Eloise at 6 months

Eloise turned 6 months old at the end of November. How it happened that she is already half a year old I'm not sure, but it did. So, a few stats about my sweet girl. She is officially 18 lbs 13 oz (90th percentile) and 28.5 oz (98th percentile). For those of you wondering her big brother Ethan was 19 lbs 2 oz and 30 inches at 6 months - they seem to be on the same tall track! She is nursing 3 times a day, getting 2 bottles of formula and I pump once a day. We started the process of weaning right at 6 months. She is saying "dada" (official first word I think) and "baba" and some jibberish too. She's also working hard at sitting up on her own!

I feel like this is the month that I learned a lot of things about my sweet girl. Or maybe a better way of saying it is that a lot of things I've known about her have been confirmed. She has been a screamer her whole life - not all day or anything but often when she is put down for a nap, is hungry, wants to eat, wants to be held. Basically she lets us know how she's feeling with a high pitched, wild scream that can go on and on. I've wondered if she's had an ear infection, tummy troubles, pain, dreams --- you name it and I have wondered and done a little too much googling. But, what I've learned about what I know about her is --- this is just her. She is our screamer. During the week of her 6 month birthday I was once  again determined that she had an ear infection - after all, who could scream so high pitched and not be in pain? So I brought her in to get checked and got to have her 6 month check up at the same time with a different doctor. And the doctor agreed with what our pediatrician has been saying all along --- sweet Eloise just has a high strung personality. She likes to be held. She wants you to be near. She doesn't like being left alone.

And so, I feel like I crossed a mental milestone with my sweet girl. She's our little screamer and it.is.OKAY! She wouldn't be the same girl without her gusto and we love her so, so very much.

 She couldn't get enough of the paper!

Such a beauty. And so very much loved.

thanksgiving

Time to catch up on the blog! Things have been super busy since our big move and I'm finally taking a few minutes to sit down and recapture the last few weeks!

So, let's roll the clock back to Thanksgiving! This year we thought we'd try out the Thanksgiving Day parade downtown. I have always loved parades and so was super excited to bundle up the kiddos and head downtown. Pete, on the other hand, has apparently always hated parades and so was a good sport about it. I'm determined to one day help him to see the cheerful and fun side of the whole event but I think we'll have to take it one year at a time!

Despite, their lack of enthusiasm in these photos (and tired faces), I think the kids really did enjoy it!

Later that day we went to Pete's parents house and enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner.

Auntie Abby, sweet niece Brookelyn and Eloise.

The cousins. I swear all they did that day was run back and forth on the big deck!

Oh, sweet Eloise.

All in all, a good day!