Federica at 6 months

Around 5 months, Federica started being able to sit up for several seconds, and by six months, she was pretty good at staying upright.  She also likes sitting in the Bumbo chair, which we usually use on the table while we are eating, creating a nice centerpiece.  She sort of liked her jumperoo when we first put her in at 4 months, but after 6 months she really started liking it.  

We gave her her first solid food around 6 months, and she didn’t like it much at first.  Once she figured out that it was actually good stuff, she started to really like eating.  We started with sweet potatoes, in the US.  Then we did rice cereal after we got back to Italy, and then introduced pumpkin, bananas, carrots, apples, and pears.  I also made her some vegetable broth (carrots, celery, and a little spinach) to mix with the rice cereal.  Now, she gets upset if she sees us eating and we don’t feed her.  And, if she is really hungry, she screams when her little bowl runs out, and we have to hurry to thaw out another cube.

Federica is still not the best sleeper.  She usually gets up every 3 hours like clockwork, but once or twice a week she go five or six hours for us.  I hate the thought of sleep-training, but I do want her (and me) to sleep better.  I’ll give it a little more time and see.  I will give her props for being good at going to sleep, both when we first put her down, and each time she eats.

 

After we got settled and adjusted after coming back to Italy after Christmas, she started sometimes going 5-6 hours, and only getting up once or twice per night.

Now that she is sitting up, lauging, and interacting more, Ben has started doing more with her, reading, playing next to her, and goofing off to make her laugh.  And he still loves giving her hugs and kisses.

St. Louis Visit for Christmas

We arrived in St. Louis a week before Christmas.  First, we had to finish our Christmas shopping, then Ben and I were both having surgery. Ben had a checkup the day after we got there, then surgery the day after that, Thursday and Friday.  Mine was the following Monday, then Christmas was Wednesday.

 

Ben had to go back on Monday, so Tim went with him, and my mom came with me for my surgery. Ben's appointment was quick, so Tim was with me by the time I woke up. He was disappointed that I didn't do or say anything goofy when I woke up. Tim's parents were up to watch Federica while all of this was going on, and they took Ben home with them for two days so I could recover.  I had a post-partum umbilical hernia repaired, so I wouldn't be able to lift him for over a month, and I couldn't even lift Fede for two weeks.  Ben just had a cyst removed, so he recovered pretty quickly.  It was my first time being away from Ben for more than a day.  He did really well.  He was so sweet and gentle when he came back, saying he missed me, and they had warned him that I had a owie.

The rest of the trip was more relaxing than normal, because I couldn't do much.  Nonna doing one of her favorite things, reading to Ben. Twas the Night before Christmas.

 Being silly with Fede's Santa hat.

 We had the first part of Christmas Day with Tim's mom's family in Fenton. Aunt Judi and Uncle John.

 Reading the Freight Train book from Uncle Barry.

 We were back at my parents' house later in the afternoon to spend time with them, and Brandon and Missy.  This giant fire truck was a hit, from my parents.

 Christmas mess. Love it. And me in yoga pants (still recovering).

 Reading the St. Louis book from Brandon and Missy.

 Brandon and Missy asked Ben to be their ring bearer, aka bling security.

 Being silly again, Nonna's fish slippers, and Ben's fish face.

Another much enjoyed Christmas present from my parents.

Aholt Family Christmas.  Playing with cousins.

We spent some time in Cape and had another round of Christmas so we could celebrate with Danny and Britton.  Ben really understood the whole present concept this year and wanted to help everyone else.

 

Tim' parents got Ben a toy tool set with a drill/screwdriver.  This was probably his favorite present.  He insisted on sleeping with the drill the night after he got it.

Ben also had fun in this car made of "pipe works" that Tim and Danny had when they were kids.

This year we only got a little snow in Cape (St. Louis actually got quite a bit), but Ben still wanted to play in it.

While we were in Cape, we had Federica baptized at St. Mary's church (the same church Tim and Danny were baptized in).  Uncle Danny and Aunt Britton are her godparents.

Federica wore the same gown that great grandma Robert had worn over 100 years ago (Danny and Ben also wore it).

Uncle John and Uncle Barry made the trip to Cape for the big event.

It also gave us a good chance to take some nice family photos.

We spent some time with our friends Nathan and Steph and their son Liam.  Liam and Ben are pretty good buddies even though they only see each other a few times every year.  Liam got Ben a "flippy hat" for Christmas and they both loved that.

Steph was expected to have her baby while we were still in the USA, but I guess the baby wanted to wait a little bit.  We were disappointed that we missed the birth but can't wait to meet baby Lyla next time we are in the States.

Liam got some big brother practice with Federica

At Laura and Jeff's, making a gingerbread man with Ceci.

 We were trying to get the kids to go to sleep so we could hang out.  Ha.

And then it was back to Italy.  

Federica at 4 months

Federica is four months now, and I feel like that is starting to sound like a long time.  Luckily she is growing in slow motion.  At her doctor appointment around 3.5 months, she was exactly the same size Ben was when he was 3.5 weeks.  She was 11.5 lbs and 23 inches, which were both around the 12^th percentile. (For comparison, Ben was 12.5 lbs at his one month check, which was 98^th %.)  She can still fit all of her 3 month clothes, but I have just switched to the 6 month clothes because frankly I am ready for new clothes, and it was easier to leave the entire 3 month wardrobe in St. Louis.  They both wore the same 6 month sized Halloween sleeper, and it was so big on her, whereas Ben only wore it for a picture as it was too small to actually wear.

Ben on the left and Federica on the right.

 

   

  

 

We started transitioning her to the crib instead of the rock-and-play sleeper after we came back to Italy.  It was about a week before she made it the whole night in her crib in the other room, because it is easier for me to put her in the pack-and-play next to me and rock it, so I can get back in bed sooner.  She is still getting up two or sometimes three times a night, but now I am trying to feed her less frequently during the night, and sometimes sending Tim in instead.

She has been doing great with our friend Valentina for three days a week since I have gone back to work, though it still breaks my heart to leave her.  The first day or two, she wasn’t interested in her bottles, but she figured all that out by the third day.  Tim even took one of my days and stayed with both kids all day by himself, and he says he would do it again.

Fede has been holding her head up straight and doing little push-ups during tummy time.  She can squirm upwards and sideways in her crib whether she is on her tummy or her back, and she can flip onto her back if she gets mad on her tummy.  She likes sitting up and looking around, and she can sit very well in the bumbo, and somewhat sit in the boppy.  She smiles often at people she knows, and laughs every now and then when we tickle her, and sometimes laughs at Ben.  She still loves to watch him, and he still loves to tell her things and give her hugs and kisses.  She has one or more fingers in her mouth nearly all the time, and has been drooling some.

Loves sitting in the Bumbo

Intently playing in the Jumperoo

Still wearing Newborn shoes.

Ben telling her all about the ocean.

Ben’s latest cute thing is pretending that my egg slicer is a guitar.  They must have one that he plays with at daycare.  And it’s really not a stretch, because when he plucks the strings of the egg slicer, it does make noise.  Sometimes he sings “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, and sometimes he sings a “bing ba bing” song that he makes up.  He has sung for Federica a couple times, and this morning, before she was even up (she was awake in her crib), he got out the egg slicer, said “Ica”, and went to her door, opened it, walked right up to her crib, and started playing for her.