Anna's Sixth Month

Welcome to Anna's Sixth Month!

All of Anna's sleep issues have resolved.

Just Kidding.

I wrote that sentence a month ago just moments after publishing Anna's 5th Month post in the wild, impossible hope that by the time I published this post I wouldn't feel quite so much like I was losing my mind.

But seriously, things have gotten a little easier in the past week or two.  Night sleep has stretched a bit to (usually) at least one 4 hour chunk.  I mean, not last night, but most nights.  She's staying awake a lot longer during the day, too, which makes outings much more fun and less stressful.  And that means she's down to (usually) two naps a day, one of which is (usually) at least a solid hour.  So if it's a crappy nap day, there's only two of them to gnash my teeth over.

Any day that's above 20 degrees outside, Dave takes Anna for at least one walk.

They go all over the property, down into the swampy area, through the woods to busy Center Road.  She loves these walks and will go from screaming and inconsolable to pleasant and content in seconds.

From the day she turned five months old, Anna has been doing this thing where she squeaks all the way up at the top of her voice while she's playing, but very quietly...like the air slowly leaking from a balloon.

As the month has gone on, that squeak has slowly transformed into a much louder singing sort of vocalization.  And she's been experimenting more with blowing FFFFFFFF sounds (and bubbles), making popping P sounds with her lips, and using a few other consonants, too.  She is absolutely tickled when we imitate the sounds she makes.
Also, as you might be able to tell in the video, she can control the direction she's facing in the bouncer now.  Which makes the bouncer even more fun than it was last month.

And boy does she jump!  She's really getting air these days!  And she thinks it's hilarious when we jump along with her.

She knows what a nose is!  And a mouth.  11/27 was the first time she grabbed my nose in response to the classic "where's my nose" question.

But, as with the rolling (at first), once she'd done it a few times, she seemed to lose interest and decide it wasn't worth practicing anymore.  At least Dave got to see it himself once or twice before she quit.

I'd say if anything, she's even more captivated by stuffed animals, puppets particularly, than she was last month.

I used to have about a dozen of these puppets...I'm not sure what has happened to them or where they went, but I can't find them :(

Other exciting things:
Anna is a banana fan!

Not so much avocado or applesauce yet.

She's only really sampling at this point, not really eating.  But she sure does love banana.  She was very eager for the avocado until she realized that it was not banana.  You could almost see her thinking, "Heeeeeyyyy, what gives???"

Rolling is not only definitely on purpose, she's doing it without much effort

She longs to sit up independently like a big girl, but I have to help her...she throws herself backward with abandon (and force) and cares not that she's falling over sideways in pursuit of a toy until after she realizes she's on the ground.  She would much rather sit up than not, but she's not happy about the "training wheels" and keeps trying to scooch away from me.  She's also not really anywhere close to transitioning from lying to sitting on her own yet.

A few days ago she started pushing up onto her knees.  We've seen her do it a handful of times now, but she doesn't seem to see any potential in the move, so she's stopped doing it.

Anna has been examining her own hands' movements in the last several days.  It's really sweet.

It kind of looks like she's practicing the "all done" sign, or maybe just waving her hands like a ballerina (I do this often when I'm dancing for her (she's delighted by my dancing...I pretend I'm a real dancer and leap and twirl around the kitchen to Disney songs)).

Anna, you are definitely the cutest baby in the whole world.  I love watching you discover new things and find delight in the world around you.  You are our joy and treasure, and we love you very much.