Super Carrot

Ah, my baby is six months old! I truly cannot believe time has flown this fast. Because I know for certain that Merritt is my last baby, I am cherishing all of these sweet baby moments and not wishing them away.

At six months, Merritt is a champion sitter-upper, and is less of a spitter-upper than she once was. She rolls over with finesse and has started unwittingly pushing herself backward a bit. She loves playing with her toys, especially the stacking donuts and the fabric-with-the-loopy-ribbons, and she delights in her sister and brother (who delight in her as well).

Along with her official title of 'Merritt, Merritt, the Super Carrot,' Merritt has truly earned the nickname of "The Pinchy Crab." Never have I come in contact with a baby who is such a grabber and pincher!! Miss M really likes to pinch faces and necks. Merritt is very tactile in general. She loves to feel faces and fabrics, and recently at school she played in the sandbox for a good long time just feeling the sand (and not eating it)!

At her six month appointment, Merritt weighed in at 19 pounds, one ounce. A good respectable size. Merritt is still not a big fan of the bottle. At home, she is a distracted nurser. I think that with all of Lauren and Tucker's commotion, she is afraid she is going to miss something. She has started eating rice cereal, which she prefers PLAIN-THANK-YOU-VERY-MUCH!! If you try to add any tasty foods, she turns up her nose quickly. Weirdo. Hopefully her palate will become more sophisticated with time.

Merritt goes to bed in her crib between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Unlike L & T, Merritt still likes to wake up at least 2 times a night to eat. Not a huge deal for me--and this is why I will give up nursing no time soon...it is way too easy to fall back to sleep while she is nursing. I feel like months 2-4 were a little rough going with breastfeeding Merritt: she has the milk sensitivity (I'm still off dairy), and with going back to work and pumping, it was a love-hate relationship for a while. But, I have prevailed, and am going strong!! Again, with this being the last baby, I am not in any hurry to give it up. Plus, the whole lazy-middle-of-the-night thing. Also, Nutramigen is expensive as all-get-out. Huge incentive for keeping with the free breastmilk.

What else? Merritt has clapped a few times, and although I know she doesn't get the connection, she has done the little baby bye-bye wave a few times as well. She is super interested in Zsa Zsa. I fear for that cat when Merritt starts crawling. It is so fun to watch her growing and it is amazing to imagine her starting to crawl, walk, talk, etc. We love her!!