Six Months Old!

How can my baby possibly be six months old? Only six months until she turns one - that seems impossible. Time is flying and Kelsey is growing like a weed. She weighed in at 17 lb 4 oz the day after her 6 month birthday. My littlest princess is not only physically growing, but she is learning so much intellectually as well. I call her 'my little sponge', as each day she seems to pick up some new 'trick' or skill that amazes KK and I (and Daddy too). She loves to pass toys back and forth between her hands, she is fine-tuning her "pincher grip" and using her thumb and forefinger to pick up toys. She has figured out how to shake toys to make noise and also how to splash in the tub. Kelsey perfected her sitting skills during her sixth month and now I hardly think twice about just leaving her in the room to sit and play toys and not put a pillow or the boppy around her. Her sitting skills have made bath time that much more fun for Kaitlyn and Kelsey, as they can actually play together a bit in the tub at the same time - fun! Kelsey went on a nursing strike shortly after turning five months old. I am not sure if it had something to do with her ears hurting, teething or just the fact that she is so easily distracted or what, but I am now pumping (sigh...) four or five times a day and she is only nursing during the night and sometimes before naps if she is tired enough. I am amazed at how my 'pumping and multitasking skills' have improved in the last month; they are still no where near where they were after pumping for 17 months for Kaitlyn - I could even pump and drive!! Kelsey got her first ear infection during her sixth month. I had noticed that she was grabbing both ears and that she didn't want to nurse so I took her in and sure enough - she had an infection in her left ear. She LOVED the amoxicillin that they gave her and we loved it too as it temporarily solved her constipation issues. We are still waiting for those bottom two teeth to pop through (If you have read my FB posts, you know that she has made some teething progress, but I am writing this post nearly 4 weeks late and one tooth has since popped through...). Kelsey loves to chew on cold teething toys and cold pacis. She also continues to love any bit of 'people' food that we will let her chew on including frozen waffles and bagels. We started a bit of baby food in Kelsey's six month, after her allergy testing. So far she has done well with sweet potatoes, squash and oatmeal cereal. Surprisingly Kelsey is on a bit of a schedule these days. She is up between 630 and 7, naps for 30-45 minutes around 930, naps for usually an hour around 130 and then takes another shorter nap around 5 and is ready for bed by 9. She is still up 5-6 times a night but usually only eats a few of those times. At this point we are only giving her baby food once a day, but hope to up that to twice and even three times in the next month. During her sixth month, Kelsey visited the chiropractor twice. We took her there as sort of a last resort to try and figure out why she wasn't sleeping well and low and behold Dr. Farmer found four vertebrae out. He was able to 'pop' them into place and although he didn't provide us with a cure-all to get Kelsey to sleep through the night, we did notice that after her second visit, Kelsey would frequently put both legs up in he air when lying on her back and now even nibble on her toes ... something she had never done before. So we were very pleased! Kelsey also visited the allergist during the later half of her sixth month and underwent a partial skin prick test to rule out some food allergies. None of the eight foods they tested showed up as actual allergies so that was a blessing. We are still considering her sensitive to dairy, soy and corn as before, although I am straying from my strict diet much more these days, knowing that she is not actually allergic. "Mommy-itis" as we call it has started again and Kelsey will whine and cry when she sees me leave the room. She is the most upset when she is tired or hungry, understandedly. She gives me the biggest wide mouthed grin when I walk back into the room or when Daddy brings her to me - its just precious. Kelsey Paige, you are the happiest, giggliest, most curious little thing and we love you to pieces. I cannot believe that you have been a member of our family for 1/2 a year already but then again, I cannot remember what life was like without you. God bless you Sweetheart!

Playing Dr. with KK and I!

Build - A - Who??

One of Kailtyn's favorite things to do is to undress and then re-dress all of her dozen or so Build-A-Bear animals. When I was helping her put sandals on one of them, I told her that the shoes might actually fit Kelsey. . . Yup ... they did! Too funny!

More Pool Fun

Two new tricks: On her knees and blowing bubbles!

Fourth Filled with Family Fun!

What a wonderful 4th of July weekend we had ... finally! We had lots of fun playing, swimming and enjoying some quality family time over the long weekend. Thank you Lord for such sweet memories! Kelsey watching us swim.

Our little fish

Patriotic Princess

Kaitlyn and I setup 'camp' on our front steps and got to watch not just one set of fireworks but at least four different sets! She especially loved getting to 'stay up late' with Mom that night while Jeff and Kelsey slept!

Two Patriotic Princesses!

Tummy Time!

Big eyes and sweet cheeks!

Gotcha Sissy!

Mommy's Girls!

All tuckered out Grampy leading the parade

Waiting for candy and firetrucks ... what else is there?!!!!

Snoozing at the parade

Fun at the Fountain

One morning the girls and I ended our playtime with a visit to this neighboring fountain. We decided that it would be fun to play in so we made plans to head there with Daddy to kick off our 4th of July weekend. Kaitlyn and Kelsey both had fun getting splashed by the cool water. Kaitlyn also enjoyed watering the flowers and especially watching her Daddy throw buckets of water into the air - a silly game she made up! Hopefully playing in the fountain - which is supposed to be just decoration - isn't against any township rules!

Praise the Lord

Nearly 24 hours after Kelsey had her hips xray'd we got the news that rang ever so sweetly in my ears, "No evidence of developmental hip dysplasia!" Praise the Lord. We still need to talk further with the doctor and see what, if anything, we need to do next to help Kelsey start using her right foot more, but for now we are at peace and giving God all the Glory for hearing our cries.

On Our Knees ...

Tonight we are on our knees pleading with God to heal anything that might be wrong with Kelsey's hips, causing her to consistently stand tip-toed on one foot. About two months ago we noticed that Kelsey always jumped in her jump-a-roo on one foot. We thought it was cute and called her the 'One Footed Jumper', but as time progressed we noticed that whenever we stood her up, she always wanted to stand tip-toed on her right foot. We visited a chiropractor who did comment that her hip on the right side was tilted way back and he thought that may have caused her to develop an imbalance of muscle strength causing the tip-toed-ness. But when we mentioned it to Kelsey's pediatrician at her six month visit, she was concerned that Kelsey's hip might be displaced - a condition that is nearly always discovered at birth and is far easier to correct on a newborn than on a very independent and mobile six month old. So tomorrow is d-day ... we take Kelsey to get x-rays and will most likely find out if indeed her hip is displaced or if some other condition is causing her to stand unevenly. We are praying that whatever is discovered, it can be corrected with physical therapy and that surgery, casts and braces will not be in her future. However we are clinging tightly to the promise that Kelsey is 'perfectly and wonderfully made' by the hands of our Great Creator and we know He will walk beside us on the journey that we embark on tomorrow. Won't you pray with us ...