Jasmine @ 6 months

A very belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a wonderful time over Christmas and enjoyed the New Year festivities! We had a very busy time making several trips down and back up the Mountain for shopping and other various events. Jasmine's first Christmas was very enjoyable though. We even made an effort to put up our little tree and some Christmas lights on the front of the house as well. It certainly felt a lot more festive than last year where I didn't feel like celebrating much at all as I was pregnant and sick! Not that any of the celebrations and decorations mean much to Jasmine for now, but hopefully in years to come she will understand what all the fuss is about. :D

This month sees Jasmine's six month milestone. Six months already, WOW!!

At 6 months, Jasmine:

• Weighs 7.5kg, length 65cm. She has grown heaps just in the last week or so and is definitely looking very chubby, especially her chunky thunder thighs!! So cute though! LOL
  
  
• Went through a very unsettled month (since last post) of disturbed sleeping. She wouldn't self-settle and would wake up after the first sleep cycle and needed help to get back to sleep. This was not just during the day, but all night too. :'( However, this week has been HEAPS better. She has not whinged at all or only slightly when we've put her down for naps and to bed at night. AND she has been falling asleep all by herself, without me having to rock her to sleep. Yay! For three nights now she has slept 6+ hours non-stop and it has been bliss! I do feel much more human again after getting at least a solid 6 hours of sleep.
  
  

• Is starting to sleep on her side, often in an "L" position. She now moves a lot in her sleep and last night she even managed to turn herself right around in the cot so that she was facing the opposite direction in which we put her into it!!!
  
  
• Still wearing size 00 clothing. All her size 000 clothing is getting a little tight, but she's still managing to fit into some items, so I'm trying to get as much mileage as I can from those ones! I hope the warmer weather (that we're only getting now!) would stick around so she can wear all her lovely summer clothes before she grows out of them!
  
  

• Had the cutest little outfit to wear for Christmas! Even though it was her first Christmas, she didn't get spoilt, although she did get all the presents and we got none!! LOL
  
  

• Received a Jolly Jumper from us for Christmas. She still hasn't mastered the bouncing just yet and just shuffles her feet a bit and lets the Jolly Jumper spin her around and around. LOL She does bounce when she flexes her legs, so hopefully she will learn to do that purposefully!!
  
  


• Also received a Baby Einstein play center from us for Christmas. (Both this and the Jolly Jumper were brought second hand - awesome eBay bargains - which saved us a lot of money!) She can sit in the play center for about 10 minutes max before getting bored. It's hard to keep this girl entertained!! LOL
  
  
• Is very "talkative", but not really using word sounds as yet. Still very much baby babble... and lots of screeches. Can someone send me earplugs?!?
  
  

• Started eating solids. We started her off on a little bit of rice cereal mixed with formula and so far has tried avocado, sweet potato and zucchini. She has really taken to eating solids and loves it! Her little mouth opens wide when she sees the spoon coming and she finishes all that she's given. I just hope this eating compliance lasts through until toddler years!
  
  

• Tried using a sipper cup, but I found she drinks better from a normal cup, so the sipper cup sits unused whilst she often drinks from my cup! :(
  
  
• Is now feeding the maximum recommended volume of formula I can give her - a full 210mL. I'm going to have to increase the frequency of her solids if she demands more!
  
  

• Had her first bushwalk in the carrier we brought (another eBay bargain!), which she had no problems with. She obviously felt very comfortable in it as she slept for most of the walk we did!!
  
  

• Has a pair of pink baby Volleys!!!! So cute! :D
  
  
• Can now sit up for quite a while without any assistance, but sometimes she still loses her balances and falls over, especially if she's looking behind her or is concentrating really hard on a toy. LOL
  
  

• Got to ride in a normal shopping trolley since she can sit so well now. We had no issues on that [one and only so far] shopping trip, although she did want to grab everything I put in the trolley and wouldn't let up until I gave her a plastic bag to play with! Good thing she didn't mouth the trolley - can't imagine all the germs on it!!!
  
  

Finally, as per usual, just a few more photos to finish off with. :D

Yes, even though she is leaning on the back of the lounge, she IS standing by herself!!!!

