Six Months Old

~Yeah for 6 months old!!~

The days pass so quickly these days as we settle into life at home and attempt to develop a consistent routine with our little girl.  You would think that after two months, we might have this down by now; but I think {I hope!} every new set of parents goes through this during that first year with a new baby.  The adjustments have been compounded with the barrage of appointments those first several weeks; but with that part starting to wane, life is seemingly more calm these days, and Noelle especially seems to like the predictability of her days.  She actually seems to be turning into quite the little homebody!  While I have attempted to keep various noises going throughout the day and night so that she does not become accustomed to pure silence, there is no getting around the fact that our home is a fairly peaceful environment.  Music, cooking shows, talking, fans, the washing machine and dryer, and even the vacuum do not make up for the alarms, multitude of voices, various machines and other babies' cries which she heard in the NICU at any given moment {often, all at the same time!}; and now that she has had consecutive days of being at home, she really seems to like and prefer her own space.  That is not to say that she still does not do well when we are out with her.  She still does quite well as long as we are not in places which are overstimulating for her {preemies overstimulate extremely easily, even months after discharge from the NICU}, and so we are slowly and carefully venturing out into uncrowded places so that we can not only accomplish a few things but so that she can also begin to slowly build her own immunities.

Noelle turned 6 months old this past week and weighed 5lbs. 11oz. as of Sunday.  I felt a small twinge of disappointment when I saw the number on the scale as I was hoping she might reach 6lbs by her six month birthday and thus average a pound a month.  However, she is very close and has had good, consistent and proportional growth, so I truly cannot complain.  It does mean that we will probably not be making Father's Day our first Sunday at church but just knowing that she will be home with us for Father's Day is gift enough.  This little girl becomes more and more precious to us each day, and we are loving every minute of watching her grow and change.  The pictures that follow will better {and more interestingly} show the changes in this sweet little miracle God has given to us.  Her expressions are priceless!!  As always, we continue to appreciate your fervent prayers for this blessing of which God has allowed us to be stewards.

 Bath time is still the most exciting part of the day...

~Goofy Tongue Grin~

~Really?  You want ANOTHER smile?~

~Well, okay!!~

~You can have as many as you like!~

~Bath time is the best!~

~Perspective~

~Sparkling Eyes~

~Bath time brings out the talker in me!~

 These pictures were taken on her official 6 month birthday...

~I LOVE my frog!!~

~I found my hands....they absolutely fascinate me!!~

~I can't figure out why he doesn't talk back....~

 We always love visiting Gigi and G'Pa....

~Snuggling with Gigi and showing off my pants from Aunt Barbie~

~I love G'pa's noises~

~Visiting with G'pa~

~Talking all about my day~

~Oh but wait...Daddy has the camera???!!~

~...I must say hello...~

~...and flash a cheesy grin!!~