The McCallen's Blog: 6 Months Old

For the past 16 months my body has been the only thing providing the nutrients that Harper needed to grow and thrive. It is amazing to think that I have been able to sustain a life all by myself for that long. That is until now because Harper has officially started on solid foods! She is still getting mostly "my" nutrients, but took to rice cereal instantly. Soon we plan on introducing her to the usual carrots and other vegetables so hopefully she will continue to like the experience of eating solid foods. It has been an exciting month watching her grow and change. Harper is now sitting up on her own very well and enjoys figuring out new toys while sitting on her play mat. She can even figure out how to turn on her toys by herself now. She still hasn't met someone she won't smile for and is getting increasingly vocal. Will and I hope to hear a "mama" or "dada" soon but I think we have quite a few months before that happens. She is laughing more and more, although she still has her signature pterodactyl screech mixed in. It will be interesting if she hangs on to that trait through high school. Harper's crawling skills are in the works, but she still prefers to "fly" with her arms spread far side to side. She is getting better at getting her knees underneath her but I think we still have sometime before crawling occurs... at least I hope so. In other big news, Harper is getting her first tooth on her lower jaw. It is just visible under the gum surface so I expect it to cut through very soon. Wish us luck, so far her teething hasn't been bad but I know that has been too good to be true and I anticipate the full power of a fussy teething baby to appear.

Last Friday Harper had to tell her Aunt Heather, Uncle Blair, and Cousin Carter goodbye because they left to go back to China. We will see them again hopefully in Jan. with a new little cousin for Harper to meet as well. We had a fun summer with them and it is crazy to think that next time Harper and Carter hang out they will both be walking. We also made a trip up to Birmingham to visit the rest of the family. It was good to see everyone, especially little Nora who is now walking and talking like a champ. I think Harper has hair envy from her cousin Nora. I promised her that she will one day have that much pretty hair!

Overall, the past 6 months have been so special and memorable. I don't feel like they have gone by too fast, but then again I find myself hanging on tight to the little baby features Harper has left because I know she will be walking and talking before we know it. I do look forward to those days as well, but I'm not in any hurry to have a toddler just yet. I am really enjoying my immobile little baby for the time being.