Phoenix is 6 months old!!!!

The week leading up to Phoenix's 6 month milestone on July 21st was action packed with new tricks and events. The most exciting event for Axel was sister starting solids on Thursday July 19th. Phoenix has shown interest in food for well over a month. Phoenix did great for her first meal of sweet potatoes/ yams. She was a little weirded out by the texture of having something besides milk or toys in her mouth but it didn't take her long to get the hang of eating. By Friday, she was consuming the entire ice cube of yams. Last night, Thursday the 25th she at 2 cubes for the first time. One cube of butternut squash and one cube of yams.

She fights me for the spoon so I often give in and give her a spoon and then get another spoon to continue to feed her with. I am really excited to add more foods and am hopeful that she will tolerate the low allergy foods well.

 As I mentioned in the last post she started showing the ability to sit without support. By Sunday the 21st, Phoenix starting sitting for 20-30 seconds without any support. She is currently sitting for up to a minute now! It is amazing to me how milestones seem to happen almost over night. I forgot to mentioned over the wedding weekend, we put together the world puzzle Keith received for his birthday during our down time. Annika and Marlena finished it on Saturday night while we were at the reception. It was a goal of ours to do the puzzle in 1 day and with team work we did it!

 Phoenix's hair is finally starting to come in again and grow longer.

 The bald spot on the back of her head is almost gone. I can't wait to see how she looks with long hair :) She looks like such a big girl in this picture sitting all by herself in her play gym.

Besides sitting she is also working on turning onto her stomach from her back towards the left. She has been turning on her stomach over her right side for weeks now, but just started practicing towards the left. She is extremely close, but hasn't fully turned on her stomach towards the left.

She has also come a long way in reaching, grabbing and pulling. She is able to easily grab her animals in her play gym and successfully pull them into her mouth. I can't believe how strong she is.

The last big new skill is she is starting to bring one knee/leg up under her while she is on her stomach. This is the first step to scooting and crawling. Although she isn't quite doing either skills she is able to get an object a foot or two away from her by lifting her butt into the air with her legs straight to propel herself forward. It is really cute!

She continues to babble and talk often. Her babble is becoming more word like with dada, aga, hi, yeah, aba, etc. She continues to squeal with delight and laughs often. Both Phoenix and Axel have the most contagious laugh that melts the hearts of all who hear :)

Phoenix is also becoming more coordinated. My friend Gwen loaned us a jumper that she has come to love. She is absolutely adorable jumping and laughing for joy!

Yesterday, July 25th I took Phoenix in for her 6 month check up. She weighed in at 14lbs and 4 oz, which kept her about the same at 14 percentile. The big news is that she measured 27 and a quarter inches which puts her at the 90th percentile! I knew she was in a growth spurt by her increased appetite the past week or so, but I had no idea she grew 2.5 inches in 2 months! Phoenix normally only consumes 20 oz per day and when she is in a growth spurt consumes 25 oz per day. It amazes me how much she can grow on such little food it seems. 

She is still getting up once a night to eat around midnight. The doctor said as soon as I get her on 2 meals a day and 16 oz of milk during the day I can take out the night time feeding. I can't wait!

We are also in the process of sleep training Axel again. We have been very accommodating because of his skin needs. Although he had started to sleep through the night a couple of times per week, his sleep took a turn for the worst during our vacation. I decided two nights ago that enough is enough. He needs to learn how to sleep and he needs to learn how to not depend on us so much. The first night was easy and he slept through the night. Last night was rough and he was up screaming from 2:30-4:00 off and on. Although he took all of his clothes off and went to the bathroom he managed to have his clothes on in the morning when he woke. That proves my point that he is able to sleep without needing aquaphor in the middle of the night, us to help put his clothes on, re-tuck him in bed and give him hugs and kisses. These have all been crutches. As I told Axel, we love him way to much for us to keep enabling him! Tough Love is awfully hard!

This weekend is a nice mellow weekend that we are looking forward to spending at home!!!