December 2, 2009
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Olivia – 6 Months
My baby girl is halfway to a year. The more children I have, the faster time goes! What’s it going to be like when we add a few more to the mix?!
I snapped some pictures of Olivia when we were in Savannah a couple weeks ago. Dora was my right-hand woman, keeping Olivia propped up, making sure she didn’t get any head injuries in the process! Olivia is sitting partially on her own, but not for long periods of time. And that day was not one of the best days for sitting.
One thing I’m learning with little babies – shoot, shoot, shoot!! In the end, after taking about 50 pictures or so, I might have a few worth saving. Especially when she likes to stick her tongue out a lot. And especially when we lay her on her tummy and all she wants to do is “swim.” And especially when it’s at mid-day (I know, I know, not the best time for picturs…) Whew. It’s hard work taking a baby’s pictures.
We were at some historic landmark, and I was a little embaressed to be *in* the landmark when a carriage-ride full of tourists came to have a little history lesson about that particular place. Oh well, cute baby for your viewing pleasure, folks!
Olivia’s personality seems to be emerging more and more. I love that. For the first several months they’re just so much “baby” that even though babies have differences from each other, you don’t really know what one particular child is going to be like.
She’s creeping, although not crawling. Seems to be rather aggressive in personality, while very tender. If Zoe or another child is rough with her, she’ll cry as if her heart will break! Yet has a strong will already, we can tell. Like my mom used to say, “The strong-willed child will go places if they’re trained!” So Lord, teach us so we may teach this precious daughter!
She’s still a little baby. I think she’s filling out a bit since she’s eating cereal and other baby foods, but she is definitely not on the upper part of the baby percentage! At 6 months, she’s weighing in at 15.5 pounds.
She is a model child at night. Been sleeping about 12 hours solid. Amazing, I know. I think the same thing. And I’m very ready for it, because she does not want to sleep during the day. Seriously, not sure why a 6-month old would have a problem with taking naps, but she does. If I can get her to take two naps a day, I think life is going really well. Sometimes it’s just one nap. All day. Seriously!! Anybody have tips??!
But, as her name speaks, she is a Messenger of Peace and of Joy. She is a very happy baby, despite her very little amount of day-time sleep.
Dear baby mine, what a treasure you are!
And as we all say to each other in this house, and Zoe says to Olivia,
“You’re my BEST Leah!”
Comments (18)
cute pics in the historic spot. i love those little shoes she’s wearing, where are they from?
no answers on the sleep thing. for most of her life, my baby defied what the book says daytime naps should be, so since she wasn’t unhappy I tried not to stress about it. She’s alot better now that she’s older…
LOVE LOVE LOVE these pics!!!! she is just the queen of munchkins, & her personality is so delightful i could scream thinking about it!! =) i am soo grateful for those beautiful moments spent with her AND the rest of her beautiful family!! thanks so much for being willing to revise your schedule so last minute! ya’ll are my hero family! =) i still chuckle when i think of zoe being such a little mummy and calling her “yee-a” and “ze-a” with emphatic expressions, and all sorts of names in her precious little girl voice. *heehee* i love your family! feel like i just can’t get enough…
@fruitloops115 - Just got the shoes online at The Children’s Place. Hardly paid anything for them – aren’t they just darling??! And your answer about the sleep thing is somewhat comforting. I used the BabyWise as a basic – though not strict – guide for both of my girls, and it worked GREAT for Zoe, and now with Olivia it just isn’t cutting it. Guess maybe I’m stressing too much about it.
Baby Dimples is so cute she makes me laugh.
I’d like the first picture in an 18×20 for my bedroom wall, please.
Totally agree…. life just keeps going faster. Your baby looks like a real charmer… be still my beating heart. Thanks for the hug you sent. Yep, hard, but feeling God very present in the pain.
What a darling baby.
I also used babywise for my firstborn, although not strict. I still use the basic idea, but get less strict and less stressed about keeping the schedule every baby.
My girls all three slept looonnng stretches at night, and then struggled with daytime naps, particularly my first and third. I still think babywise is wonderful for night sleeping, and if i can get my rest at nighttime, it means SO MUCH to me! By the way, your little Olivia is so adorable, and your profile pic is awesome!
Oh, yay! I’m so glad to finally find a baby a little smaller than mine.
I know it’s genetics, but it’s still easy to get caught up in comparisons. :/ There’s one lady from church who brags about how BIG her baby is all the time. I’m glad this is my second (third, actually) or I would feel insecure about it, I’m sure. 
