Happy 6 Months, Isabella!

Dear Isabella,
I'm in denial that 6 months have already passed since you were born. It just doesn't seem possible!! You are growing so quickly - it seems like every time I blink you change..

At 6 months old you absolutely LOVE your bouncy seat. Seriously, you bounce in it for HOURS! I call it your "happy chair" because you sit in it, bounce & laugh at yourself..

At 6 months old you enjoy sitting in your walker, even though your feet still don't touch the ground in it! You like to play with the Winnie The Pooh toys attached to the tray.

We put a pillow underneath the walker, so your little hips/legs are supported properly :)

At 6 months old you love your brother & guess what? He loves you too!! He loves to make you smile & laugh. Whenever you cry (which is rare) he runs over & starts dancing around to make you smile again. Recently Kyle said to me "Bella will be my little sister forever. I'm glad she is in our family. We'll always have each other."

At 6 months old you love to lay on your favorite lady bug pillow! It's very soft!!

Kyle likes to lay on his penguin pillow with you..

At 6 months old you like to sit in your swing & play with toys. You no longer need to be so reclined in the seat - now you can sit up in it like a big girl :)

At 6 months old you still enjoying laying on your playmat - even moreso now that you can reach the toys!

At 6 months old you're learning how to sit up, but you're not quite ready yet. You like to sit in this special chair (called a Bumbo) & watch everyone around you!

At 6 months old you still enjoy watching your mobile - recently Uncle Mike gave you a new one (this one is Glo-Worms) so now you have two mobiles on your crib to watch :)

At 6 months old you are forming quite a remarkable relationship with your BFF - Ellie. Ellie is 9 months old now - and she is ON THE MOVE! She's crawling all over the place - but when you are awake she can be found by your side at all times. You both make each other smile & laugh - it's very cute to watch! If one of you should cry almost always the other cries too. Sympathy tears, I guess?

Ellie only lives 10 minutes away from us, which is a darn good thing since these two girls are destined to be life-long friends :)

At 6 months old you're still sleeping through the night. You typically go to bed around 7p & wake around 6a. You continue to nap frequently through out the day, too. You really love your crib - I just lay you down & you're asleep within seconds, quite literally. And yes, at 6 months old you're still sucking your thumb..in your own unique way. You tuck your thumb under your first finger and stick it in your mouth like that - so really you're sucking on your finger, thumb and knuckle. It's awfully cute..and awfully noisy, too! (ps. note the banana curl of hair around your ear.. your hair is starting to get wavy/curly!)

The battery in my camera died before I could finish unloading all of the pictures but lets see..

At 6 months old you are drinking 5 bottles per day (between 4-5 oz of formula) & eating cereal around breakfast time & again around dinner time. We just started giving you some applesauce with your rice cereal today & you seem to really like it!

At 6 months old you love, love, LOVE tubby time - you splash around like a fish!

At 6 months old your whole face lights up when you smile - which is ALL the time...when you're home....because....

At 6 months old you cry when "strangers", or people whom you haven't seen in a while, look at you. You get borderline hysterical should anyone other than me, Dad or Beth (Ellie's Mom) hold you. We can actually see the fear come over your little face whenever someone different walks into the room, or whenever we go out. Hopefully you'll get over this phase soon..!

At 6 months old you belly laugh ALL-THE-TIME! Sometimes we don't even know WHY you are laughing!

At 6 months old you've found your voice & make all sorts of cute noises, including a couple of high pitched screams!

At 6 months old you look more & more like Dad on a daily basis. You have his blue eyes (although they appear dark on camera) & his wavy hair.

At 6 months old you know how to keep yourself entertained. You play with all of your rattles & hand-held toys. You never cry when you're left in a room alone.

Speaking of never crying (with the exception of when others are around!), it amazes me just how happy of a baby you've become! For the first 9 weeks of your life you cried CONSTANTLY But not anymore! Now you go to bed with a smile & you wake up with a smile. You truly seem happy to be here with us!

At 6 months old you are still my perfect little Bella Bug. I find myself staring at you all the time - just watching you discover..well...everything! Today you kept opening & closing your fingers. Then you kept waving your hand over your face. Yes, my sweet little bug, that pudgy hand belongs to you :)

At 6 months old you're 17 lbs - not sure on your length - you go to the Dr's next week for your 6 month shots :(

At 6 months old you've already had croup & an ear infection. It was an awfully long couple of nights waiting for those antibiotics to kick in!

At 6 months old I can't even remember what our lives were like before you arrived! I know my life has changed dramatically -- for starters, I have to do at least 2 loads of laundry per day in order to keep up with it all. I have to plan well in advance if I want to go out to run errands. We can no longer just hop in the car & go. Now there are feedings, nap times, a schedule to keep to. I have become the most forgetful person EVER. Last week I cooked a pizza. I took the pizza out but left the stove on. You don't even want to know how long that stove was left on for.. and thank god we use glass bottles because at least three times per week I forget that I'm sterilizing them on the stove. By the time I realize what's happening the entire house is full of smoke. I devote 95% of my time to you, Kyle & Dad - and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my life, and I love having you in it. Every night when we sit in the rocking chair cuddling before bedtime I am SO thankful that you're mine. I seriously love every little thing about you! You make me laugh all the time.

Oh, and your hair is still a very popular topic. Bella Bug, do you realize that at 6 months old I actually have to use DETANGLER in your hair? When you woke up yesterday morning I burst out laughing because your hair looked just like Don Kings! It's long, it's crazy, it's wild and it's so YOU!! Absolutely, positively, one of a kind hair!

Happy 6 months, Isabella! I love you more than you will ever know!