McKenna is 6 Months

6 months

Just born- what a difference half a year can make!

I honestly can't believe my baby girl is half way to 1!  How did that happen so fast?  It's interesting how much faster it has gone with her than it did with Jake.  I think it's because I was pretty miserable working with Jake and now I have 2 kids to chase after- which seems to make time fly even faster.

helping with laundry

McKenna is the sweetest little girl.  She smiles incredibly easily, although most easily for Jake.  She loves watching him, although Jake usually ignores her completely.  He's started to like to show off for her a little here and there, which is really cute.  I'm just grateful he doesn't bug her too much, which I worried about a lot before she was born.  She really likes any other kids, and readily smiles at her own reflection.

she loves oranges!

In the midst of RSV- which was miserable and lasted about 3 weeks.  Poor thing!

McKenna is really interested in her tongue.  If she's happy, she's not only smiling, but also sticking her tongue out most of the time.  She loves licking things and her toys are usually soaked.  Unfortunately she now sticks her tongue out in hopes that the dog will lick it.  She doesn't quite get how gross that is yet, but Jake did the same thing and he survived.  Hopefully this phase will pass quickly!

there's her tongue- again :)

Our little miss now can roll both directions- tummy to back and back to tummy.  She only sleeps on her side or stomach these days and flips almost immediately when we lay her down in her crib. 

check out that chubby hand

McKenna is an awesome sleeper.  We feed her her last bottle around 10:30pm.  Andrew wakes her up to feed her before heading off to school around 7am, and then I often won't hear a peep from her until close to 11am.  We need to work on moving her last bottle to earlier, but it's nice to have some time with just Jake in the morning so he doesn't feel left out or replaced.  We also get some time with just McKenna when Jake goes to bed, which is a lot more calm and quiet than when he's awake and wreaking havoc.  After she wakes up at 11, McKenna stays awake until about 1pm and then naps until 3pm.  She's awake most of the evening with no scheduled naps, but if we put her in the car she'll fall asleep, and sometimes she'll fall asleep being held or laying on her play mat. 

McKenna is taking 5 bottles a day, about 5 ounces each.  She's also started in on solids, if baby food puree can be considered "solid."  She's a lot pickier than her brother was, but she does enjoy pears and apple/blueberry combo.  She'll tolerate sweet potatoes, but she most spits out everything else.  She won't eat jarred bananas, but she does like the mesh strainer bag with a ripe banana inside. (The mesh bag is a cool little contraption that allows her to get small amounts of fruit/vegetables out by sucking on and chewing a small mesh bag with a handle that Andrew and I can hold on to.)  She loves sucking on orange slices and is always trying to get food off of our forks when we eat dinner with her on our laps.  McKenna has no teeth yet, but she does seem to be teething.  I'm guessing pretty soon here one will come popping through.

McKenna is a daddy's girl.  She lights up for Andrew and will often stop fussing for only him.  It's sweet to see the daddy/daughter bonding and I'm really grateful she has such an amazing father.

My top few words to describe McKenna are:
sweet
smiley
fun
curious
thoughtful

Andrew's top words to describe her are:
fun
smiley
curious
sweet
cuddly

(I wrote my list and Andrew came up with those words without knowing what I said- clearly we are on the same page and she truly is a sweetie!)

She really is an amazing little girl and we feel so blessed to have her in our family.  My heart has grown so much these past 6 months as I've watched her learn and grow.  I'm so grateful for my sweet little girl!