3/14/02
- Leah is five months old now. Here, she shows off how well she can
sit on her own. We have to help her get started in this pose, but once
she's up there, she stays for several minutes at a time. Leah is a happy
baby who loves to socialize. At "Step and Stroll" aerobics,
Leah rolls around a large mat playing with other babies and their toys.
This morning, she held a conversation with another baby for the first
time! Leah enjoys "Infant Awareness" class, too, responding
with curiosity and enjoyment to the songs and objects shared with her.
Her exploration of food is going well. Today, Leah drank her first apple
juice and loved it! She's fond of trying new things and accepts just
about everything we offer her. She even likes peaches now. After a successful
month of baby fruits and cereals, we moved Leah onto vegetables. So
far, she likes sweet carrots. We plan to try sweet potatoes next. We're
not scheduled to return to the pediatrician for a few weeks, but her
unofficial weight is now 17 pounds. We just moved her up to a size 3
diaper. Now that she's rolling over all the time, Leah prefers to sleep
on her belly, flipping onto it after we put her down.
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3/17/02 - Leah's got a silly hat! |
3/26/02
- Tonight, Leah ate from a spoon on her own! Here's how it happened:
As mom edged the spoon towards Leah's mouth, Leah intercepted it and
delivered it herself. She held the large end of the spoon with both
hands, twirling the spoon around her mouth and using her fingers to
get all the food in. It was messy, but so independent! At this point,
Leah has tried everything Beechnut has to offer in their stage 1 group.
This includes rice and oatmeal cereals, bananas, applesauce, pears,
peaches, sweet carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, beef, turkey
and chicken. Leah enjoys puffed rice cereal and rice cakes in between
meals.
4/1/02 - Today at lunch, Leah sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time! She didn't wobble or fall over. Leah delighted in gumming a pickle, a tomato slice, a lettuce leaf and a lemon. Leah enjoyed sitting at the table where she could see and interact with everyone.
4/6/02 - Leah is almost six months old. Her hair has become thicker and blonder. Her eyes vary from gray to powder blue, depending on her surroundings. Leah now prefers a stroller where she can sit up and see the world around her. She enjoys sitting up every chance she gets and has started crawling motions. We assume she'll start propelling shortly. Leah has mastered the art of swallowing food from a spoon (thanks to the introduction of a smaller spoon) and mealtimes are much neater. We plan to start her on Beechnut's Stage 2 foods this week, and increase solids from twice a day to three.
Leah enjoys playing with so many things now-- small objects, books, toys with lights and sounds, her toes, our dog, us, our relatives, our friends and other babies!
4/9/02 - Leah will be six months old tomorrow! She didn't care for three solid meals a day, so we're sticking with two for the moment. Leah enjoys puffed rice cereal with her mush. It's lots of fun to pick up with her fingers and put in her mouth (see above!). This evening, we reintroduced Cheerios and she devoured them. In other news, Leah crawled for the first time today! It wasn't pretty, but it did get her across the room. She used her face and elbows to inch forward as she shoved her butt in the air. Leah also held her own bottle for the first time today with the help of an attached handle.
4/12/02
- We visited the pediatrician today for Leah's six-month checkup. Here
are her statistics-- She is 27" long (90th percentile), 17.3 pounds
(75th percentile), and has a 17" head circumference (75th percentile).
After reviewing the numbers and examining Leah, the doctor concluded that
she is "the picture of perfect health." We were delighted. Leah's
appointment concluded with three vaccinations, and thankfully, she didn't
cry for more than a minute or two. Leah's teething has finally produced
the start of a tooth! It's on the bottom. Stay tuned for pictures when
it comes in.
4/16/02 - Leah enjoys playing with shredded paper in her Infant Awareness class!
4/16/02 - Leah poses with her friend, six-month-old Stephanie, during Step & Stroll aerobics class. While their moms workout, Leah and Stephanie share toys, play with each other, and roll or crawl off the mat.
4/16/02 - Leah poses with her friend, six-month-old Tyler, on her last day of Level 1 Infant Awareness Class. Level 2 starts next week!
4/17/02 - Some more firsts to report... yesterday, Leah sat in the front of a grocery buggy without her infant carrier. The trick was draping a fluffy towel over the seat and wrapping the front handle with a cloth diaper. Once buckled in, she loved it! So many people interacted with her. Also, Leah used a sippy cup by herself this morning.
4/24/02 - Leah went into a pool for the first time today. We joined three other moms and their babies in a kiddie pool less than 3 feet deep. Leah floated around for 45 minutes in her inner tube, much like her friends Danielle (7 months), Stephanie (6 months) and Donovan (11 months). It was every baby's first time in the pool today, and they all had a blast!
Click here to see more swim photos!
