A 6 Month Update

I'm ready.

Another blip, another 30 days, and another month older for our sweet little Maia (who is become less and less little seemingly each day).  It truly does go by so fast...

During the course of the last month, Maia had her first trip to a state not named Indiana or Michigan, when we ventured to Chicago for the wedding of a college friend.  Maia, seemingly as she does everything else (I keep waiting for her to start dishing it out), was excellent on the trip, timing her car nap perfectly for when we were dealing with Chicago traffic.  That same weekend, because Jackie and I firmly believe in always supporting those oil companies (we know they're hurting), we also went to a cookout for Memorial Day at my folk's place in Lansing.  It was a beautiful day, and we got to spend the time with lots of family.  It was especially neat as we saw our nephew Gavin and niece Bree, and see them interact with Maia, and Maia watch them intently.  It was a fun, good day.

The cousins.

I have cousins!

Gavin & Bree, ingratiating themselves to Ellie.

During the last month there was also a baptism ceremony for Maia at our local church.  It was a meaningful event for Jackie and I.  Ever since we bought our home six years ago, we strived to get involved in our community in a variety of ways, to build connections, ever conscious of the fact that we did not have any immediate family right nearby.  One of the ways we did this was to join our church, and become active members.  We did this, and our church welcomed us, and became like a big extended family to us.  We've shared many of our up and down moments after the past several years with them, and they have been with us as we went down the adoption road.  For this, along with many other reasons, it was very special for us to have Maia "formally" introduced to that group, while having our family present to share the moment.  Following the baptism we had a small cookout at our place (where I didn't do a horrible job of food preparation, though could have done better), and ate on our back patio on a just a beautiful day.  Altogether, the day is one I will remember for awhile.

Playing around with Ellie.

In the meantime amidst all our comings and goings, Maia continues to grow and develop, and it's really something to observe.  At her 6 month checkup, she weighed in at 15 pounds 13 ounces, meaning that she has more than tripled the 5 pounds 2 ounces she was the day after she was born.  She has progressed very well on the eating front, transitioning to taking less

"Where do I look?"

formula just from the bottle (32 ounces a day down to 24 ounces), and taking some basic cereal mix now twice a day.

Her eating cereal is a real exposition of how far she's come in such a short time.  When we first started, she constantly pushed the cereal out, and frequently expressed her displeasure.  Then, she started to like it, but still made a constant mess because she just didn't quite get the spoon in the mouth yet.  Now, and its the only way I can think to adequately describe it, she opens her mouth wide just like a baby bird awaiting the spoon, and rarely makes a mess with the cereal.  

She also keeps acting like she will pop a tooth any day, and she is constantly gumming her toys (particularly her favorite of late, Sophie the Giraffe); not to mention the rivers of drool that are produced.  But she still generally takes it all in stride, and even when she is in discomfort, she rarely remains inconsolable for a long period of time.

Fingers in the mouth, a constant fixture this past month.

She's a good baby, and Jackie and I are so lucky to have her.

Tuckered out from all that playing.