With all that being said, watching her grow fills my heart in ways I never thought possible. I've said this about every stage, but 5-6 months has been my favorite. This will definitely be the age I'll dream about during my future pregnancies and tough newborn nights. She rewards me in ways I never thought possible. The fact that she 100% knows who I am and looks for ME and wants ME is the greatest feeling I've ever experienced.
So, here we go! Here's a little list that Kendal helped me brainstorm of what's new in Miss Anya's life.
WE'VE GOT A ROLLER UP IN HERE! She has wanted to roll for the longest time but hadn't quite fully made it through to the end. The day she did (August 12th), nothing would stop her! It's like she finally realized what she was capable of and she wanted to keep seeing what else she could do. She can't talk, but she sure teaches me a lot. I'm serious though, after she did it the first time her entire face wore the happiest, proudest, most pleased smile. I, of course, FREAKED! I've seen her get so close, so many times that when it finally happened I could hardly believe it! I guess she might have been smiling so big because I was smiling so big, haha. After that, that's all she did. Almost the instant she was back on her back (with my help) she'd be turning to flip onto her belly again. The funny thing is, for a while, she could only turn to her left. We would try to motivate her with toys on her right side and she'd sort of go for it but when she didn't flip within a second she'd turn to her left and roll all the way over again, as if to say "Okay I can't quite do THAT yet... BUT CHECK THIS OUT!" She's successfully made it from her belly to her back a couple times, but hasn't quite mastered that trick yet. Similarly, although she is turning to her right with much more ease than she used to, it's definitely still more difficult for her than when turning to the left. Oh, another funny thing about this is she has to sleep on her changing pad now lol. The first day she turned, she literally wouldn't stop (still won't stop, actually) and since she can't get back to her back very easily, she get's stuck. And that scares the heck out of me. Before we realized we could use the changing pad to stop her from turning, I went two practically sleepless nights because I was up flipping her all night long. And when I wasn't sleeping I was watching her making she she didn't roll because I was paranoid she was going to suffocate. Fun, right? Luckily since we put the changing pad in her pack n' play, we are all sleeping peacefully again :)
She's also learned how to sit up! Well, kind of. She weebles and wobbles and usually ends up tipping over within a few seconds. But she is so proud of her newfound independence! We started off propping her up with the Boppy and one day we tried it without and she shocked us!
Anya loves to make all kinds of noises with her mouth. Her most recent thing is constantly smacking her lips. And it's so funny because her toothless mouth gets so scrunched up and her lips turn into a perfect line across her face. She looks like a lil old granny smiling away. She cracks us up.
Along with her crazy noises, Anya has figured out how to get attention. How, you ask? By dramatically coughing. Hahah you heard me right. That's her secret weapon. If you've ever seen Zoolander, it sounds just like Derek pathetically coughing after spending one day down in the mines. "I've got the black lung pop" lol! So yeah, what happens is if we look away for literally one second she starts coughing so then we look at her to make sure she's fine and then the most sly smile stretches across her face. She's a master manipulator, that one.
We think she might be a lefty! She seems to do more with her left hand so we are wondering if that will end up being her dominate side. If so, cool, she will have a secret superpower in sports! However I will feel a little bad because this world is made for rightys... Like finding left handed scissors is no joke. Okay, I don't really know that... it's just what I've heard!
Anya definitely got Kendal's thick dark hair... but unfortunately I think I gave her my snarls (literally every hairdresser I've been to is always like "Is your hair always this tangly?..." and then I end up brushing out my own hair because I have figured out less painful ways to do it haha). She tends to wake up from naps with tiny little dreads/ birds nests and we have to spend a while brushing it out or sometimes cutting it :( Sorry chicky!
She is a little pork. I'm sure you've noticed her delicious leg rolls in pictures. She is also extremely tall for her age (me+kendal=go figure ;) ). What this combination equals is a 6 month old wearing 12 month old clothes.
Anya discovered her feet this last month, meaning that keeping socks on her is a challenge and that her mouth is full of toes most of the time. I'm not complaining though, mind you! It's just oh so cute and makes me want to gather her folded up body and nibble every piece of her!
She's been able to get a death grip on my hair for a while now, but her aim has gotten pretty precise and accurate. No jewelry is safe. I'm thanking my lucky stars I still have an ear lobe after an incident last night haha!
Anya want's whatever we're having. She longs to be a big girl so when we are having adult food, she wants in on the action too. And if you don't offer her what you're eating right away, she gets reaaaal impatient. Her focus is alllll on the food during mealtime.
My Hubbard side of the family had a reunion over the Fourth of July and we discovered something fun... Anya LOVES babies. Which is too funny because she, herself, IS a baby. By the end of this year, there will be 6 great granddaughters. Anya will be the oldest and only two of the others were able to make it. But Anya was cracking me up because every time she saw one of the younger babies she started laughing and shaking with excitement. I was able to see a glimpse into the future and I think Anya will one day be the best older sister. She is already so nurturing!
We don't take Anya anywhere without multiple people commenting how cute/ beautiful/ happy/ smiley she is. We even had a lady lean over to us in a restaurant in Glacier who said, "I don't normally go out of my way to say anything about a strangers baby... but oh my gosh, that is one cute baby! She's like a little doll!" She wasn't wrong! It's kind of cool to see people smiling at your baby everywhere you take them. Such a little human can light up everyone's day! It's like a superpower! Anya is the center of attention everywhere she goes. She know it. And she loves it.
This last thing I want to include because it depicts exactly what Anya is to Kendal and I. The other night was Kendal's birthday, so after we put Anya down we got to have some alone time. I was asking Kendal all sorts of questions to see what's changed in the past year and eventually I asked him, "What's the coolest thing thats ever happened to you?" I don't know what I was expecting, but his answer made my heart actually melt. He said Anya. I'd have to agree. She's pretty freaking great. She's everything perfect, wrapped up into the raddest little human.
Happy half year, my girl. I love you with everything I have in my heart and soul.
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