6-month stats and 6-month developments

Layla was 6 months old almost 3 weeks ago and I've been so preoccupied I didn't get a chance to post about it - and since then she's made some serious progress on her mobility.

First, I have to report that at her 6-month checkup she was a whopping 17.5 lbs and 26.5 inches tall, which is the 75th percentile for both (down from 90th percentile at her last checkup - I guess it is common for breast-fed babies to be big in their first 6 months and slow down in the second 6 months). She also took the vaccinations very well this time, only cried for a minute, and tore up the paper on the doctor's table in record speed.


But the really big news around our house is that as of this morning LAYLA IS CRAWLING!!! She succeeded in putting one knee forward, then the other, over and over, for about 5 steps (up from 2 on Wednesday). Unfortunately her balance is still very bad and she face-plants often, but usually doesn't mind. We got a video of it and I'll try to post it tomorrow.

Another big new development is that she is pulling herself up to standing, although she usually falls over immediately so we have been keeping a very close eye on her. In the picture above she is about to pull herself up in her crib, which is her favorite place to do this (and the best padded). She got her first 'incident report' at the daycare this week from a big face-plant that led to a bump on her noggin and some ice treatment. We were proud parents when we saw that first incident report in our mailbox.

As a first-time parent, it is FASCINATING to watch our baby develop. Over the past 2 weeks she has gone from totally immobile to totally mobile. She worked very hard to learn how to coordinate her knees, balance herself on all fours, and build the muscle strength in her arms and torso. Usually she was so frustrated at how hard it was she was actually crying while she was practicing. Then she got it! and now she is SO HAPPY. She was giggling and screeching all day today while she explored our living room for the first time. It was amazing to watch!!

This month, Octoboer, is NaBloPoMo, which I may or may not participate in. I guess I won't, since it's already Oct 2 and I didn't post yesterday. But, I will try to post more often this month in honor of it, which I think is worth something.