6 months old!
Morgan was 6 months old on December 27th. I was waiting until her 6 month well-visit to the doctor to make a post. And we did that this morning, so here it goes…
I remember our first trips to the doctor when 6 months/Christmas seemed so very far away. That simultaneously feels like ages ago and yesterday. Anyway…
The doctor’s visit went well. She got her immunizations, the same shots as at the 1 month and 4 month appointments, as well as a flu shot. The shots seemed to bother her less at the 4 month appt. than at the 1 month and again less at the 6 month appt. than at the 4 month. She really only cried very briefly after the shots and was relatively easy to console. So that was great for me and Jim.
Her doctor is very pleased with her growth and her development. He asked us if she was rolling over (yes), reaching for things (yes), tranfering things from hand to hand without dropping them (yes), and supporting her weight with her legs (definitely yes). He then pulled her up from a laying position to standing, which she does very well, and had her stand there with him for a minute or two. She is a champ at this particular game and passed with flying colors. At her four month visit she most decidedly did not have the head control he wanted to see, so Jim and I were pleased to see her back on track.
Here are the growth stats:
- weight: 15 lb, 3 oz (45th percentile)
- height: 27 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
- head: 17 1/2 inches (90th percentile)
We chatted a bit about her head shape. The doctor seems pleased with the progress, calling it ‘minimally misshapen.’ Plus her soft spot is still quite large (apparently) so there is still more opportunity for the shape to continue to improve. Jim and I both really thought her head was improving, but I was pleased to hear the doctor’s take. Morgan is still sleeping in a wedge (to keep her on the ‘other’ side of her head from the flat spot), but as she is becoming more mobile the wedge is becoming less effective. She can move out of it too quickly. Plus Jim and I have been wondering if it has been starting to muck with her sleep, as it doesn’t allow her full movement about the crib and she sometimes gets stuck in it in uncomfortable ways. The doctor said we could drop the wedge at this point. We’ll probably need to get a bumper for her crib now, since she’ll be moving around more and thus will be more likely to get limbs caught between the slats.
We also chatted a bit about her height. Her rear-facing infant bucket seat only goes to 30 inches. She should not hit 30 inches before her 9 month appointment, so we’ve dodged that bullet for a few more months. Once she hits 30 inches we have to put her in a convertible seat (one that can fact backward and front, not one with a drop top) that stays in the car. The problem that arises for us is how to get her in and out of this seat in our two-door car while she is still facing backwards. But we don’t have to worry about that for awhile yet.
In terms of what comes next, we are supposed to add fruits to her diet and then meats (chicken, turkey, and later beef, all unseasoned). We are also supposed to start to give her water and begin to work on the use of a sippy cup. This (the sippy cup thing) took me by surprise. Can’t believe it…We’re also supposed to move from feeding her solids at one meal a day to two-three times a day. Annabel (her primary person at daycare) will be excited. She’s been anxious to start feeding Morgan solids during the day.
So that is a pretty solid recap of the doctor’s visit. I was looking through our infant care book at what to expect during the four through seven month time frame. The following are basically lists from that book.
Movement milestones to expect by the end of the 7th month (nearly two months away)
- Rolls both ways (she currently rolls well from back to front and occassionally from front to back)
- Sits with, then without, support of her hands (yep…it is apparently still ‘some time’ before she will be able to move herself to a sitting position)
- Supports her whole weight on her legs (yep)
- Reaches with one hand (yep…reaches with both)
- Transfers objects from hand to hand (yep)
- Uses raking grasp, not pincer (yep)
Language Milestones by the end of the 7th month
- Responds to own name (not yet)
- Begins to respond to ‘no’ (not yet)
- Distinguishes emotions by tone of voice (I don’t think so, but I also don’t know exactly how I’d be able to tell)
- Responds to sounds by making sounds (I don’t think so)
- Uses voice to express joy and displeasure (starting to)
- Babbles chains of consonants (not yet)
Cognitive Milestones
- Finds partially hidden object (not really, though if we leave a room she will watch the door waiting for us to come back)
- Explores with hands and mouth (yep)
- Struggles to get objects that are out of reach (yep)
Social/Emotional Milestones
- Enjoys social play (yep. As I’ve mentioned in the past, she’s been playing with friends at daycare)
- Interested in mirror images (very much so)
- Responds to other people’s expressions of emotion and appears joyful often (yep)
Speaking of which, we’ve been meaning to get some video of her playing in the mirror. She loves it! Maybe we’ll do that soon.
Everything seems to be on track, she’s happy and healthy. We go back at 7 months for the 2nd half of the flu shot (she got the first half today) and then at 9 months for her next well visit.