Raya Catherine Hemmah : 6 months old

So crazy to think that a half of a year has gone by since Raya was born and also that I have not slept longer than 4 hours at a time for half of a year! Whoa, when I say it like that - makes me realize how sleep deprived I really am.

Raya is doing great. She brings us so many smiles and laughs every day. All she needs to do is flash us her amazing smile and all our troubles are gone. She's starting to get the hang of sitting. She will sit by herself for a few minutes but she still is pretty wobbly and can tip right over. She's also starting to talk a lot more and will use her voice to get our attention or to let us know she did NOT want us to leave the room that Charlie was in because she was having a great time watching and laughing at him.

We added sweet potato's to her menu this week and she's still not a fan of eating food. She just makes a disgusted face and spits it out. Sometimes she'll hide it in her cheeks and spit it out much later and trick us into thinking she's eating great. She's a bit like a squirrel. Peas are up next - hoping for a bit more luck with those. At her 6 month appointment her doctor told me I need to be pushing the food more than I am. Maybe that will help fill her up so she's not up every 3 hours at night too!

The doctor also said that he doesn't think the white thing growing out of her gums is a tooth. hmmm... he said he thinks it's an epstein pearl. Whatever that is? All I know is that if it's not a tooth I'm confused and wonder why she was in pain for those few days then. He said he sees no sign of teeth any time soon.

Raya weighs 16 lbs 3 ounces which means she has doubled her birth weight! She is in the 50th percentile for both weight and head circumference and 40th for height. Her doctor said she is doing great. He said he was also impressed with me in that I have been able to keep up with pumping as long as I have. He said most give up because it is just so much work. It felt nice to be acknowledged by someone (even if it was a doctor) for all the blood, sweat and tears that go into pumping every day.