Peyton turns 1/2 a year old!!!

6 wonderful months have gone by since our dearest daughter joined our family. Happy 1/2 birthday to our sweet Peyton!

Peyton is FULL of personality these days. She is very aware of her surroundings these days (including when mommy and daddy walk out of the room), she is full of new facial expressions, laughs, and other noises which clearly demonstrate that she has discovered her voice. Its great being parents to such a joyful and happy 6 month old.

Events this month:

• Halloween. Our little "P" dressed up as a pea in a pod. It was the perfect little costume for her, and of course Nana and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa loved seeing her dressed up. Those were the 2 houses that we took Peyton "trick or treating" at. Nana and Papa gave her a couple of new toys, and a pack of new bibs. Grandma and Grandpa gave her a trick or treating basket, and some new books. She had a great time!
• Seeing Great Grandma DeMaris. Great Grandma was in town at the Snoqualmie Casino, so we took Peyton out there to visit. It was nice that she got to see her Great Grandma once again!
• Starting solids! Read on below to hear about this experience including Peyton's 1st high chair.

Sleeping:

These days Peyton wakes up once or twice a night to eat. She is still very good about eating and then going right back to sleep. She continues with an 8:00 bedtime every night, and goes down wonderfully. She still sleeps on her tummy at all times, and insists on that vs. her back. Sorry Dr. Walsh! Peyton naps 2 times per day, and usually has one longer nap (1 1/2 hours- 2 1/2 hours), and one shorter nap around an hour. She continues to sleep in a sleep sac for both naps and night sleeping.

Eating:

Peyton eats 6oz bottles every 3 hours or so during the day. At her 6 month doctor's visit, Dr. Walsh advised us that Peyton no longer needs to be eating in the middle of the night, and that we should start to wean her down by cutting out an ounce every 4 days. We are currently working on that, and its going well. She still receives 100% breast milk (yay to mommy who made it this long!!!!).

We began with solids a week before Peyton turned 6 months old. Her first food was avocado, and is now her favorite food. It went great, and she really enjoys eating new things. We started off feeding her in her bumbo, but quickly realized that the bumbo was no longer safe since Peyton would arch her back and we were nervous she would slide out of it. We purchased a high chair, and that has made it so much easier to feed her! So far, she has had avocado, white sweet potato, pears, carrots, and butternut squash. We only introduce a new food every 4-5 days or so so that she has a chance to get used to it, we have a chance to look for allergic reactions, and so that we don't make her a picky eater. It seems to be working well for us that way. We started off giving her solids once a day, but are now up to 2-3 times per day.

Clothing:

Peyton now wears 6-9 month clothes.

Doctor Visits:

Peyton had her 6 month check up with Dr. Walsh on her 6 month birthday. She weighed in at 17lbs, 13oz (75th percentile), and her height was 26 inches. She also received vaccinations at that visit, and as usual did great with those. She only cried for a moment, and then I fed her right away and held her in my arms and she calmed right down. We have been very happy with Richmond Beach Pediatrics and her new doctor, Dr. Walsh. We will continue to see her.

Milestones:

• Peyton got her first tooth about 2 weeks before her 6 month birthday, and the 2nd bottom tooth followed shortly.
• Peyton is working on sitting up on her own, and can do it for a little bit of time before she topples over. We continue to work on this with her.
• Peyton has started being able to hold her own bottle, which is great! She however has not mastered the skill of tipping it upwards to get the milk, so we continue to work on that.
• Peyton spent her first night over at Grandma and Grandpa Kirkpatricks, and did great!! We are so blessed that we have them so close and that Peyton is able to spend time with them.
• At one point during this past month, Peyton discovered screaming. THANKFULLY that phase literally only lasted a few days, but for those few days she would sit there and scream and scream and scream. She wasn't upset at all, just had discovered that part of her voice and was exploring it.
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