Britt’s Summary of Month 7

It’s been AWHILE since I did a monthly post…and this is basically a summary from JUNE which is RIDICULOUS! I have a fire lit under my butt though to get these posts rolling πŸ˜‰ You can read her month 6 summary here.

Brittlynn’s 7th month was from June 6th-July 5th so she was six months old during this time. Here’s what she was up to!

Independent Playtime: After Zach and I got home from Italy, where we left Britt for 9 days, she really really struggled to get back in the groove of independent playtime. Which is to be expected! I have found that the best way to re-adjust her to independent playtime is to cut back on the time. I try to cut it back enough to where she is HAPPY throughout the whole time. Then I add a few more minutes…then a few more the next time…etc. While she screamed bloody murder (as you can see HERE!) for a long time with it, it did improve. She was also in this strange developmental time where she couldn’t sit up on her own yet but could stay sitting if I sat her up. I wasn’t sure if I should put her laying down or sitting up for independent playtime. I eventually switched to sitting up and she did WAY better!!!

I also found a little basket and started keeping all of her toys for independent playtime in that. I hand her several at the start of the time and when the timer goes off we sing the clean up song while I put them all back in the basket. Sometimes the basket causes her frustration…

 Slowly but surely I would catch her ENJOYING it!!!

 Playing happily!

 By the end of the month she was back up to doing 15 min of independent playtime twice a day!

 Obviously I’m very careful about the toys she has during independent playtime, they are ALL age appropriate!

Hair Report: Hello hair!!! Goodbye bald spot! I’m SHOCKED at how quickly her hair grew back in!!! It’s coming in quick and you can’t even tell anymore that she had ever lost it. Of course the front is still longer than the back (she has the backwards mullet look…part in the front, business in the back haha) but I think it all looks great! The new hair is SO blonde too so you can’t see it as well in the pictures

Sitting Up: Britt’s been doing GREAT with sitting on her own…but only if I put her in that position. Until we went to Disney! We were all hanging out and I kept checking her monitor and saw that she was sitting up! This happened for the first time on July 23rd πŸ™‚

 How I found her post-nap!

Brittlynn being able to sit on her own has made life WAY easier for me! Whenever I need to do something I can just plop her down, hand her a toy and she’s good to go!!!

 It’s so fun to be able to hang out in her room and watch her actually play with her toys!

 Her “OMG” face πŸ˜‰

Britt is MUCH more into toys than I ever remember Kye being. She really likes to always be playing with something. I think she may be more of a hands on learner? Because she is ALL about touching! While she enjoys toys more than he did, she also gets frustrated much quicker and also has a shorter attention span. I’m sure independent playtime will help the attention span issue with time! I’ve been working with her on the frustration too…I think the best way to work on that is to make her do things that will frustrate her a little and letting her work through it. Here’s a video of us working on her putting down the little popper guys on a toy she has!

 They love to play together

 It’s precious to me to watch them both happily play with their toys!

She rarely falls over with sitting now and can reach down, pick up an object and sit back up

Sleep: Britt is SUCH a great sleeper. I truly believe it’s because I started the babywise principles with her early on. I also think her not having a paci helps her sleep better than Kye did. She ALWAYS wakes up with a big grin and is so excited to see me πŸ™‚ I love it! She now will reach up to the edge of the crib and attempt to pull herself up πŸ™‚ Here’s a video of how happy she is when she wakes up!

Crawling: She’s not crawling yet but ohmygoodness she’s close. I can’t BELIEVE she’s so young and doing so much already. Slow down kid!!! She gets up on her knees and does a lot of rocking back and forth. She gets SUPER frustrated about it. By the end of the month she started “crawling” backwards. It’s more of a strange scoot type thing. While I’m excited for Britt to crawl…Kye isn’t…here’s a video πŸ˜‰ Here‘s a video of her practicing…I love how she pants like a puppy πŸ˜‰ Here‘s a video of her going backwards!

Violet: Violet was THE toy this month. She got her for Christmas but since it’s ages 6 months and up I waited to get her out of the box. Kye has Scout and he became a favorite of his for the month too πŸ˜‰ They were PRECIOUS playing with them together and, seriously, they are such cool toys. They spell out your child’s name and even sing songs about them! It’s the first toy we’ve had a boy version and girl version of so I enjoyed that! 

Yes, Brittlynn is sitting in her Bumbo chair in this picture. If you’re not aware of the recall you can learn more here!

Links: When Kye was a baby he LOVED these links. It’s interesting because he ONLY liked the square shaped ones…and she’s the same way. Here‘s the post about him with them πŸ˜‰ She loves to chew on it!

Jumperoo: Still a big fan!!! Now that she’s sitting so well on her own I’m not using it as often because it’s just as easy to stick her on the floor and give her a toy or two if I need to get something done. However, I do still like for her to get some exercise and this is the best way for her to get that energy out and work those leg muscles! She likes it best if I’m sitting RIGHT next to her while she’s doing it. Here‘s a video of her having a blast! I also use it for times I need to give Kye undivided attention…I know she’s safe and I can go discipline him when needed πŸ˜‰ I’m a BIG believer that children shouldn’t be embarrassed when disciplined so I try very hard to never discipline him in front of her!

Schedule: It’s changed up a little bit since we introduced solids this month!

