THE ROTH-HURST FAMILY: Ella- 6 months old

*She “played” in her jumperoo for the first time. She doesn’t do anything yet, but she is content and enjoys being upright and looking around at what is going on.
*No more nursing :-( After a lot of pumping, supplements and tears, I finally had to let go of nursing. Ella is actually the one that made the decision. Everything was totally normal, up until about five months old, and then she started getting mad during feedings. She never cried like she did when it was time to nurse. The second my milk stopped flowing at the pace she wanted, she would arch her back and tell me all about it. It progressed to the point where she wouldn’t even latch on anymore, because she couldn’t get anything. Since I had to supplement with bottle and formula in the meantime, she decided she preferred that to mommy’s slow-flowing milk. And even though I was pumping after every feeding (or more often), my supply did not increase. It was not an easy thing for me to give up, because I loved the fact that she nursed so well. But now she is gaining the weight that the doctor’s were wanting with all of the formula she has gotten. I have to focus on the positive and she will be a bottle-baby from here on out.
*Just like her big brother, the formula has “plugged her up” and Miralax is now a regular item on our shopping list…..again. We had a 6-month break from buying it (Jaycoby needed Miralax from the age of 4 months until past his 4-year birthday), but now we are back at it.
*She loves to have a tight hold of your finger if you are holding her. She will grip my finger and thumb when I am feeding her a bottle. Or she will hold her own bottle while eating. This has been really nice when I am getting ready in the morning.
*We can get a little bit of a reaction when we play with her now. If we give her kisses on the neck or tummy she lets out a little giggle once in a while. Just the other day I was able to get some really loud laughs, but it hasn’t happened again. She is really smiley, but she saves her giggles for really special occasions.
*She had a cold this past month, which made her get a weepy eye. Even though she kind of had the crud, she was happy and content the whole time.
*She has a little “lizard tongue” (or at least that is what I have nicknamed it). She pokes it in and out of her mouth, while kind of slurping on it. It is adorable, of course. She also makes a “grandpa face” (another silly nickname). She chomps on her gums and it really accentuates the fact that she is totally toothless.
*She has to be part of what is going on. She doesn’t like to nap when we go anywhere and tries her hardest to stay awake for the action. But she is a great sleeper when we are out and she has to get a little cat nap in.
*We joke that she loves to look at her nails. Her favorite thing to do when she is awake is to hold her hands up in front of her face, palms out, and stare at the backs of her hands. It looks like she is checking out her nails.
*She has mastered the fake cough and will smile when I tell her I don’t believe she is really sick :-)
*She graduated to some size 6 months clothes.
*First food: avocado and wheat cereal. We have tried it twice. She will open her mouth and swallow it pretty well, but it has made her gag and barf both times. We will keep trying it every once in a while, but she obviously isn’t crazy about it yet.
*She is sleeping 7/8pm-7am every night (insert hallelujah trumpet music).
*Anyone who has given Ella a bottle knows that a thick bib and burp rag is required. If given a 6-ounce bottle, she would drool at least one ounce of it. After each feeding she would be totally soaked. It was frustrating for several reasons (laundry, cost of formula, etc.). But, in the past two weeks, she has FINALLY gotten to where she only dribbles a tiny bit during feedings. Thank goodness!!!!