Happy Half Birthday, Olive!

First, the official six-month stats from the pediatrician:

• Weight: 15 lbs., 14 oz. (50th percentile)
• Height: 25 1/2 in. (50th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 17 in. (75th percentile)

Olive continues to impress me. She can now sit like a champ and is working on crawling. She can't crawl yet, but she can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She can scoot backward and all around. She can definitely scoot herself across a room when the mood strikes, though she can't very well control which way she goes.

She's started solid foods, though hasn't done super well with it yet. She tends to gag a bit, though not frequently anymore. She doesn't really open her mouth for food, and when I do get the spoon in, she pushes it right back out. A few bites have been swallowed, but not much. She has, however, enjoyed sucking on apples, peaches, and pineapple. The oatmeal and peas, not so much. Go figure, right?

She is such a curious girl. Always reaching, stretching as far as she can so she can touch and feel everything around her. She loves toys, and toys entertain her for much longer stretches than they ever did Milo.

No teeth yet.

She is starting to babble again. For awhile it seemed she sort of quit speaking, but now she's finding her voice. And it's an awfully cute voice. "Wuhwuhwuh," she says.

She loves LOVES bouncing and jumping. Nothing makes her smile more. (With the possible exception of her brother and other kids.)

She has a cute, shrieky giggle. When we were checking out our minivan, the kids there were kicking around a soccer ball, not paying any attention to Olive. But she was paying attention to them. And she thought they were hilarious. She giggled for about five minutes straight. No joke. She could not stop laughing. I really, really wish I'd had my video camera, or even my phone, with me, because that video would have been priceless.

She has begun taking a fairly regular morning nap, about two hours after she wakes up. But it's all still a crap shoot, whether or not she'll take good naps. Sleeping is not her strongest suit.

Olive's hair is getting a bit longer, though it's still awfully short. Same color, reddish. She's got terrible cradle cap. Still. The doc recommended Selsun Blue, so we'll try that. I don't mind the look of it so much, but I worry that it is itchy for her.

She has been waking up typically once a night, and I feed her then. But she often wakes more than that and murmurs to herself. We have been turning off the monitor then, and letting her fall asleep on her own. We just need to figure out how to cut out the middle-of-the-night nursing session and I'll be so happy.

And ohmygoodness, do I love this little girl. I'd do anything to make her smile. She's not a snuggle bunny, but when she rests her head on my shoulder my heart just fills up with her. I have a feeling she's going to be a little fireball and give me lots of trouble as she grows up, but I still can't wait to see who this wonderful, amazing little person becomes.

This outfit is one I wore as a baby. My mom made it for me and recently brought it over for Olive. Pretty cute.

And it's even cuter with the bonnet.