Happy 6 Month Birthday Inara

Baby girl is 6 months old! Holy Cow! So much has happened lately, so let me get right to it. First off, on Feb. 29th I took Inara to her last pediatrician appointment before the move. Our doctor said it wouldn't be a problem if we scheduled her 6 month visit 2 weeks early. At this visit, Inara weighed in at 15 pounds 7 ounces and measured 24 1/2 inches. She also got a few more shots. This was the worst crying fit Inara has had with shots. I'm guessing it's because she's getting older and pain is starting to register more with her. I felt so bad. Good thing my mom went with me to calm me down.

We've had some monumental events happen this week. On Wednesday, Inara visited her first library. Kristi and Avery invited us to a storytime, which I thought would be lots of fun. It was Inara's first storytime and first trip to a library. I must say Highlands Ranch library is beautiful. The children's department is rather large. The librarian who did storytime was cute and a great reader. Since this was my first storytime at a library, I was unfamiliar with the songs the group sang. Kristi said a lot of them they had learned at the Rossmoor library, so she's going to teach them to me. While there, I picked up a schedule of events. I got to thinking I should find a good book group I could join at a library or a B&N as this might be a good way to meet some people. Plus, it will be a good excuse for me to set time aside to read, which isn't a bad thing since we don't have cable in our bedroom and regular stations don't come in very well. Besides, I really miss reading for myself. I read to Inara quite frequently, but it's just not the same.

For the past week, Inara has been super restless at night. I think one night Shawn and I got up 10 times to turn her crib aquarium on and give her the pacifier. It's been a rather rough week for the two of us. One night she wanted to be held, so Shawn slept with her in his arms for half an hour and I got her to sleep on me for 2 and 1/2 hours. Yes, it's been a rough one. It's hard to say what was wrong. She's teething really bad, so that's always the first thing I blame. It could also be her adjusting to a new environment and the higher elevation. Also, we all wake up with stuffy noses lately, and I've noticed Inara's had bad boogies, so I thought maybe she's having a hard time breathing at night and that's bothering her. Well, I remembered we got a humidifier for a shower gift, so I found it and broke that puppy out. Let me tell you it's a godsend. Two nights in a row Inara has now slept straight through. I don't know if it's the humidifier that she likes best or the soft noise of the fan going. I know she was waking up when the aquarium would turn off, so the white noise of the fan in the humidifier might be what helps her sleep. Either way, I love the darn thing!

Since today was Inara's 6 month birthday, I decided it was time to try rice cereal at her first feeding. Shawn held her on his lap since she's still a bit wobbly sitting up by herself . I was curious if she'd be ready for mastering a spoon and was pleasantly surprised to see her take to it after the first couple bites. It was so cute watching her figure out what to do when she saw the spoon. Before you knew it, she was opening her mouth super wide and kept most of the rice cereal in her mouth. She got a bit on her hands when she grabbed for the spoon and I, of course, made some of the mess trying to get the spoon in her mouth. But overall, her first experience with solid food was a success!

Then this afternoon we went to JCPenney's for our appointment to get Inara's 6 month picture taken. I figured it would be a good excuse to get some Easter/Spring pics taken. Besides, I bought her a super cute dress to wear for Easter, so this would mean she would have to wear it at least two times. Hey, I'm all about getting as many uses out of an outfit as I can. If we're invited to any special dinners or outings in the next couple weeks, she's going to wear this outfit then too. I hate the idea of buying a holiday outfit that she will only wear once. It seems like such a waste of money. Anyhow, Inara did so great at the photo session today. I was worried that she might cry with the photographer because of her stranger anxiety, but Inara seems to be getting over that. She did so well with the photographer today and we got some adorable pics of her smiling. Funny thing is the best ones were of her laying on her tummy. This is surprising because she generally doesn't like to be on her tummy for very long, but today must have been an exception. Originally, I was only planning on buying 3 or 4 8x10s, but once we saw how cute the pics came out, Shawn was all about buying a package so we could get a good assortment of pics to share with family and friends. I'll get them in two weeks and will mail them out to people after that. I'm also hoping I can use Thane's scanner so I can post them to the website too. I'll let you all know when I do get them up on phanfare. I also took pics of Inara at the library and her eating rice cereal this morning. As soon as Shawn transfers them to my computer, I'll post them for you all to see. Happy 6 month birthday, Inara Grace!