Genevieve loves to go shopping since she gets lots of attention. Lately she's been catching the attention of other babies. The babies see her and think, "She's cute and looks to be my age. I will say hello and see how that goes." And so the other babies will say "Hi!" to Genevieve and enthusiatically await her reply. This also seems to draw a crowd since the only thing cuter than a baby is multiple babies. Genevieve smiles greatly at all of this attention but of course says nothing. This causes the parent(s) of the other child to look at me curiously, seemingly asking, "Is your daughter slow or just rude?" It's at this point that I must explain that Genevieve would really like to say hello back but she hasn't quite grasped that concept, being 6 months and all. This always gets a good reaction from the crowd.
"Wow! She's huge!" "She's so tall! She's going to be a basketball player!" "What are you feeding her?" "Look at those beefy arms!" "Look at those beefy legs!"
So I am now pretty confident that people think Genevieve is much older than what she is and also think she is a little slow until I clarify that she's just large. Regardless, Genevieve still likes the attention and is quite proud of looking mature for her age.
Last weekend Carrie and I moved into a new house and for some reason we decided to take along Genevieve. After a week here, I'm starting to second guess that decision and I think I should have left her at my mother's house. She wakes us up every morning, without fail, at around 6:30. At first we thought she didn't like her new crib. We gussied it up with all her old crib toys but to no avail. Then we thought it must be the light. We hung a blanket from the window to block all but the tiniest bit of morning light. Nothing. Then we thought, perhaps she is too hot. We put a fan in her room creating a nice gentle breeze and yet she woke up even earlier this time. Today we are going to buy her an air conditioner. If this doesn't work, I think we'll just turn off the baby monitor.
Her new bedroom has hardwood floors and her new crib easily rolls around the room. Genevieve finds this to be incredibly entertaining. Now, with her new found skills of rocking back and forth on her hands and knees, she can cause the crib to move about. She particularly likes smashing it into the wall that adjoins our bedroom. Being woken up by a crying baby at 6 in the morning is bad but being woken up by the jack-hammering of a crib against the wall is intolerable. I think I need to put bumpers on that thing.
I think there comes a time in a young girl's life where she needs to start taking care of herself. This may be that time. People keep saying that she is advanced for her age. Well, Genevieve, prove it!!
Over the last few days we have noticed an alarming trend. Genevieve has stopped finishing her bottles. After almost every feeding there is anywhere from 1 - 2 ounces of milk left in the bottle. I know what you are thinking and I was as shocked as you. Sure, she is eating 3 meals a day of baby food (sometimes finishing an entire jar in one sitting) but a girl's gotta eat.
If the current trends continue she might waste away to the 95th percentile for weight by next month.
While changing her yesterday I had the hardest time getting her into a onesie. I couldn't, for the life of me, pull the outfit over her head. At first, I thought it was because she was "helping" me. Every time I would try to pull it over her head she would reach her little arm up grab a fist full of garment and yank. The onesie would be wrenched down along the side of her head until she could ram it into her mouth. A lot of struggle and not a small amount of drool later I gave up and called in reinforcements. While my mother held the tiny tempest that I call my daughter down I tried to pull the outfit over her head. Still no good. Carrie swore she fit this onesie two days ago. Now we couldn't cram her head through the opening. "Six to Nine months" my eye!!
She must have had a major growth spurt in the last couple of days because this was the first of several outfits that were thrown in the damn-you're-huge pile. I wouldn't be surprised if I came in one morning to find that sleeper that fit her snugly the night before lay in tatters as her feet tore through the fabric overnight.
What do you get when you cross an infant who wants to show affection with an infant that wants to devour everything in sight? Little Genevieve.
According to all the experts, six months is about the time when most infants will try to kiss or hug you back. This is possibly to show affection towards you or just an act of mimicry. Genevieve likes hugging things like her stuffed animals, but I'm pretty sure this is so she can stuff more of them into her mouth without them getting away. She has also recently started kissing me back after I kiss her. She does this by grabbing onto my ears, hair, or nose, yanking her self violently against either my chin, nose, or cheek, and then sucking and biting ravenously. From my point of view it looks like a cross of Night of the Living Dead and Piranha. She usually will continue with the sucking and gumming until I pull her off of my face. Part of me thinks this is very cute and is convinced that this is just her way of showing that she loves me. Another part of me just thinks that she wants to eat my face.
Genevieve had her six month check-up yesterday, although she won't be six months for a few more days. She got another round of shots in each thigh and seems to be doing very well. She will begin eating three meals a day and will (hopefully) start cutting down on her bottles as she eats more solids. She will also begin going to the doctor every other month for a while, for which I'm sure her thighs will be thankful.
Here are her new stats:
Head circumference: 17" (75th percentile) Height: 27.5" (95th percentile) Weight: 21 pounds and 11 ounces (97th+ percentile - she's back off the charts again)
She's still as tall or taller than most babies twice her age, but now she's also as plump or plumper than most babies 13 months old. Gotta love statistics.