Brittlynn’s Schedule at 6 Months Old:

6:45-7:15: Wake up, change diaper, nurse then breakfast with Kye

After breakfast: Independent Playtime

8:35ish: Bible Story time

8:45-9:00: Down for nap (Kye has room time during her nap)

10:45-11:15: Up from nap, change diaper, nurse (Kye usually watches movie while I nurse her for this feeding)

After nursing: Independent Playtime while I fix kids lunch

After independent playtime: Solids while Kye and I eat lunch

12:30ish: Start getting ready for nap, read story and say prayers with Kye 

12:45-12:55: Down for nap

2:45-3:15: Up from nap, diaper change, nurse

After nursing: Enjoy alone time with Mommy

4:00: wake up Kye with Mommy

4:45: Down for nap

6:00: Up from nap, eat solids while family eats dinner

6:40: Bath with Kye then ready for bed

7:00: Nurse

7:20: Family story time, family prayers

7:35: Brittlynn down for night

7:45: Kye down for night

Love them reading story together πŸ™‚

Sign Language: I’m not a HUGE user of signs with my kids but I think it’s valuable for them to know the signs for “more” and “all done.” When Britt started solids this month I also started working with her on these signs. On 6/12 she was nursing and pulled away then said “ugh” and signaled she wanted more! By the end of the month she was super close to signing “all done”

Kye Time: Britt and Kye get to interact a lot more now that she’s getting older. I LOVE to see them together. He makes her laugh and she makes him laugh too. I’ll never forget riding in the car in St Augustine when Britt was laughing at Zach in her mirror and then Kye started laughing at her. So cute!  Here’s a video of them playing together…she cracks up at him.

 Britt enjoys going to wake up Kye with me at 4 each afternoon and he loves it too!

 We have fun cuddling in his bed when he wakes up!

 Love πŸ™‚

More that Britt was up to this month:

  • She LOVES animals. She is always SO interested in all of our pets. She “talks” to them constantly and is always straining her head to see them. 
  • Now that she’s started solids she is spitting up waaaaay less. I went from using 7-8 burp rags a week to only needing about 3 now
  • She’s also a quicker nurser, finishing in under 15 minutes
  • She prefers human touch over ANYTHING else. You can’t make her smile unless you touch her in someway and then she smiles instantly! 
  • Britt is a true girl..she LOVES my jewelry and I have to constantly tell her “no ma’am”
  • Up until this point I’ve been pretty slack about Vitamin D drops for Britt. I think they are important but I never did them as the only ones I could find required a BIG dosage every day and I didn’t like how icky it was, how it stained everything, and how tough it was to administer when I gave it to Kye. So I’ve slacked! Luckily a friend of mine showed me these drops where ONE drop is enough for her whole daily needed amount! LOVE it! I put a drop on me at her morning feeding…super simple πŸ˜‰
  • Britt started solids on 6/14…only 3 days later, on the 17th, her poop changed to be thicker and more “legit poop” like!
  • On 6/18 I kept trying to get her to say “mama” and she looked at me and said “nana” It’s close right?
  • LOVES to be tickled…especially with kisses on her neck!
  • Brittlynn is a TRUE Babywise baby. She MUST self-soothe. No one can help her fall asleep, she has to do it on her own. She very, very rarely cries but when people do babysit her I make sure to explain to them that if she DOES cry going in her room will only upset her more! Here‘s a video showing her happily awake in her crib.
  • She HATES to be on her back, she will scream like a wild woman throughout diaper changes
  • On 6/30 she started saying “dada” constantly (here‘s a video of what we’d hear in her crib!) She said “mama” for the first time on 7/1
  • Words she currently says are: hey, dada, and mama
  • On 7/2 she reached for me and grabbed onto me (while at the beach) for the first time where I knew she was doing it in order for me to pick her up. 
  • I feel like the older she gets the more she is “my child.” She is very cautious with everything and, while she’s a happy baby, is pretty serious most of the time. So far I like having a “mini me” πŸ˜‰

Me: This is the month where I was on Slim Fast. I wasn’t really feeling very good about myself. I was SO frustrated that I still wasn’t back to ME yet. It was tough. It was also a busy month with getting home from Italy, Disney World, then St Augustine. A lot of going and doing and I didn’t feel like I got as much quality at home time with the kids. I LOVE being on the go but I was happy when life slowed down a bit so I could soak up more of my sweetness from Brittlynn and Kye! I am LOVING her being able to sit and interact more and am also so glad we are doing Baby-Led Weaning this time around.

You can see Kye’s monthly summary from his 7th month here! Poor baldy πŸ˜‰ I do love his old “poop face” too…classic!

3 Comments

  1. Robyn Mullican
    August 17, 2012 / 4:11 pm

    I know that you don't like writing these, but with Cooper coming up to this, I REALLY love reading them!!!

  2. Julia Dishon
    August 21, 2012 / 2:58 pm

    As a married woman without kids it is wonderful to see what having kids can be like. A BIG thanks for your honesty and proving you can having a lovely christian family with a schedule. I truly enjoy reading about your family!

  3. emilysparker
    August 21, 2012 / 5:16 pm

    @d7c7c44481f11d7f566ca2d993a341d1:disqus thank you so much!!! i truly appreciate that πŸ˜‰ it's often a juggling act but i feel like it's all worth it πŸ™‚

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