Happy 6 Months, little monkey!

Elayna is 6 months old today!  She is an amazing baby and every day is a fun adventure with her.  I love to think about how much she has changed in just this last month. 

• Elayna now eats cereal, peas, carrots, apples, and pears.  Tomorrow we start sweet potatoes!
• Elayna can sit all by herself (although a little wobbly).  I love to sit with her between my legs on the floor while she plays, reaches, and learns to balance. 
• Elayna scoots backwards.  On her tummy, she'll push herself up and back with her arms.  While this used to be a slow process, she's getting really quick now.
• Elayna pivots.  Again on her tummy, she swivels her body to the left or right -- so nothing's out of reach now.
• Elayna turns over -- both sides.  She's started sleeping on her belly or her side instead of her back.
• Elayna sleeps in her room at night.  This is still in the experimental stages due to her continued cold ... but she's had no problem transitioning there.
• Elayna has forgotten how to sleep through the night.  Ok, this is not a fun milestone ... more on this below.
• Elayna has discovered her pets!  While she's always regarded Parker and Clancy with some curiosity, she LOVES them now.  When Clancy fetches, she waves her arms and LAUGHS!
• Elayna gives hugs and leans towards us when she wants to be held.  It melts our hearts!  (as a side-funny-story, she did this to one of her daycare teachers when Aaron came to pick her up one day.  He was less than thrilled.)
• Elayna splashes!!  This is new since she's learned how to sit up in her tub.

It has been an exceptionally busy month.  People we meet can't believe that she's only 6 months old -- she's so strong, active, and attentive.  Happy birthday, sweet angel!!  We love you.

However, with all her sugar, Elayna also comes with some spice.  For almost the entire month, Elayna has been battling a cold.  This started as congestion and has worked into a cough.  Almost every night, she'll be sleeping peacefully, then wake up coughing for 30-60 minutes.  Once this has worked its way clear, she'll fall back to sleep for a few hours.

I have tried to be a good-nurturing mom through this but last night reached a breaking point.  It is so hard to go several weeks without a full-night's sleep and nothing seems to help her -- not Benadryl, not the humidifier, not saline, not our undying love.  Thankfully, I have the best husband ever!  Aaron has volunteered to sleep with her tonight so I can get a full night's sleep.  We'll see how tonight goes ... but every night we hope she'll finally be getting through this.