*hugs*

Jasmine @ 5 months

Another month down and Jasmine is now 5 months by calendar months or 22 weeks. After two months of lots and lots of changes, her development has now slowed down. We're finding that she is refining what she's already learned rather than developing any new skills. Routine has gone out the window and every day is "your guess is as good as mine" as to what's going to happen during the day!

At 5 months, Jasmine:

• Weighs 6.8kg and is 65cm in length at best guess! I haven't been to the Community Health Center to get her measured as yet.
  
  
• Has been testing her vocal chords and voice range. Unfortunately, she seems to be favouring the high pitches and shrieking is her favourite noise at the moment.
  
  
• Is learning how to self-settle herself to sleep. So far so good, but unfortunately, the hour or two of sleep she gets during the day (and at least 8-10 hours through the night) is often preceded by 12 mins of whinging and screaming. :( The whinging I can live with but the screaming is very unsettling. Ear plugs anyone?!? Very rare is the time when I can put her down and she goes off to sleep with a few soft whinges. It happens, but is very rare!
  
  

• Often goes to sleep as in the above photo - with foot in hand! She does eventually let go of her foot to lie properly. LOL (BTW, the above photo is a screen shot from our "surveillance camera" aka baby video monitor. :D )
  
  
• Is definitely a Mountain baby as she doesn't like the heat. She normally generates quite a lot of heat (for such a small body!), but we've had a few days and nights where the bedroom temperature has been over 25C and she can't sleep, having only short naps during the day and waking almost every hour through the night. We don't have an air-conditioner in the bedroom, although it has been very tempting - at least for us to be able to get a good night sleep!
  
  

• Is learning to use her hands now and reaching out to touch or grab everything within reach. Including daddy. :D
  
  
• Still comp feeding. I haven't tried her on solids yet as she is watching us eat, but doesn't really seem interested when I give her any food or even a spoon. I'll probably wait another two weeks or so and try again.
  
  

• Is finally starting to enjoy tummy time. As long as she's distracted with a mirror or a toy or me lying in front of her. Average length of tummy time is still only 1-2 mins, although there have been a few 5 min sessions. Yay!
  
  
• Has stopped rolling all the way over and is now only rolling onto her side and then back again. When she is lying down, she does have a habit of bending her head and shoulders around. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with her learning to roll?!?
  
  

• Likes to suck on her toes! LOL I keep trying to get a photo of this, but everytime she sees the camera, she drops her foot. :(
  
  
• She's still halfway between 000 and 00 clothing. Some of the 000 is now too small to wear, but some of the 00 is still too big!! Just a matter of trial and error and ear-marking those outfits that she can fit into.
  
  

• Is still putting everything into her mouth, and thoroughly enjoying it!
  
  
• Can sit up by herself for all of 3 seconds, but mainly on grass, as she did this the two times I was out at a park, but she hasn't been able to do it at home yet!
  
  

• Got to wear her first pair of shoes. Aren't they cute?!?
  
  
• Is starting to look towards the source of a sound. Not necessarily when we talk to or call her, but other sounds like when I'm filling up a glass or when the dogs bark. At least I know there's nothing wrong with her hearing!
  
  

• Had her first ride in a shopping trolley with a child seat. And yes, as you can see, I was stocking up on nappies and wipes. LOL
  
  

• Is now sitting in the Smart facing forward. We found she prefers this as she likes to look around and take everything in. She got sick of looking at mummy or daddy in the rear facing position!! LOL
  
  

• Has a Bumbo seat now and doesn't mind sitting in it, as long as she has toys to be distracted with!
  
  

I'll leave you now with a few more photos. :D

*hugs*

Jasmine @ 4 Months

Jasmine is 4 months today - wow! So much has happened in the past month. Lots of "firsts", lots of developmental changes, and lots of getting out and socialising! She has well and truly moved away from the Newborn stage and is starting to fill out and look much older. I think it's the hair. :D

At 4 months, Jasmine:

• Weighs just over 6.5kg and is 64cm in length. She is definitely starting to look AND feel much bigger!
  
