love it!

Today is Friday, and I am working from home today.  It snowed 6 inches starting yesterday afternoon, so the VPs of our department encouraged us to just work from home.  I decided to keep Audrey home with me, so we didn't have to mess with the snow.  We actually got to sleep in a little bit, which I needed.  I don't know about Audrey, but I needed it.  :)  As I look back on this week, it really exceeded my expectations.  We all did so well adjusting to our new routine.  Audrey is so flexible and such a good baby.  She made it so easy for me.

I just love her so!