Growing Too Fast

Last Tuesday, our sweet baby girl turned 6 months old, I cannot believe that she is already half a year old!  She is continuing to grow and I love to watch her development, it seems that she changes on a daily basis.  Ava always has a smile on her face and she will laugh at the the drop of the hat.  Her hand eye coordination is getting really good and she reaches for everything and tries to put most things in her mouth.  She still does not have any teeth, but is drooling a lot and will chew on anything so I am expecting to feel a tooth in her mouth anytime now.  We are currently working on sitting up and although it does not seem to interest her too much, she has a strong enough back and should be able to sit up on her own in the next week or two. 

Ava continues to be a good sleeper and it has really made our lives so much easier.  She enjoys being outside and still loves to go out on a stroller ride.  She is pretty independent and will only tolerate being held for a short period of time until she fuss's to be put down so she can play.  She has discovered how to turn her seat in her jumperoo and spends a good part of the day jumping and playing in it.

The biggest milestone that occurred was her introduction to rice cereal.  Our pediatrician told us that we could start when she was four months old, but we waited until she was five months because we did not want her to have any digestion issues with it.  The first time we tried she was not too happy with us and she cried and pitched a good fit.  We continued over the next couple of days and she began to like it more, but it still took her at least two weeks to not try and suck the spoon every time we put it in her mouth. 

Ava also had her first real sickness when she was five months old, and along with half of her class, she came down with RSV.  We ended up keeping her home from school for four days as she dealt with this respiratory virus.  She was one sick little girl during this time and with the congestion that came with this, she had troubles sleeping at night.  She had a bad croupy cough and  you could see it in her eyes that she did not feel good.  Finally on day six she finally started feeling better and was back to herself on day ten.  I felt so helpless during this time and just wished that I was able to do more to make her feel better.

Travis and I continue to feel so blessed and love being parents.  Below are some pictures of Ava Marie at five months old.