My darling Vera. You have been in winning your way into our hearts now for a whole 6 months. From your distinctive laugh to your incessant need to be moving, it’s safe to say you’ve wiggled your way deep into our hearts and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

At 6 months you:

| have started eating solid foods: baby led weaning style & baby purees |

| still scoot along army crawl style |

| rock back and forth up on your knees |

| can push yourself up into an almost sitting position |

| try to pull up on things, and voice your frustration loudly when you can’t get up |

| are still not a great sleeper, but I’ve accepted it’s just part of who you are |

| love to grab faces, hair and when you’re nursing you pinch the back of my arm |

| are still infatuated with Emmie, following her around, laughing at her, and watch her every move |

| make an “ah ah ah” sound most often |

| weigh 14.5 lbs |

| had a CT scan and did great |

| finally have a cup you’re willing to drink water from |

| don’t suck your thumb as much, so car rides are becoming rough again |

You are an explorer. You hate being confined, and you love to scoot your booty all around the house. You lead with your left arm, suck your left thumb, and prefer to sleep on your left side. You follow Emmie and Oliver around scooting after them. You let us know when you’re unhappy by crying LOUDLY. You enjoy some baby food such as butternut squash and you’ve tried real food like avocado slices, banana and bread. You finally drink water from a sippy cup but still pretty much refuse breast milk out of any container. You love being in the water and went in the gulf for the first time this past month. You also went swimming in a pool and enjoyed that just as much. You love being close to me and let only a few select people hold you without fussing. This drives your grandparents crazy! You have the bluest of blue eyes and your hair is still a mystery. Half of it’s blonde, and half of it is a light reddish brown.

You had your CT scan to check on your lung mass, and it went really well. You were such a trooper fasting, then going under anesthesia. You had a couple bruises from IV’s but other than that you would never know you had a procedure done. The best part was they couldn’t see any lung mass! You’ll get another scan, but this time an MRI, in 6 months and if that’s clear then you won’t need any surgery. To say that we’re thankful and relieved would be an understatement. We love you so much little girl.

At 5 Months old you:

|| roll over like a pro ||

|| scoot around army style ||

|| can sit by yourself for about 10 seconds ||

|| love playing in your baby saucer ||

|| are very loud & talk all the time ||

|| hate being contained in your baby-proofed area||

|| have zero schedule at night ||

|| went in the ocean for the first time and loved it ||

|| love when Emmie makes you silly sounds in the car — you calm right down ||

|| have sucked on an apple core, corn of the cob & green beans ||

|| try to grab anyone’s food if you’re close enough ||

|| imitate a hoover vacuum by eating everything off the floor ||

|| weigh about 12-13 lbs ||

|| wear 6-9 month and 9-12 month clothes ||

This past month (or really month and a half since I’m a little late) your personality has begun to blossom. You are a wild child for sure! You hate being confined to your baby-proofed play area and would much rather zoom across the house to find every speck of dust, wrappers, old stickers and dried leaves to chomp. You are in love with Emerson. You continue to watch her completely enraptured in whatever she may be doing. Emmie has also taken a fancy to “playing” with you. She’ll set up fake food picnics and feed you off the plastic spoons, which you’re more than happy to chomp on. She loves playing “sleepover” with you in your crib and you’re always so content when she’s playing with you, even if she does boop you on the head a little too hard every once in a while.

You are quite serious when we’re eating. You are a baby on a mission when we break out the food. You try your darnedest to get a grab of anyone’s food if you’re close enough. You once shoved your face smack into my BBQ chicken sandwich at Chic-fil-a. You’ve tried your first real food of banana and you loved it. You sucked on it at first, and then as soon as you realized how good it tasted you tried to shove the whole piece in your mouth.

You continue to want nothing to do with bottles, much to my dismay, and you are a pretty rotten sleeper. You’ll wake up anywhere from once a night to every hour! I really think your sleep is so wacky because you keep crushing milestones. You started to crawl, army style, about 3 days after turning 5 months old! Then, you learned to sit up. Now, you’re working on propping yourself up on your knees when you crawl. All before 6 months! Not to mention all the new noises, blowing bubbles, and growing you’re doing. Slow down little lady! I have a feeling you are going to be the child who will get into everything in a blink of an eye. Regardless of the trouble you scoot yourself into I could still eat you up, I love you so.

My Vera Charlotte, my little wild one.

At 4 months you:

|| roll back to belly and belly to back ||

|| started sucking your thumb ||

|| really hate it when anyone besides Momma holds you ||

 || are a terrible napper and only nap about 30-40 minutes max ||

|| are starting to transition to sleeping in a crib ||

|| will sometimes take a bottle, but it takes a lot of coercing ||

|| love to smile, especially when you wake up in the morning ||

|| love playing on your play-mat, especially with the purple horse toy ||

 || love watching your big sister — especially if she’s dancing or shaking a toy for you ||

You had your first real laugh this month as well. We were outside, Emmie and Daddy on the trampoline, and I was holding you while making Oliver do his tricks. When we got to “turn around,” you busted out your first real belly laugh. I, of course, made Oliver repeat “turn around” about 6 times just to hear your magical baby laugh. And on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, anytime you’re really unhappy you will let everyone know because, girlfriend, your cry is loud! Thank goodness you’re generally a happy baby. Emmie usually covers her ears and says, “Mom, Vera is too loud!” when you cry in the car.

Overall, you’re the perfect addition to our family and I can’t wait to watch you grow.