Happy half-birthday, Sera!

Sera has had quite the eventful month. She has almost fully recovered from RSV. Her illness was stressful for all. Sera felt miserable most of the time and it was heartbreaking to hear her cough and immediately let out a pathetic cry. I thought her case was horrible and exceptional, but her doctor said she recovered quickly. This is quick? I'm going to be such a paranoid mother. Sera is left with a little bit of a runny nose and a nagging cough, but otherwise seems pretty happy and content. I miraculously managed not to get sick, but poor Craig was miserably sick over Christmas. With Craig out of commission, I had the unfortunate experience of living as a single parent, while working and managing the household. I now add working single mothers to the long list of unsung heroes, along with teachers, librarians, and paramedics.

Sera's first Christmas was spent with all of Craig's family. She enjoyed meeting her aunt, uncle, and cousins and was excited to see her grandparents again. She was spoiled, of course and seemed more interested in the wrapping paper, than the presents.

Our New Year's was low-key as usual, with all of us asleep at midnight. Sera did ring in the new year by rolling onto her belly just after midnight and then crying until I could flip her on her back. This seems to happen several times a week. Sera has mastered rolling over from her back to her belly, but is still working on rolling back onto her back. She often manages to flip herself onto her belly while sleeping and then awakens in a panic. I then enter her room to perform what I call a "factory reset" to flip her back over.

On January 3rd, Sera celebrated her six month birthday. She is now 26 1/4 inches and 14 lbs, 7 oz. I cannot believe she is six months old. It seems like yesterday that we were hovering over her in the hospital nursery, fascinated by her matted hair and tiny hands. In the past month, Sera has started sitting up with support and is beginning to pull herself up from the prone position. She started on solids approximately two weeks ago (because she was only eating 1/3 to 1/2 of her usual amount by bottle when she was congested). So far, she seems to enjoy rice cereal, apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes. We will continue to introduce new solids slowly before trying mixed foods. For Christmas, Craig got me a baby food system, so I should be able to concoct lots of fun and yummy foods for Sera. Sera accepted the food excitedly, but needed some time to warm up to the high chair:

Sera's first attempt at the high chair on December 21st.

Sera practicing in the high chair today.

Sitting up has also allowed Sera to sit in the shopping cart today, rather than being strapped to my chest in the Baby Bjorn. While I did enjoy our time together in the Baby Bjorn the past few months, it will be nice to go shopping without worrying about catching Sera's foot on the grocery cart or her reaching her hands up and trying to stick her fingers in my nose (a new favorite activity, along with slapping her parents in the face).

Grocery shopping with mommy.

Sera and I usually go shopping at least once a week. Our usual haunts are the grocery store or Target. Typically, at least one person per trip stops to comment on Sera's eyes or to tell me how cute she is. I have started to respond to these compliments with "thank you." I previously felt hesitant to say "thank you" to compliments about Sera. I felt unworthy of accepting compliments on Sera's behalf because her biological cuteness is not attributable to me. Now, I feel somewhat annoyed when I leave a store and no one comments on how cute she is. Seriously! Look at how cute she is!

Sera's personality is growing. She is starting to show a lot of will. When she is held, she always wants to turn in any other direction than the direction she is facing. She has started to reach for and grab items that she wants and becomes fussy when she can't have them. She is developing a sense of humor. She smiles when she sees things that are amusing (like Fred or mommy making faces) or when she sees something desirable:

like a bottle.

She has also transitioned from simple smiles to regular baby laughs. We found that she is ticklish on her neck, belly, feet, and thighs:

Part of me is excited about how much Sera has grown in the past six months, but I am already starting to feel sad that she is getting so big so quickly. I'm sure every parent wishes they had a time decelerator to savor these moments more.