six months

Happy half birthday (a day late) Paige! 

^I was trying to stop her from rolling during all the other photos 

Size: So last month I was looking at Paige's diaper situation more closely and made the realization we switched to size 3 too soon. However, I didn't go get any size 2 and now we think she really should be in size 3. All this to say, she's probably going to be in this size longer than "normal". I can tell she's growing though because some 6 month clothes are getting tighter and she's in some 12 month pieces (like the onesie in these pictures, but it's Gerber and they tend to run on the smaller side). I won't have official weight and height till the 14th, which I'll add here after her appointment.
*Update 12/14: weight: 16.62 lbs (55%) and length: 26.5" (67%)

Eating: We gave her a bottle more this month. She still kind of "plays" around with it for the first bit before getting serious about eating. I finally gave her a bottle, too - before it had just been Steven, and  she took it from me the same as she does with him. I love that she's really efficient at breastfeeding though...when she's not getting distracted with Ellie or a show Ellie's watching. I sometimes need to feed her in her room so she can focus! This next week we will introduce solids. Still no sign of a tooth coming through, however she may be acting like it.? We are very unsure on any teething "signs" until we actually see a tooth, because we thought or blamed things on teething with Ellie from this age till she finally got one two at age 1!! We shall see...

Sleep: This girl is keeping us on our toes in the sleep department. We will get a good system in place and then she'll not like the time I put her down. I have been putting her down about a hour and half after she wakes. So she'd get about 3 naps in a day. However, ever so often she won't like going down for a third nap, but then other days, she'll take three 2 hour naps! She is starting to wake more often, on average, at 6:30am (otherwise I'll wake her, at the latest by 7). Even going off a semi routine morning wake up time, the day would play out so different on some days. I do the same sleep routine every time and I'm careful on what she's exposed to before we even start the routine (loud noises, being tickled, etc). Bedtime is on average 6:30pm and she sleeps great through the night, waking rarely for a quick diaper change in the early morning, and goes back to sleep well. I have started playing with the time she's awake for and only doing two naps. Some days it works, some days it totally backfires. Also, some times she'll take longer to fall asleep and cry a little more, like I'm not hitting the right time. Plus, she'll spit up a bit in her crib, which is uncomfortable to sleep in of course. So, we'll need to go in, clean her/the spot and slide her in a different area. That of course disturbs her sleep. The only time I feed her close to a sleep time is at bedtime, so I can't really do much different to help her not spit up. Though, she does 1.5-2 hour naps despite it being a little difficult going to sleep. Needless to say, we've been in a hard spot figuring out what she requires to thrive off of.
*Update from when I wrote this a few days ago:
Paige has done 2 naps the last 4 days and it has all gone better than before! Now, lets hope it sticks...

Ellie was soo easy with sleep at 5 months and on. She woke around the same time every morning (sometimes we woke her), and her naps would be around the same time every day: wake at 6:30am on average, nap #1 around 9am - sleep for about 2 hours, nap #2 around 2 - sleep for about 2 hours and bedtime at latest 7pm. Plus, she would be happy going down/waking pretty much every single time. It's hard not to compare. It's just when you had it so great the first time, you want it to work the same again! I'm learning to not compare and realize we have two different kids ; ).

Milestones/Accomplishments:
- Rolling every which way, all the time
- Shifting to the right and left, kind of like crawling, but not...
She will not be in the same spot you put her down in for long!
- Scooting legs under her for a moment or two; trying to crawl
- Sitting better independently/unsupported, but does need you close by of course to catch her tumbles

Likes:
- Having her tongue out and kind of licking her gums/lips
- Dancing/being bounced around in your arms
- Being sung to. I love how it will catch her attention, calm her down if she's fussy and make her smile. And by no means do I have a great singing voice
- Putting anything and everything into her mouth! Loves her toes during diaper changes especially
- Peek-a-boo
- Kicking in the bathtub - she makes some good splashes ; )

Dislikes:
- Holding still for diaper and clothes changes. Anything with buttons are a bit tricky with her legs moving and her desire to roll!
- Not being able to watch the tv. We'll turn her away from it and she'll strain so hard to look back at it. And when you've done this a few times she'll start getting really fussy!
- When a toy she wants is just out of arms reach. She wants to crawl to it so bad (and she tries), but when she realizes she's not really getting closer she can start to get fussy

Additional things I want to remember:
How laughs are hard to get out of her. She makes us work for those sweet sounds.

Her bald spot has been going strong, haha. The hair below it, around her neck, is the darkest hair she has and it looks hilarious right under her bald spot. Plus, she has more hair growing on top than the sides...if she was a boy, she'd have a great faux hawk. It is starting to grow in that bald spot though!

One evening Paige was fussy in the car and Ellie reached over to her, trying to pat her and says to her, "It's okay Paige, it's okay." And Ellie started singing some random, made up song to her and it calmed Paige down. When Ellie stopped, Paige would kind of start up again, but when Ellie started singing again, it worked again.

She still likes her fingers, but doesn't really use them, from what we can tell, to fall asleep with like Ellie did.

A note:
Ever since Paige came out into the world my heart has grown with the amount of love I can carry. Holding her for the first time and every day since has made my heart swell. Becoming a parent to another beautiful girl is sometimes beyond what words can express. The thankfulness I have to God is abundant. The days can be exhausting, not only because they are busy with doing "things", but because I'm trying to do what I can to raise happy and loved girls. Some days I stretch myself thin and fail at what I'm actually trying to do well at, but I hope these girls know that we love them so much.