MAJOR milestone and some other milestones too

Over the last couple of months we've hit a few milestones that I figured I should update you on.

The biggest one is actually a Mommy and Daddy milestone. We have had a hard time letting go of swaddling Caroline every time she sleeps in her crib. At her four month check up her doctor recommended that we discontinue the swaddle. That night we tried. We really did. It took extra effort to get Caroline to sleep that night, but once she fell asleep she stayed asleep until about 5 a.m. When I went into check on her and put her pacifier back in her mouth, she just couldn't get settled down. So I caved. I wrapped her up again. And that was the end of not swaddling. We decided that she really needed it. Any time one or both of her arms broke out of the swaddle all it would take is for us to reswaddle her and she would immediately go back to sleep. So I admit that Jeremy and I were using her swaddle as a crutch. It was much easier to wrap her back up so that we could get a little bit extra sleep.

Fast forward to her six month appointment. We mentioned to her doctor that we were still using the swaddle and he said it was a matter of safety now that she is rolling over so much. So we had to bite the bullet. Luckily the day of her appointment was the start of the New Year weekend and Jeremy had four days off so he could help me. Caroline adapted this time remarkably well. She had trouble the first couple of nights settling down and I figured it was because she just didn't know what to do with her arms. They were flapping all over the place. I gave her a lovey for each hand so that she had something to focus on. That did the trick. We're still using the loveys, we just go in her room after she's fallen asleep and take them away. She's sleeping like a champ again!

Other milestones:

Rolling over. She's been rolling for a long time now. But since her 6 month appointment, I can't keep her contained! It's like there was some switch that flipped on December 30 and she just really grew up. She will roll all over the living room in a matter of seconds. We have already baby-proofed, but I think we need to do it again. She is into everything and can't keep her hands off of things. She grabs at everything!

Solid foods. We're having fun with this, but I'll save that for another post

Sitting up unassisted. Again, she's been doing this for awhile, but has really mastered it recently.

Talking - As I mentioned a few months ago, she's been saying "Mama." Well, before Christmas she started whispering "Papa," which is exactly what Jeremy has wanted her to call him (instead of Daddy.) She now says Mama and Papa all day long. She spent of lot of time with Papa today while I was out and after I had been gone for a few hours, Jeremy said she really started saying Mama like she was missing me. I missed her too! That will teach me to be away from her for too long!

I also think she has started to recognize her friends at our Park Days. There are a few girls about her age that are there most of the times that we go and I think she knows them now.