Josie is 6 Months Old

Happy 1/2 birthday to little miss Josie!

- Josie weighs 14lb 7oz and is 25 inches tall (2ft 1in). She took her 6 month shots like a champ (cried for a minute and then was done).
- We have one noisy little girl! She loves squealing, giggling, and giving big belly laughs. It is really cute! I love making Josie laugh. It is such a sweet sound. She is pretty ticklish so I can always get a few good giggles from that. Blowing raspberries on her stomach will always get her to let off high-pitched squeals. Even tickling her under her armpits will get some giggles. She also cracks up if I make kissy sounds to her. She still hasn't said her first word, but she uses a 'mmmmm' sound a lot. Maybe next month I will hear the word that I've been longing to hear from her - momma. 

- Josie has tried it a few new foods this month. In addition to the rice cereal and oatmeal that she started eating last month, she has now tried carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, and applesauce. She really likes her vegetables! The jury is still out on applesauce though. We mix it in with her oatmeal, but she still doesn't seem very pleased with the taste. Most days she will get some cereal in the morning and a vegetable with dinner. I can't even begin to describe how happy it makes me to see her eating her food.

- All of Josie's 3 month jammies have been stored away. I have also recently stored most of her 0-3 month and 3 month clothes. I washed her 3-6 month and 6 month clothes and she has started to wear them.
- Josie is such a happy baby girl! Sure she has her fussy moments, but for the most part she is in a good mood. I love that fact that all you have to do is smile at her and you are rewarded with the biggest grin! Her cheerful demeanor makes all the late nights/messes/cranky moments/exhaustion more than worth it.

- Our girl is a drool machine! Her face, clothes and bibs are constantly covered in drool (and spit-up). She gnaws on everything, loves blowing raspberries and constantly has her tongue out. I still do not see or feel any teeth  but I have a feeling they're coming soon.

Notice the drool drop and the carrots on her neck. 

- Josie is so funny in the bathtub. She will rapidly kick her legs so that she can see the water flying all over the place. Her tub mate, Sophie, finds this hilarious!

- A week and a half ago, for about 4 days, Josie had been pretty cranky. I'm not sure if it was a growth spurt or what but it had changed her mood. She was wanting to eat every 2 to 3 hours and was sleeping a bunch. She was so whiny and it not fun to be around. The past few days have been much better, thank goodness! I hate not knowing what is going on with my little one.

- We have been continuing to work on getting Josie to sit on her own this month. She hasn't been wanting to lay down lately anyway. She is doing great. She's gone from only being able to sit up for a few seconds to sitting up for a few minutes. For the most part she still leans forward in a tripod position. She does well sitting until she gets distracted or makes a sudden movement. Then she starts to topple over. I can't wait until she is sitting completely on her own. I think she will be a lot happier when she is able to do that. 

The other morning as Joe and I were talking in the kitchen I looked over and saw that she was sitting up in her Boppy lounger. She pulled herself up to a sitting position all on her own! She has been doing that in her bouncy seat as well, so I haven't been putting her in there for fear that she would topple out of it. 

- Josie is really starting to go to town in her Jumperoo. In the past she used to just kind of sit there and maybe touch a toy or two. She didn't really bounce much and wanted to get out as soon as she could. Now she jumps all the time and plays with all of the toys. She loves it! It is so fun to watch her get excited about playing in her Jumperoo.

- We've been to my parents' house quite a bit this past month. Sophie enjoys swimming in the pool, but Josie gets bored with it after awhile. I decided to bring the exersaucer outside in the shade so that Josie can play and watch us as we are in the pool (usually there are people with us so she is never alone). She seems to enjoy being outside.

- Josie is not crawling yet, but she is getting closer and closer each day. She can do push-ups and can pop up on her knees...just not at the same time. She tries so hard though. She will inch herself forward by wiggling back and forth. She will also put her face to the ground, push her toes onto the floor and propel herself forward (a move that Sophie enjoyed before she crawled). Josie gets so frustrated over not being able to move around like the rest of us. I am confident that she will be on the move in no time (and it is okay if she isn't)! Until then she will just roll (and roll...and turn...and roll) herself to where she wants to be.

Look at that push-up! She just needs to pop up on her knees and she will be ready to go!

"I'll get you, bird!"

- Josie's movements have become very deliberate. If she sees an object that she wants, she goes for it. When she is on the floor she will reach out to grab the toy and rake it towards her body. She also will reach out and touch the different parts of our faces. It is so neat to watch her go from just having reflexes to doing things purposefully on her own.

Whenever I show Josie herself on my phone's camera app she tries to grab the phone. It won't be long until she is stealing the phone from me like her older sister. 

-Last month Josie was grabbing at her toes, but she couldn't quite get them into her mouth. She can get those toes into her mouth this month! Her favorite time to put her toes in her mouth is during diaper changes, which makes things pretty difficult. (There have been a few times where she has rolled herself over to our feet and tries to gnaw at our toes. Have no fear, we don't let things get that far.) 

- Josie enjoys spitting her pacifier out of her mouth. She doesn't just casually drop it; she sends it shooting out of her mouth and across the room! I tried for a long time to catch her doing this on camera, and this was the best I could do (she doesn't get the distance that she normally does):

Here are a few a bunch more photos of my sweet little 6 month old:

My beautiful, happy girl!

I am so glad I was taking pictures of this. Josie wanted those chips so badly! It was hilarious!

Sophie still insists that she and Josie wear similar clothes. She is happiest when they wear the exact same thing. One day they are going to ask me why I dressed them like twins and I will be able to truthfully say that Sophie is to blame. 

Happy 4th of July!

We almost always have Josie sit in her highchair at dinner time so we can be together as a family. We must have bored her one day while she waited for her supper. 

We went to our church festival a few weekends ago. We stood over by a live band to listen to the music (and because it was right next to the pull tabs). Josie stared down the band like this the whole time. I'm not sure if she was annoyed, intrigued, or bored. 

The girls helping us out during game time with our friends.  

On the way home from vacation we stopped for diaper changes and to stretch. The grass was really high so it wasn't very comfortable for Josie is lay on her blanket. Sophie tried to help entertain her.

Josie has such pretty dark eyes. They are grey right now but they are turning more brown-hazel each day.

Meeting Rodger for the first time. Both girls were fascinated by him. 

I love snuggling this sweet little girl.

Any excuse to have cake in this family is a good one! (No, Josie did not have any cake. We just let her play in this half while we ate the other half.)