That's My Baby

I absolutely cannot get over how much I love this little girl. Our precious Dayton just personifies happiness and brings so much light to our little family.

And she is already (gasp!) SIX months old! How could that be??


At times I worry that I don't pay enough undivided attention to this sweet thing because she isn't demanding at all. In general, Dayton just wants to be in on the action. If we make sure she is near all of us as we go about our day cleaning, playing, eating, then she's a pretty happy camper.


In fact, she has the remarkable ability to wake up from her evening catnap just as we sit down to dinner every.single.night. It doesn't matter if she's been sleeping for an hour or 10 minutes, she senses we're about to converge around the table and alerts us to the fact that she will not stand to be left out. So she joins us each night...our pretty little centerpiece.


Other people constantly comment about what a happy baby she is. And it is so true! She is full of big gummy, drooly smiles for everyone she meets. We couldn't have picked a better middle name for our sweet Dayton Joy.


Baby girl loves and I mean LOVES her big brother. (Too bad it is proving impossible to capture a halfway decent picture of the two of them together.) He covers her with kisses as soon as they are reunited in the morning and after naps or being separated in their classes at church and she just eats it up. She watches him like a hawk and gets a pretty big kick out of all his toddler antics. For his part Bennett is (usually) a generous brother and often offers to share his cars and balls. At times he gets frustrated when she touches "his" things and recently I've heard such complaints as "No! Baby touching MY cup/toy/book!" That will pass though, right? (kidding!)




Dayton is still sleeping like a champ. I'm afraid I wouldn't know what her schedule is if she has one because poor thing is subject to being hauled around with us whenever we are itching to go. She gave up sleeping in her carrier at about one month old (unless we are in the car moving at freeway speeds) but she's a pretty good sport and grabs naps when and where she can.



She sucks her thumb when sleepy and it is SO STINKING CUTE. Take my word for it. Cuteness supreme. All she needs to sleep is her thumb and something soft, preferably her lovey, to hold against her face. If Lovey is not available she'll reach around until she can find something, anything, to snuggle with...the hem of her dress, a blanket or even a pair of Bennett's shorts I have left laying nearby.



A few weeks ago we finally moved Dayton out of our room and into the nursery upstairs. She been sleeping through the night for ages so I didn't really NEED her right next to me all night. On the same token she wasn't disturbing us either so we were in no rush to change our sleeping arrangements. And upstairs just seems so very far away. But at almost six months she was really way to big for her darling little infant cradle so away to the nursery she went.

At her six month doctor visit Dayton rang in at 17 lbs 10 oz which I believe is 80%. I'm ashamed to say that I've already lost the paper with the rest of her stats so I can't recall the specifics except her length and head circumference (which I know you have all been dying to know about) were also between the 80th and 90th percentiles. She's a good sized girl and we adore her three chins and squeezable rolls.



I've not been good about writing down every smile, toot and kick but she's doing just fine meeting developmental milestones. She is rolling from both her back and her belly, giggling, babbling, reaching and grabbing for EVERYTHING (her wingspan is greater than one would expect, I'm amazed at what she can knock over from that Bumbo of hers), and is so very close to sitting up independently. No teeth yet but she sure does drool like a champ. Bennett calls it "dripping" as in, "uh-oh, baby dripping again!" And she's making her first attempts towards crawling...raising herself up high on her arms and pushing against the floor with her feet. I think (hope!) I still have a few months left to trust her to stay where I leave her.

I believe I'm beginning to ramble and it has required multiple stops at the computer over four days to piece together this overdue half-birthday post so please forgive me for not being terribly cohesive or entertaining. There is just so much I want to remember! I'll wrap it up with a few more recent pictures. Because I just can't get enough of this girl.