Happy 6 Month Birthday Eloise!!

Eloise turned 6 months old last week. Boy how times flies and just to let you know that also means that Christmas is only 6 months away. She went in for her check up on monday and is doing very well. She weights 12lbs 14oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. This puts her up to about 3-4% in weight and 1-2% on height. Her head circumference is still small and does not even register on the charts yet. We talked with the doctor on her progress. We are looking at her to be developmentally on target with a 4 month old which is more than her adjusted age but due to her lack of size when she was born that puts her back a little farther. It is amazing how important those last weeks are to babies. This is the time in which they development much of their muscle which is what Eloise is lacking right now. We started trying rice cereal with her on Saturday the 19th. She didn't seem to get the hang of the it and tried a handful of times since. The doctor suggested we try something with a little more flavor to see if that would peak her interest. So yesterday we bought some green beans and tried them last night and tonight. She did seem to like that better and ate a bit more. She has not rolled over yet but gets very close when she is on her back to going to her tummy. Funny thing is she hates being on her tummy so I think when she starts to feel herself rolling onto her tummy she stops herself and goes back to her back. Since she hates tummy time there is never enough opportunity for her to roll onto her back. When we took her picture on her birthday we did a quick sit her up and snap the picture in which she would just fall over quickly. As of this week she is sitting for a bit on her own and even working on pulling herself back to center when she is leaning over, a big change since just last week. Of course we have been working with her more lately on it. We also talked with the doctor about her bottles. She is taking 3 bottles a day with 6-8 ounces each. He said that is fine and we will notice a big difference in her eating in the next 3 months with solids. He also said that we can finish off what is left of our neosure formula and then switch to a regular formula. I was glad to hear that since the neosure is not all that cheap. I also spoke with the Kent County Early On program. They were recommended to me by the public health nurse that came out to see us when Eloise was first home. The Early On program works with parents to ensure their children are on track developmentally. We talked on the phone today about Eloise's progress so far and discussed her slow progress with eating. The social worker told me that a speech pathologist she works with recommends now that children are not started on cereal until they are 6 months. They are finding that babies are much more ready for it at this point and have a better time learning the process. So we will take it step by step and at a slower pace. She was also going to get me set up with a case worker who would come out and evaluate Eloise's progress. They are scheduling out to August so it will be awhile until they can get to us but it will still be good to see where she is at comparatively then. We are very happy with her progress and continue to watch her grow and change daily.

Getting ready to try her first bite of cereal

What is this crazy stuff?

Cecelia needed to help

Must not be too bad since she is still happy

6 Months Old!!

Quick snap the picture before I fall over

6-28-10 Started sitting up for a bit longer on her own.