Our daughter, Raylee Lynn, turned six months old last week. I can’t believe we are half way to a year. Not only am I head-over-heels in love with this little bug, but I’m so proud of myself for surviving! Ha!
I knew from before I was even pregnant that I wanted to take monthly photos of our kids. I love seeing the differences between each month. They grow so dang fast that first year! Each month is full of so many milestones, and I want to remember them all.
I decided to take her photos on the blankets she was given. Several people made us quilts or crocheted blankets, and lots of people bought some beautiful blankets for us too. We love all of them and use them! So to showcase them, I’m doing a different blanket for each month. I like the idea of that, but honestly it doesn’t work so great as far as putting words on the photos too. But oh well! If you decide to do this too, remember to use the smallest blankets first. I didn’t think about that until a couple months in!
Raylee’s Monthly Updates
At one month old, I couldn’t believe we had survived. Motherhood was a complete shock to me in how much changes. And I had no idea the lack of sleep you get and how it can affect you. It doesn’t help that I was still recovering from birth (fourth degree tear- yikes!). Raylee loved being held and hearing us sing to her. And I loved watching Travis hold her, sway with her, and sing old hymns to her. My heart was swelling! Lots of people commented on how alert she was at this age. Aren’t newborns supposed to sleep a lot? She wouldn’t even sleep during her newborn photo shoot!
Blanket from Great Aunt Traci
Once we hit month two, I had finally fully recovered. We also finally seemed to click when it came to breastfeeding. It was like coming out of a thick fog. We were somehow all alive, and maybe, just maybe we could make it through all this. I remember I was overwhelmed by the love I felt for Raylee. Hearing her cry during her shots was like torture to me! I cried! But she was brave.
Things got better each month, but by month three — what a difference! Raylee could laugh and smile, and it helped so much in bonding and feeling like, you know, she likes me. By now, we knew that she hated her car seat and long car rides. And even though we loved going to Indiana to visit family, we hated the trips there. Raylee rolled for the first time, and we were so excited!
Blanket from Bessie McKean
Once when we were staying with relatives, Raylee slept through the night! I was shocked when I woke up and it was 6 a.m., and she was still asleep! It felt like the best night of my life! Ha! She had played with her cousins all day and been passed around by everyone, so I guess it really wore her out! I loved seeing her start holding her feet and her toys. It’s funny how excited you can get over the littlest, simplest skills!
Blanket from Lenora McCrary
Around the two month mark, when breastfeeding became easier, we stopped giving Raylee bottles of pumped milk. Big mistake! It wasn’t until a month or two later that we realized she wouldn’t take a bottle anymore. She refuses it. And believe me, we’ve tried everything. I wish so badly she would take a bottle because it would help me feel less trapped by breastfeeding. But I’m sticking it out. The good news is she began trying solids. We gave her avocado first. At five months, we couldn’t believe she was getting her first tooth!
Blanket from BACH Hospital
By six months, Raylee has two teeth! What in the world?! I didn’t expect her to get any teeth until she was 8-9 months old. She is eating lots of fruits and vegetables at this point, but it seems her favorite is sweet potatoes. She takes after her mama! However, she is not really a fan of apples. She has lifted herself into standing position without our help, which shocked us! She is doing that about two months earlier than most babies. Travis looked it up to see if that meant she would be super athletic, but it said it means she is fearless. Makes me proud … but also a little scared! (Guess she doesn’t take after me on that one!) She also loves babbling and being loud. She says ma-ma all the time. We were surprised she said mama before dada. There was one day where she said dada, but she hasn’t said it since!
Blanket from Lesley Niemczyk
For fun, I decided to take the same photo of her every three months to see how she’s grown. Here is the result so far. I can’t wait to see them all at the one year mark!
How fun is it that I have time to blog again? I have missed it so much!
Here are some other posts you don’t want to miss:
Aww!! She is so precious! I love the monthly blanket idea. We started taking monthly pictures and then ended up too busy to do them consistently. (Just like I started a baby book but did not even get passed the family tree… I’m so terrible!)
Our son’s first food was avocado, too, and then some rice cereal.
Haha! I imagine with the next kid I won’t ever find time to do a baby book!