Gone with the Winds: Half a Year! (Already?)

It seems truly hard to believe that Christin is celebrating her six month birthday today! Time passes so quickly! I thought I would mark the day with a few pictures and words about Christin at this stage in her life. We already marked the day this morning by giving her a shot--another round of immunizations! She didn't cry a bit, brave girl! (The immunization was bought when John was out of the country recently, kept refrigerated and given to her this morning by my house helper, Lou, who used to be a nurse. I prepped the site and she did the injection. That's what you call taking personal responsibility for your children's health!)

Some unique things about Christin:

She loves to "mmm" and "hummm" over her food, low in her throat. Lately her feedings (even nursing) have been pretty noisy!
Her nose is almost perpetually red for apparently no reason. We've been calling her Xiao Hong Bi (Little Red Nose)!
When she gets excited over her toys, she flaps her arms up and down while gumming on her lower lip.
Clara Anne can get her to laugh faster than anyone, usually at the time when I'm saying, "Gently, gently, Clara Anne!" Christin just laughs it off!
So far she really enjoys rice cereal, pureed pumpkin, carrot, apple, and pear. Corn and beans were also tried and eaten fairly willingly. The latest addition to her diet is yogurt; she likes it but a tablespoon or two usually satisfies her.
Christin will play well by herself, especially in the corner of the couch, sitting in the booster chair on the kitchen counter watching me at work, or playing on the bed in the girls' room. The bright quilt there seems to captivate her.
She's at the age where everything she manages to grasp goes directly into her mouth! Lots of drool everywhere!
Her laugh sounds more like a chortle, deep in her throat; it's funny!
She seems tall for her age; I only know that because most of her 6-9 month pants are too short!
Christin is still my good sleeper girl. I'm thankful for her willingness to sleep long hours at a time!
Unfortunately she has had several illnesses in her young life. Nothing serious, but I will be happy when she's 100% well and I'm not wiping her nose all the time anymore!
Lately Christin often tries to "kiss" me when I'm holding her by looking at my face and then putting her open mouth on my cheek or chin. Either that or she's really not getting enough to eat!
She responds to her name really well. If I call to her from across the room, she'll search around until she finds me and then she'll smile and flap her arms with excitement.
Christin isn't babbling any syllables yet, just doing a lot of humming, squealing, and other vocalizations.
She loves to stand on my lap and jump/bounce up and down--good exercise for those little legs!

Christin is a sweet blessing to our family and we are so thankful for her. She still fits in my arms like a precious little bundle and I love the baby smell of her. She's in that golden stage of babyhood where she sleeps a lot, eats a lot but less frequently, smiles a lot, but isn't mobile yet!