  


• Has finally been moved into her cot! Only this week did we set up the cot knowing that she was almost getting squashed in the bassinet!
  
  
• Babbles a lot now, especially upon waking first thing in the morning. She can lie in her cot and babble away until she realises that no one is paying her any attention and then she starts to whinge! In her swing seat, she will babble away at the mobile hanging above her and does the same thing when she's lying on her playmat - she will babble away at the toys I've strung up above her. The babbling is soooo cute and is often punctuated by one or two very loud "words", causing us to wonder what on earth she's telling off or if she's trying to get the attention of the toy (or us?!?)!
  
  

• Played with her first rattle. The first time she did shake it around although I think it was more from just flailing her arm around rather than any intended shaking of the rattle. LOL Still, it was awesome to watch her discover this new object!
  
  
• I'm still comp feeding and thankfully she is still taking both breast and bottle. However, her bottle feeding has been all over the place this past month. We're never sure just how much to feed her as her bottle feeds can now be anywhere between 140mL and 210mL. There doesn't seem to be any consistency anymore which gets confusing for us as we never know how much formula to prepare! She can be fussy with the bottle too - if the bottle is removed for any reason before she's finished or had enough, she will refuse point blank to continue with that bottle or any other bottle. If she's finished the bottle and still wants more, she will also refuse to take another bottle preferring to suck her hands and whinge than to take another bottle!?!?!!! I hope this isn't a precursor to her being fussy with solids! :O
  
  

• Started classes at Gymbaroo (a kindygym) and loves it. I also love it (it's lots of fun!) and learned other ways to give her "tummy time" so that she tolerates it (I’ve still yet to get her to ENJOY it! LOL).
  
  
• Following on from above, she has now learned to roll from her tummy onto her back. Frustrating for me as that means she can get out of tummy time by herself just by flipping over. The surprised look on her face when she realises she's just rolled over all by herself is really cute!
  
  

• Has discovered her feet and likes to grab hold of her toes when lying down.
  
  
• Has graduated to wearing size 00 clothing! Some size 000 still fits but is getting a little tight. It's starting to get warm enough now that she can wear her summer outfits and boy does she look cute in her summer rompers!
  
  

• Was read her first book and loved it! The book has pop up animal faces in it and she really enjoys reading it.
  
  
• Still going through one bib a day! The drooling hasn't stopped... yet!
  
  

• Went for her first walk in the new (well, used actually) Mountain Buggy pram we brought off eBay (for a princely sum of $68!). The Mountain Buggy handles the "off-road" terrain around here much better than the other pram we bought, giving her a much smoother ride. The other pram (Phil & Ted Smart) will still be the everyday use pram for use in "city" situations, ie. smooth paving or shopping centres.
  
  
• During the week of 15-21 October, she had a lot of firsts:
• First holiday away - we went to Culburra Beach and even took the furkids. That was much easier than we had anticipated!
  
  

• First time on a beach!
  
  
• First time in a cot! The place we stayed in had a travel cot available for use. She slept in the cot without any problems. :D (We're still kicking ourselves that we didn't get any photos of this. :( )
  
  
• First time seeing whales! We saw lots of them and she would have too if she'd been able to see that far out to sea and actually know what she was looking at! LOL
  
  
• First stay in a luxury hotel. We stayed in the Hilton Hotel for our Tenth Wedding Anniversary on the 20th and boy was that AWESOME!! (Again we're kicking ourselves that we didn't get any photos of her in the hotel cot. Put it down to being awestruck at being in one of the best rooms in the Hilton!)
  
  


• Likes to sit in the high chair now and watch us as we eat our meals. She looks so very small and cute sitting in it!!
  
  
• Is starting to want to sit up and is building up her ab muscles by doing crunches whenever she can! Finding her toes has kinda helped with this. LOL
  
  

• Is starting to put things into her mouth. So far it's just been her toys or her bib (or her hands or mummy or daddy's fingers!). We haven't given her anything else and she hasn't really been able to grab anything else.
  
  

I'll leave you with a couple of really cute photos. :D

*hugs*