Life With Nia: Six Months Old

Darling Nia on her Dedication Day

There are so many updates that this is going to be quite a long post! I really can't believe Nia is six months already. I know it's cliche to say time flies, but it really, really does. I look at her sometimes and I can already see her graduating high school! As you can see in the picture above she has this mature look about her. She studies everything so intently and can make you feel like she's peering into your soul. Sometimes it really freaks me out, honestly!

Anyway, the two major highlights: Baby Dedication and introducing solids!

While some church's have a christening or baptism our church has a baby dedication. We believe that a baptism happens when a person can make a personal decision to follow Christ, but as a child it is the responsibility to "train up a child in the way she should go" (Proverbs 22:6). During the dedication the parents make a promise to do so. 

My mom crocheted Nia's dress and bonnet. She is immensely talented (she crocheted her wedding dress too!) and the picture she sent me via text didn't do it justice:

She wore lace tights and white satin shoes as well as the cross from a dear family friend. Nia looked like a little angel:

I think Nia was looking at my dad in this pic!

Nia wanted the mic!

As part of the dedication she received a certificate and toddler Bible; we'll be getting more pictures too as well as the DVD so if I'm technical enough I'll try to upload a clip in the coming weeks. After the dedication we had a small gathering of family and friends over for a light brunch - my dad made delicious cinnamon rolls. {When we get pictures uploaded from our guests I'll do a separate post with a link to the full gallery} 

Now about solids . . .

SUCCESS!

I could tell Nia was ready by how she eyed our food and boy, was she ever! I'm so glad I started getting her ready for solids two weeks prior to her six month birthday. The first week I let her sit in her high chair while we ate and the second week I gave her a bowl and spoon while she sat in the high chair. As a result, by the time we gave her cereal she was AMPED! 

My sister gave us this book from our Amazon registry, and I followed the homemade rice cereal recipe. 

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

It was very easy:

This is what we used to make Nia's food (a gift from my cousin, Aminah)

I made it quite watery the first time around; subsequently I made it thicker

Uka fed her, and she loved it!

Here's a video of the grand occasion:

We'll do a week with just plain brown rice cereal flavored with breastmilk then this weekend we'll add bananas. After a few days of that we'll introduce peas and so on. I'll keep providing updates on the blog as Nia tries new food. I do have to add that I was so happy to see Uka jump up and get involved with making Nia's food. He didn't just want to feed her - he wanted to help me make it, and I really liked that!

Now on to the update . . .

• Baby's Weight: As of Nia's 6 month appointment on February 15 she's 16lbs and 7oz; at her last on December 8 she was 15lbs and 3oz. We're seeing a new pediatrician now who has a much better bedside manner than her old one; Nia took to her immediately and didn't cry like she did before. The new dr. told us her percentiles, which I never bothered with anyway, but for her weight she's 75%-tile. She said she's doing excellent on breastmilk and my solids plan is sound.

• Baby's Height: She was 25" at her last appointment and now she's 26." (About 55%-tile; the dr. was shocked to learn how tall Uka was!).

• What size of clothing does baby wear? 6-9 months is definitely tighter length wise but she still has width room although her Pooh-bear tummy is taking shape

• Any milestones baby reached during the month:  
• She can dance on command; we say "Go Nia! Go Nia!" and she starts bouncing. (I HAVE to get this on camera!)
• She's sitting longer and is less likely to topple; the dr. said she's quite a good sitter for 6 months since she doesn't use her hands as a tripod (and of course Nia toppled over at the dr.'s office and hit her head on the wall - ouch!)
• She's sleeping in her crib for naps and bedtime, but still wakes at night for a feeding (I think this might get better as solids progress, but so far it hasn't kicked in yet)

• Special outings baby had during the month: Just out to Long Island on the LIRR for a Knottie get together (she loves riding the train)
• What are your thoughts about the past month? Nia just keeps getting cuter and cuter. I love how curious and passionate she is about everything. Her voice and sense of humor are definitely getting stronger.
• What was baby's routine? We're getting Nia down for the night now earlier! She's down most nights before 9p.m. and I find when we get up by 6a.m. with Uka for work the days goes much better. If we can both get up that early she naps earlier and subsequently goes to bed earlier. We get lots of playtime in, especially books and songs/dance. With the high likelihood that I'll be working outside the home soon, I'm trying to get a routine set as much as possible and am starting to write it down.
• Reflect about the highlights of the month: Solids! I'll keep Nia on mostly breastmilk but I'll welcome the decreased feedings for sure. I plan to wean her at 1 year old.
• Did any big changes occur, such as baby started daycare, stopped nursing, slept through the night, etc... No big changes this month; minor change was adjusting her cloth diaper to the next largest size cause of her chubbzy tummy!
• What are baby's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... She still likes Cookie Kisses and we introduced new musical toys for her 6 month birthday; she would see them in the hanging caddy during diaper changes and I would jingle them and she'd start panting like a puppy and kicking! I finally gave them to her on her birthday and here she is playing with them: