6 months!

Carmela is 6 months old today! She had a great month, from dressing up as a baby bat to sitting up at the table during Thanksgiving dinner. Several things seemed to come together for her this month — during the past couple of weeks, actually — and Carmela is sitting up almost by herself (she slumps over after a few minutes), rolling over as often as she can, and reaching her little hand into everything. She likes to bang on things, especially her aluminum roasting pan, but she hasn't quite figured out how to use another tool, like a spatula or wooden spoon, to bang on things.

Carmela is a big communicator — she's beginning to use certain sounds to mean particular things. For example, the raspberries she used to make *all the time* she uses now mainly to express frustration. She also has learned how to shreak at the top of her lungs, and she uses that to express frustration or anger. On the other hand, she says "Ba" to acknowledge her Dad's or my presence or to start a conversation of gurgles and repeated syllables.

She has another cold and we thought she was cooking up another ear infection, but it turns out both ears are clear — that means her symptoms might actually, finally, be teething. We'll see. We're not counting our pearly whites until they sprout.

Branching out

After 6 long months of milk, Carmela branched out today and tried some rice cereal. She wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but in the end, it looks like she liked it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Carmela had a wonderful first Thanksgiving at Nana and Grandpa's house. She was really good, and even sat at the table for most of dinner. We stayed the night and got to visit all Friday, too.

Carmela was a little upset at Grandpa's beard, but once she was re-acquainted, she felt better about it.

Carmela sitting in Dad's lap, apparently waiting for dessert.

Carmela's new ride

After a long wait (she had to get up to 16 pounds), Carmela was *finally* able to ride in her dad's backpack carrier. We took the new carrier for a spin around the neighborhood — Carmela loved being up high and facing forward. It was all so exciting that on the way home she fell asleep.

Rolling over

This past month has been really amazing. Carmela has gone from hating to be on her tummy to rolling over all the time. The other day, she rolled over, pushed herself up on her hands, and tucked a knee under herself. It won't be long until she's crawling. I think she's enjoying the new feeling of freedom she's discovered. She seems particularly happy with herself when she gets her hands on her toys.

Carmela had a fabulous weekend — Grandma came to visit for a few days! Grandma brought a whole mess of cute new clothes, including an adorable leopard print hat and mitten set.

Carmela has started making a little hooting noise when she wants her Dad or I to look at her — it's her little way of getting attention, and we get little "hoots" all day long. When we turn to look, she'll be staring intently at us, and then will usually break into a big, dazzling smile. Carmela also has discovered how fascinating and awesome toes are, and spends a lot of time peeling her socks off so she can grab her feet and suck on her toes. Sometimes, these two new skills collide. A few minutes ago, I got a little "hoot," and when I looked, she had liberated her toes and was happily snacking on her sock. Good times.

Halloween!

Carmela had a pretty fun Halloween. She probably would have had more fun if she wasn't teething and fighting an ear infection, but she did get to see all the pumpkins at Gene's house, and she got to see kids trick-or-treating (Mom and Dad can't wait for that!), and she got to wear her bat costume, which she seemed to really like. Mom and Dad thoroughly enjoyed decorating the front porch and taking care of the tiniest, cutest bat.

Five ... Five Fabulous Months ... Ah-ah-ah ....

It doesn't seem like a lot has changed over the past month, with the exception that Carmela keeps getting bigger and bigger, and is slowly but surely getting better at sitting up by herself. Lately, one of her favorite pasttimes is hanging out in her bassinet, where it seems she feels more comfortable twisting around and rolling back and forth from her back to her tummy and trying to crawl. She also really loves to play with Bear in her bassinet. Ela still really loves her Jumperoo, and is getting better and better at actually jumping around and doing little jigs. She still likes to make raspberry noises, but Mom especially loves the new giggles. It's hard to predict when she'll do them and what will make them erupt; any attempt to capture them results in a furrowed, studious brow, which is the opposite of giggles.

Ela has the first of what will probably be many ear infections this week. (Her dad got them all the time.) On Monday night, she cried and cried, slept poorly, and then threw up a whole bunch. Mom and Dad were prepared to take her to the emergency room, but then she smiled her big, gummy grin and grabbed her toes, so we decided to wait until morning to call her doctor. She's been on antibiotics since, but she's still feverish and fussy. We suspect teething. Still. It seems like we've been dealing with what may or may not be teething for months now — it's very frustrating, mostly because it's obvious something's bothering our girl, but we can't figure out what it is. Hopefully we'll see a pearly white soon and can put the mystery to rest.

Carmela learned how to splash in her bath the other night — that was great! She first smacked at the water with her hand. Then she kicked her leg. By the time Mom pulled her out, she was bicycling her legs in the water, Ela had splashed water everywhere, and Mom was soaked. It was good fun, and I'm glad to see her have fun, and to be curious about the effect she's having on her little world.

Soon Carmela will be ready to try some solid food. Mom can't believe it. It seemed like she'd be on milk exclusively forever. Mom and Dad are looking at getting a high chair, some dishes with suction cups on them, and a giant splat mat. This should be more good fun, like her bath in many ways.