Riley's 6 month Checkup

Riley is doing great! (Except for the small cold she has). She is 27 inches tall (90th percentile for infants her age) and 18.2 lbs (85th percentile). She got two more vaccine shots and an oral vaccine and did just fine. They were really impressed with her development. I told them she was doing well on solids and had already started eating Gerber 2nd foods. They said I can try out the 3rd foods now if I wanted as well as meats, but to make sure and gauge her reactions and make sure to space out any new foods to see if she develops any allergies. They prefer that I don't introduce juice yet, but they said a couple ounces of water per day is fine if I find it necessary. I also have to start brushing Riley's new teeth! Either with a washcloth and tap water or with a fingerbrush and no-flouride paste. They left it up to me. All in all, Riley is a healthy, growing little girl!

Here are the development milestones for 6-9 months of age:

Daily Activities

* Adores playing with balls, rattles, and squeaky toys (check)

* Usually sleeps through the night (check)

* Usually begins teething (check - she's got two bottom teeth already!)

* May prefer some foods to others (check - definitely)

* May enjoy playing with food (check)

* Loves games like peek-a-boo (check - thinks peek-a-boo is hilarious) and patty cake

Language Development

* Babbles and squeals using single syllables (check - big on squealing)

* Love to jabber (check - especially at her toys)

* May recognize own name (check - but only when she wants to - hahaha)

Emotional Development

* May show sharp mood changes (not so much)

* Displays especially strong attachment to mother (check - she wants me to come to her as soon as I walk in the door at daycare)

* Develops deeper attachment to father, siblings, and other familiar people (check - familiar people)

* Distinguishes children from adults (check)

* Smiles at other children (check - she smiles at EVERYONE)

* May show fear of strangers (check - apparently she does this a lot at daycare, not so much when she is with me)

* Continues to be intrigued with mirror image (check)

Motor Skills

* Rests on elbows (check)

* Begins to sit alone (check - has done this since she was 4 1/2 months)

* Sits in high chair (check - since 5 months old)

* Continues to use motions leading to crawling (check - she just needs to move her arms and she'll be off like a rocket soon!)

* Makes jumping motions when held in standing position (check)

* Reaches with one hand (check - usually both)

* Bats and grasps dangling objects (check)

* Holds objects between thumb and forefinger (check - getting better at it every day)

* Passes objects from one hand to another (check)

Lord, she's blowing through her milestones! I can barely keep up. I never know what she'll do to surprise me next. I wish her daddy were here to see it all! I'm trying to catch everything on camera and video though. :-)