Elliott Rose is 6 Months Old

Our little peanut is no longer the smallest of the bunch. She is the longest and weighs the 2^nd most of the ladies. She is still our little emergency. She can go from zero to 60 in a few seconds. However, she is also our best self-soother. She is our little siren who is able to win over everyone she meets. Ellie is our first to start teething and thus her favorite toy is now her fingers. This little girl also loves her tummy time! She is one of our quieter quints, but if she observes any inefficiencies in her care she is sure to let you know it. This one definitely has a C-suite in her future!

Nicknames: Ellie, ER, Eliie Belly

Birth Length: 16.9 in

Current Length: 23.1 in

Birth Weight: 2.41 lb

Current Weight: 13 lb

Favorite toy: Her fingers

Favorite Past-time: Hanging out with her older brother

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Kali Mae is 6 Months Old

This sweet heart has a smile that could melt anyone’s heart. She is known for her little half-smile, smirk and high-pitched screech. Kāli-Mae is also the most expressive of the V-5. Her face cannot lie. We know when she is everything from scared, upset, happy, and even ready to cause trouble. She also is consistently wearing a bib, but simply because she has more drool than a girl can handle. She loves to eat and can down a bottle quicker than her brother. We joke that competitive eating may be in this little one’s future- watch out Joey Chestnut! She also is quite the talker and although we haven’t heard any true words, yet, her babble is getting close.

Nicknames: K-Mae, Monkey

Birth Length: 13 in
Current Length: 22.8 in

Birth Weight: 2.29 lb
Current Weight: 13.3 lb

Favorite toy: Colorful ball and Ziggy the Zebra (Mobile toys)
Favorite Past-time: Chilling in her jungle boppy with a firm grasp on her ball

Lillian Grace is 6 Months Old

This little love bug already has a heart made of gold. She is the most sensitive of the quints, and quite empathetic. She loves to smile and hold hands with her siblings in distress. She also is very sensitive to sounds and the smallest sneeze can send her jumping. She has crystal blue eyes and a genuine smile. She’s usually sporting a bib because drinking milk (and keeping it down) is not one of her fortes. But, when it comes to chowing solid foods- she’s the best!  Ms. Lillian is now growing with the rest of her siblings and appears to have left the threats of developmental delays in the past.

Nicknames: Lil, Lily Bug

Birth Length: 14.6 in

Current Length: 22.6 in

Birth Weight: 2.69 lb

Current Weight: 11.6 lb

Favorite toy: Stuffed Eeyore

Favorite Past-time: Hanging out with Mommy and Daddy in the kitchen swing

Isabella Marie is 6 Months Old

This pretty princess is still our Sleeping Beauty, or Bella addormentata in Italian who is known to catch some zzz’s mid-feeding, or while snuggled up on Daddy’s shoulder. She’s also a bit of a drama queen who tends to exaggerate most activities, and has come to love blowing raspberries. She also is our most active quint and loves to run with flash-like speed. With such a love for action, she grows bored quite easily and often let’s out her characteristic Bella sigh when she has had enough. She is going to be a beautiful older sister full of energy and attitude.

Nicknames: Bella, Bella Bean, Bells, Sarge

Birth Length: 15.7 in

Current Length: 23 in

Birth Weight: 2.49 lb

Current Weight: 12.4 lb

Favorite toy: Musical Sea horse, it’s her Kryptonite

Favorite past time: Running and knocking birds in the Forest Play Mat, fondly known as “Sherwood Forest”

Theodore Joseph is 6 Months Old

Mr. Theo is 110% boy! This little man is certainly the rough and tumble type equipped with all the loud and smelly bodily functions. His features strongly resemble Frank, including those beautiful blue eyes. He also is growing to be quite strong and can now hold up that 97^th percentile noggin with ease. He loves to swing his arms, pound his feet and beat his chest, which can make him quite a threat if left too close to his sisters. But, he also is as sweet as pie and loves to smile, snuggle and hold hands with all of his sisters.  He’s already an amazing older brother!

 

Nicknames: Theo, Thor “god of thunder,” Nana’s Lil Buddy

Birth Length: 14.5 in

Current Length: 24.8 in

Birth Weight: 2.87 lb

Current Weight: 16.1 lb

Favorite toy: Abigail, the rattling bird who resides in Sherwood Forest and Ziggy the Zebra

Favorite past time: Making noise! Whether it be by knocking a rattle, pounding his fists or making sounds with his sweet mouth

Halfway to a Year

They’re a handful! (Left to Right: Bella, Ellie, Lily, Theo, Kali)

The Vanderwall Five are halfway to a year!

This past Monday the V5 turned 6 months old. It truly was a celebration to see how far these munchkins have come. Each month we review their milestones and continues to see these children hit their mark, despite their gestational age of 3 months. According to the CDC, a 6 month old child can:

Social/Emotional 

• Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger (Definitely true for Kali! She sounds the Stranger Danger alarm at first site)
• Likes to play with others, especially parents (All of them love to play; they are social butterflies)
• Responds to other people’s emotions and often seems happy (These monkeys see and do)
  
• Likes to look at self in a mirror (Their look of amazement is priceless)

Language/Communication 

• Responds to sounds by making sounds (They are all progressing here, but Bella and Kali take the lead)
• Strings vowels together when babbling (“ah,” “eh,” “oh”) and likes taking turns with parent while making sounds (We have some chatterboxes on our hands)
• Responds to own name (We are still working on this one, but I believe Kali & Lily know their names. I also think Bella knows her name and chooses whether or not she wants to respond…little stinker)
• Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure (Definitely!)
• Begins to say consonant sounds (jabbering with “m,” “b”) (Another popular consonant is “g”)

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving) 

• Looks around at things nearby (They are curious little ones)
• Brings things to mouth (Especially their fingers and rubber ball)
• Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach (They love to reach and swat at their mobile birds)
• Begins to pass things from one hand to the other (They are paci passing pros!)

Movement/Physical Development 

• Rolls over in both directions (front to back, back to front) (More work to be done here, but all are getting close)
• Begins to sit without support (The bumbo seats have done wonders for their cores)
• When standing, supports weight on legs and might bounce (Theo and Lily are great at holding their weight)
• Rocks back and forth, sometimes crawling backward before moving forward (Everyone is scooting and spinning. Watch out Manny (the cat) crawling is definitely in sight)

It’s been awhile since we checked in with each quint individually, so we thought we would launch a series beginning with Mr. Theo!