Happy Half Birthday

Tomorrow Olivia is 6 months old and I still can't believe how much my life has changed. From when I first found out I was pregnant - we were picking up our new car that day (perhaps we should have got a 5 door!). Mr T telling his dad on the phone (in-laws live in South Africa) me telling my parents and my younger sister but swearing them to secrecy from everyone else. Having to tell work when I was 6 weeks pregnant because I was struggling badly with sickness and needed my teaching assistants support should I need to leave the room quickly!

Then when she was born and the first few scary days in SCBU to first bringing her home. She slept for 5 hours solid that night it was lovely, such a shame it didn't last. We had the normal newborn issues - struggling to settle her at night, is she getting enough food, am I feeding her often enough, what to do when they get a cold etc. Our sling came in very handy in the early days to calm her down and get her to nap - they have amazing magical sleeping powers.

I used to take Olivia to church in her sling and she would sleep through an hour and half service. She went from 9 days old and I'm sure she was about 3 months old before she was awake during the service. Now she talks through the service!

She has changed in so many ways and seems to learn something new everyday. She has a range of sounds which include growling and squealing, she can sit up on her own and is very close to rolling over.

Her personality is really coming through and she is quite a cheeky little girl - if daddy picks her up she manages to shuffle herself so she is standing on his knees and then bounces up and down! She has also learnt to move caterpillar style across her cot or the room on her back. So at night I put her feet at the foot of her cot when I go in to check she is the other end of her cot!

She has taken to chewing my shoulder whenever I pick her up and hiding her head in my neck if someone talks to her, then she will turn back and smile!

We recently started to wean her baby led style and she is developing some great motor skills although it still takes a few attempts to find her mouth rather than her cheek, ear or eye! We have tried: cucumber, broccoli, pear, banana, plum, potato wedges, bread sticks, rice cakes, toast, scotch pancakes, dragon fruit and yoghurt. Tomorrow we are trying porridge pancakes. I have bought sweet potatoes and some butternut squash to experiment with as well as planning to make some casseroles so she can start having complete dinners. I'm not sure how much she is actually eating but she gets very cross if I am eating and she doesn't have anything to try.

I have also changed during this time I am back to my pre pregnancy weight but my clothes still don't fit, I am a completely different body shape and my boobs are a lot bigger still! I am more confident in my abilities and am learning to trust my instincts however it helps that I have a sister that is a nursery nurse and my other sister has two children. So plenty of advice if I need it.

In a months time I return to work full time and things will change again. I don't want to miss out on all the new things Olivia learns but I also know that our time together will be even more special. I am looking forward to seeing how things change in the next 6 months although I hope they don't pass as quickly as the last 6 months.