6 Months of Violett

Our sweet girl has officially been with us for half a year! In those early days, the days (and nights) seemed to drag, but now I swear the time is FLYING by!

We celebrated our girl’s 1/2 birthday by visiting the Cincinnati Museum Center for the first time (with her anyway). One of Violett’s absolute FAVORITE things to do is watch her sissy run and play, so she had a blast there! I cannot wait (actually I can) until she is big enough to run around and play there as well!

This month, just like every moth prior, we are getting more and more a glimpse of who our sweet girl is and who she is meant to be! This month she has become so much more curious and eager! She wants to be involved in any and everything! She is NOSY and HANDSY! She immediately wants whatever is in your hand or immediately turns herself to you if you are talking within earshot. She is pushing boundaries and trying to do things and play with things and eat things that are totally not in her wheelhouse at the moment- but it is super exciting to see how eager she is to do everything!

Sadly, this past month our breastfeeding journey came to an end. When I was pregnant with her, I had set the goal of breastfeeding for 6 months. Due to medical issues I was only ever able to breastfeed Scarlett for 2.5 months and was always bummed that I didn’t make it that 6 month mark with her, even if it truly wasn’t my fault. So, I knew when I had Violett that I would try my damnedest to make it to 6 months!

Don’t get me wrong, I fully believe that a fed baby is best! I am in full support of formula-fed babies! Heck, Scarlett was almost exclusively formula fed (aside from a few pumped bags of breastmilk) from the time she was 3 months old and on! No shame in that! The breastfeeding goal of 6 months was just a personal goal for me.

Violett came out of the womb knowing exactly how to latch and breastfeed like a CHAMP! We were a great team and the whole breastfeeding thing just clicked with her! (so much easier than it was with Scar… maybe because it was my second time trying?) I was so proud. I am so proud of that time together! But when I went back to work and she had to take bottles rather than the breast, breastfeeding became a bit more difficult. The flow is just different, and she was getting used to the fast flow that bottles have compared to breasts. Unfortunately, just after she turned 5 months she pretty much rejected me and would only take a bottle. I was so sad that I missed my goal by only a month and I tried and tried to get us back on track, but she was struggling and would get so upset and so would I, and it just was not working. Breastfeeding was not worth both of us being emotionally and physically drained by the end of the day, so finally I decided that enough was enough and that our breastfeeding journey was over. She had weaned herself off of me all on her own.

Violett still drinks breastmilk almost exclusively (I had a huge reserve and am still currently pumping) so in my book we still made it to that 6 month mark! And honestly, I don’t care how anyone else looks at it! I am proud of our breastfeeding journey. I am proud of how far we made it! To me, forcibly breastfeeding my daughter just to hit a goal was not worth both of us being upset. My girl is strong and chunky (as you can see in the pics) and as long as she is happy, I am happy!

Speaking of happy – when we were deciding what Violett’s middle names would be (which we did not fully decide on until her second day of life) one of the names we were really considering was Joy. I thought, what a beautiful name and what a beautiful thing to wish for this brand new baby- for her to have joy in her life.

Ultimately, we decided to go with other names that we loved, but sometimes I wish that we would have used Joy as one of her middle names. This girl is FILLED to the brim with joy! This girl RADIATES joy!!! No matter who you are, Violett is always ready to greet you with a smile on her face! Her whole face is a smile! She truly is a ray of sunshine and we are beyond lucky to have her in our lives! She is SO joyful and spreads so much joy always!

Stats

WEIGHT – 17 lbs
HEIGHT – 27 in
SIZE – 6-9 Months
HAIR COLOR– Brown
EYE COLOR – Grayish Blue
NICKNAMES – V, Vivi, Vi, Viola, Viola Babe-is, Vivacious, Littlest, Sugar, Sugs, Sugar Bean, Sugar Butt, Sugar Bear, Honey Bean, Smile Bear, Smiles, Smiley Viley, Violi Ravioli, Chunk-a-monk, Fuzz Nut, Fuzzy Wuzzy

Milestones

Can sit up on her own unsupported!
Can also bend down and pick objects up while she is sitting and pull herself back up to a sitting position
Started eating puree foods! (Carrots, Peas, Green Beans, Pears, Bananas, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin)
Attempted some BLW but she is a little too eager and would chomp too big of bites and gag lol so we will try more of that this upcoming month!
Stands on her own when she is able to hold/grip onto something in front of her
Transfers objects between both her hands
Starting “talk” babbling where she is using repeating and new sounds
Exploring more of her world/Curious
Recognizes and responds to her name
Started “belly-laughing”

What She Loves

Walking around in her walker
Eating!!!
Playing peek-a-boo
Playing pat-a-cake
Looking/playing with shadows/shadow puppets
Looking in the mirror at herself
Playing with her feet
Being picked up out of her crib
Sleeping in her crib
Her family!
Watching her sissy play
Her animals! (dog and cat)
Chewing on EVERYTHING
Bathtime
Playing with her Daddy
Kisses from Mommy
Any and all attention
Smiling at everyone!
Listening to the songs on Ms Rachel