Six Months!

Elodie turned six months yesterday! It was a pretty good month once we got the feeding tube stuff sorted out. We took a break from doctor's appointments and mostly just spent our time hanging out around the house. During this month Elodie enjoyed her first Super Bowl.

Look how much fun she was having! ;)

We also celebrated her first Valentine's Day with a visit from my mom. We didn't do anything very special, but I did get her a card and a Where is Baby's Valentine lift-the-flap book.

Grandma and her favorite grandkids. (Her only ones.)

I took Elodie in for her 6 month appointment today. She now weighs 13lbs 14.5oz, which is 11th%ile. Her length has grown to 25.25" (23rd%ile) and her head circumference has grown to 17" (or 43cm, 77th%ile). All of her growth charts show that she is keeping right on her curves. Yay Elodie! Developmentally she is now considered delayed in all areas (according to the ASQ-3), but looking back at her 4 month checklist she is now doing almost everything for that age, so she is showing steady progress. And she really did make some big leaps this month, so let's get to it!

• She is still wearing 3-6 and 6 month clothing. She is in size 1 diapers, but after this box is empty we will move her up to size 2. She has been having a lot of messy leaks lately!
• Elodie is still tube fed. We continue to work on increasing volume, and she is currently getting about 17.5oz per day. We dropped her overnight feeding because she often threw it up, and it was really disrupting my sleep. So now she gets just 4 feeds per day. She is still getting breastmilk fortified with formula to 27 calories. In case it hasn't sunk in, that means I have been exclusively pumping for her for 6 months now! That really deserves its own post.

Doing her homework!
(When feeding, she is encouraged to use her oral motor skills so that she won't become orally averse.)

• Most nights she sleeps from about 9:30pm to 7:30am. She is such a great sleeper! She still takes three naps per day, with the morning nap being the longest (about 2-3 hours). Her afternoon nap is usually about an hour and her evening nap is hit and miss. Some nights she refuses it altogether. 
• She is a super smiley, giggly, happy baby! It doesn't take much to get laughs and squeals of delight from her. We have all been blessed by her amazingly happy-go-lucky temperament! It's a rare occasion for her to be fussy and upset, unless she is hungry or super tired.

Daddy gets the biggest smiles!

• Elodie continues to make vowel sounds, but no consonant sounds yet. However, she is exploring a wider range of sounds and is beginning to make "p" sounds by putting her lips together and then puffing air through them. She still blows raspberries, but hasn't been doing it as much lately. She really likes to grunt and groan. Especially when she's really concentrating.
• Up until this month Elodie had very little interest in the baby in the mirror. She will now stare at herself, but she isn't really smiling. However, she loves to look at me in the mirror, and then look at me in person. This is accompanied with BIG smiles. She is fascinated by her two mommies!
• She continues to get better control of her hands. She has recently begun holding on to me more when I am holding her on my hip. Her stability when upright like that has come a LONG way! She also began reaching for my face and putting her fingers in my mouth. I love the interactions!

Now for the big stuff!

• Elodie finally rolled from belly to back! We were all so proud of her! I caught a few rolls on video and sent them to all of the grandparents. Everyone cheered. Noah also thought it was super fun to watch her go. She is getting close to rolling back to belly. When we lie her down she constantly rolls from side to side, and sometimes she looks like she's going to flip completely, but just not quite. I think it'll happen soon!

• While on her back, she is also beginning to push her butt up in the air. Sometimes she will scootch herself backwards doing this.
• During tummy time recently, Elodie pulled her knees under herself and pushed her little butt up in the air. She had her head on the floor when she did it, so it was nothing close to hands and knees, but we couldn't help but feel hopeful that this girl will crawl! But she's got to work on pushing herself up on her hands before that happens.
• Since the prerequisite to feeding therapy is unassisted tripod sitting, we have really been working on it. And guess what? Elodie supported herself on her hands for 20-30 whole seconds! It's not something she is doing consistently, but we're amazed at her progress!

Elodie's half-birthday was a very snowy day! We got about a foot of snow, and we all had a little bit of fun playing in it. For Elodie, that was about 2 whole minutes, but she rocked her little snowsuit!

It's hard to believe half of a year has passed. Last night while making dinner, Brian and I reflected on the journey so far. We both got pretty teary-eyed remembering back to August 4th, when we were told this little miracle girl may never come home. Every day with her is an absolute blessing, and we are so proud of how far she has come. I can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring us!