Olivia is just a doll!!!! Love her clothes, too. You have such great taste. Sympathies on the not-napping!!!! I have been very, very blessed with sleeping babies–at night and during the day. I can’t imagine. Is she happy, though, or do you have to give her that many more hours of attention? Unrelated ?: Have you ever done the play pen thing with your babies? I know this would be a good age to start it, but I keep postponing because I don’t feel like having that thing take up space in our house. I guess if you’d do that, you might feel like you’d have a little break even if she’s not sleeping.
Ohh I just want to “smush” that baby!! Absolutely adorable . . . and cute clothes too. I always love your hairbands and stuff and was trying to find something like this one in a shop in Aiken SC this past weekend. I got something, but it’s still not as cute as yours . . . If I remember right, you made this one? Maybe you could give me tips on where to find or how to make??
I just have to tell you that my heart always skips a happy little beat when I see in my “xanga subscriptions update” that it’s lifeisadance that has updated!! Can hardly, hardly wait to see you and yours soon!
oh, she is so cute! THOSE DIMPLES! her daddy is going to have to have a very big stick when she gets older!:)
the sleeping; oh, my word, can I understand that! Well, except for the sleeping 12???? hours at night? Is that what you meant to type? I didn’t know children could do that! My little one has just now started to sleep for around 8 hours straight and I think I feel like a new person on those nights when I don’t have to wake to tend to him. Sigh. It is a tricky business, this getting ones child to sleep!
the babywise thing…really good stuff; we too tried and stuck to it religiously with our first, but got a little less strict with it with Ava, and now with Brent, I just sort of have it in the back of my mind.
There are a lot of good things to follow in that book, however, I think each child is different and responds to things in different ways. And, each parent has to do what is right for them and their child.
Have yourself a good weekend!
~R
Oh, dear. Tonight it occurred to me that I said almost exactly the same thing in a comment before. Forgive me for complaining–twice.
such a darling!
Such a doll baby! Love those dimples!! Had to crack up about you being a part of the *tourist attraction*. Doesn’t Savannah have so many lovely places to shoot!!! Wish we were closer!
@twofus_1 - Christy – I KNOW about that comparison thing!! Doesn’t it just “GRRRRRRR” you??! I mean, really, it’s partly genetics, but we have no control over that at all! And about the non-sleeping baby… she IS happy a lot of the time, although sometimes I KNOW she is tired because she’ll just sit staring blankly into space but whe I try to put her in bed she’ll just cry and cry and refuse to sleep until several hours later (how’s that for a run-on sentence!). I haven’t done the play-pen thing either, I don’t have a good place to put it, and so far she’s been happy enough that if I or Zoe are within eye-sight she’ll play for long periods of time… But shouldn’t a 6-month old sleep for more than an hour a day?? I mean, ZOE sleeps longer than that, and my little baby sleeps less than my two year old… Am I just stressing too much about nothing?? And no, I didn’t even remember you said the same thing in an earlier comment!
@FOREVERLANE - this headband is just a ribbon with a big flower attached to it. I interchange the flower with different ribbons – ever so easy, and I LOVE the big flower look.
Some people probably think it’s totally an overkill, but hey, I like it. 
And aww, thanks for your sweet words. 
Can’t WAIT to see you either!!!
@foreveranoatneygirl - She DOES sleep 12 hours most nights.
So does Zoe. Maybe I’m complaining too much about nothing with her daytime naps! This week it’s been one afternoon nap, for about one hour, all day, for Olivia. And Zoe is sleeping about the same amount of hours at night but about 2 hour naps. Maybe just different stages with growth, but I hope daytime naps get better??!??
@justcallmeM - Maybe I should have waited to upload these until I learned how to use the “clone” and “lasso” feature last night with some of these background object?!
Thanks SO MUCH for all your time and valuable lessons!!!
Thanks for making me smile.
About the napping–If it were me, I’d be stressing out because I was frustrated that she didn’t sleep more. (personal problem) And I know I would probably try reeeeeeeally hard to get her to nap, especially if she looks tired. But as far as her–if she’s happy, I don’t think I’d worry about it. I think babies around this age are supposed to get at least 14-15 hrs. of sleep per day. So if she’s getting 12 at night, maybe she doesn’t actually need more than a 2 hr. nap or two shorter naps. One other thing, she might have a hard time settling herself to sleep–especially during the day. Have you tried rocking her? I don’t know her personality, but I do know that Zachary did better if I held him and made him stay still.