Baby top tooth is in

And she has been trying to use me as a teething toy!

She has been having a hard time sleeping the past few nights. Hopefully better tonight. 

Today she pulled up to stand by the crib rail. After two tries and careful thinking she figured out how to lower herself to sit!

Baby crawling!

Meili crawled three slow and measured hand steps yesterday. She had been rocking back and forth for over a month, and doing the hands and knees thing over my thigh (maybe for added security). I placed a doll beyond her reach and she went for it! No hesitation. Just care. 

I am so proud of my baby girl! 

She has been extra clingy the past four days, wanting to pull up to downward dog and standing by grabbing on to my shirt. She seems to be wanting a lot of that!

Infant swim lessons at Kittanning YMCA

Meili's first swim lesson and fourth time in a pool. She loved it even more than the last time. The water is warm and she is comfy. She kicked and scooped like crazy. And kept putting her face in the water. She even blew a bubble. At eight months of age I think that is quite impressive. It's a an hour round trip to this heated pool YMCA and it's worth it because the water isn't chlorinated hardly at all (maybe not even). 

Baby sleeping in car!

We put Meili in the car for a 1.5 hr trip and she fell asleep immediately and stayed asleep the entire ride. We are now on the way home and she fell asleep immediately - let's see if this lasts. I credit dr jay Gordon for helping her learn to sleep. http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html/comment-page-10#comments

Crying in arms method: baby sleeps through the night!

We had attempted this method at six months but couldn't follow through and now I look back and think maybe Meili wasn't ready. Because when we tried it again three days ago, it worked! 

I'm uncomfortable about the cry it out method and was glad to learn about this gentle method of helping baby learn to fall back asleep by herself when if woken during the night. I followed dr jay Gordon's guideline which he recommends for babies one year and up.  The first three nights I put her down half awake after her 11pm feed and if she cried I would pick her up and hold her until she was half asleep again then put her down again. No nursing though. 

She cried for up to an hour the first time and after that fell right asleep. Second night was less crying and she would wake and put herself back to sleep with a little whimper. It was incredible. She seems like she is trying hard to sleep and with a little crying she has managed to do so. Six hours straight! Let's see if this sticks. 

Creeper!

Meili finally started creeping two weeks ago at 6 1/2 months. She put both hands in front of her and pulls herself forward by the strength of her arms. I would hold my hands out palms upward and drum my fingers on the floor, and she would creep a few inches to touch my fingers. Then I'd pick her up and hug and kiss her. 

Now she's doing a super fast creep and goes across the room real quick. And when she touches me she pretty much expects to be picked up!!

First tooth

So, Meili has one tooth now. It cut five days ago and she was really fussy for two days before that. That tooth is reaaaaally sharp! She hasn't bitten me yet...

Baby led weaning: good eats

Since Meili has another 1.5 years left of breastfeeding (hopefully), where the next six months will still be mostly breastmilk, I'm not pressured to make her eat a lot. I've been offering her finger sized pieces of poached tender chicken that she gums off bits and swallows. She has gagged a few times and I've watched her  quite easily bring up the chicken if she has accidentally swallowed too big a piece. She's also had lamb, beef and pork in bite sized pieces usually at dinner (a departure from BLW as we feed them to her). She has lettuce offered to her every morning with chicken. And lunch is avocado and banana about a spoonful each which she adores. 

She's also had egg yolk two mornings in a row and loves them. 

Meili is six! (months)

My precious little peanut, mama can barely believe you are six months old! Time has flown by, and it's all a bit of a blur for me as days meld into weeks into months, and as I cope with illness and caring for you best as I can. I love you with all I have Meili Abigail.

Meili at six months is 28 inches long (99th percentile) and 15 lb 3 oz (32nd percentile). 

Accidental Peppermint Tea Ingestion - Breastmilk Decrease!

I ran out of mothers milk tea and thought I'd finish up the pepermint tea I got for nausea while pregnant. So I guzzled bout a liter through the night and the next day my milk production ground to a drip. Now I did not expect that. Google informed me that peppermint tea is drunk to dry up milk supply. Oh dear. Poor Meili is hungry. She's been wanting to nurse every one-two hours instead of 3-4 hours. Also, I had started sleeping on my tummy the past few days. That apparently puts pressure on the boobs and prevents them from filling up with milk. I'm now guzzling heaps of mothers milk tea and putting Meili on as often as she needs and for as long as she likes. Let's see how long it takes for my milk to come back. Here's a rare pic of Meili crying. :)