I can't believe it! My little girl is now six months old!

She has so much personality and just fills the room with joy. She has been sitting up for about a month now and has become very independant. She won't tolerate laying down, back or tummy, as she just can't see enough. She has to reach and get the toy, we can't pass it too her. We bought her an activity table that she can sit, bounce  and turn around in. She loves it and has the biggest grin on her face when we put her in it. She has this cheeky little grin and when we see it we know she has some mischief planned. She chats to everyone for ages and is no longer afraid of her Nanna and Pa.

She is now 7.89kg and 68 cm long. She is wearing 00 clothes but some of the all-in-one suits and getting a little snug in length however they are too big everywhere else.

I can't wait to see her grow and develop and for her personality to emerge even more.

I've just dropped off Lorelei for her first day at daycare. She was fine but I'm a mess. It was so hard leaving her there even though the people are wonderful and very caring.  It took me an hour and a half to finally leave even though she was fine and having a good time playing. She normal gets upset when she goes to other people but she was fine today. I am worried about her feeding though. Despite our best efforts she is yet to take any breastmilk or formula from a bottle or cup. We started her on solids last week so she will at least have something to eat.

I'm so glad we decided to start her a few days early otherwise I'd be a blubbering mess first day back! I have three days to kill before I start back at work. What do I do without my little girl here? There have been days when I wished she was at daycare but now I just don't know what to do with myself. I'm going out to lunch today with a friend but then what? I'm sure I'll end up spending too much money in the next three days just trying to entertain myself.

We had our baby girl baptised yesterday. She was absolutely wonderful during the whole thing despite being very tired. We ended up being the only  family which was really nice as we had thought we were sharing it with two other families.

Afterwards everyone came back to our house for lunch. I had cut everything up the night before to avoid any repeats of Christmas (my sister had asked if I needed help and then critisised my equipment three times in 5 minutes before I told her that if she didn't like it she could leave) and to make sure i had more time to spend with our guests. I think everyone had a great time and Lorelei got heaps of lovely presents which will require us putting up a new shelf to display.

The only disappointing part of the day was that either my niece or nephew destroyed one of Lorelei's pop-up books that I had bought her for Christmas. I get really annoyed that my brother and sister don't supervise their own kids when they come to visit.  My nephew was even carrying two glasses past my brother on concrete and it was only when we all yelled out to him that he took them off him. He would have had to have taken them off the table that he was sitting at in the first place!  My niece went into Lorelei's room and took one of the toys that I had specifically put away out of the cupboard and bought it out to play with. I mean is it too much to ask for parents to supervise their own kids?  Perhaps if they weren't always out the back having a cigarette they might know what their kids are doing inside.

However, I am not going to let my family ruin what was a very special day for my daughter. She was fabulous and we had a nice day surrounded by family and friends.

Our baby girl started gigling three days ago! Not the 'starting to make noises giggle' but a full on giggle. A child's laugh is my absolute favourite noise in the world so to hear her fills me with so much joy. Her smile is so cute that it is going to get her out of trouble and I'm sure that if she then giggles she'll be able to get away with anything.

Two days ago my clever little girl rolled from her tummy onto her back. My husband was with her at the time and was so excited that he got to see her do something first. He put her on her tummy again so that I could see her do it. We both cheered when she did it and told her how clever she was but I think we scared her as she burst into tears.  My little girl is growing up!

We had a wonderful day yesterday, our first christmas with our beautiful Lorelei. After spending the morning at home with her we went to my in-laws for dinner with his family where she was spoilt. My family are all coming over today so she will get even more things! I know that she has no idea what is going on, and it was all just a bit too much for her yesterday and will probably be so today, but I can't help but smile and treasure this time with her.

Last christmas I didn't think that we would have a child yet. Although I had started to prepare my body for having a child we had put those plans on hold and were travelling to Europe this year, not knowing that we were already pregnant. I look at her daily and need to pinch myself - she is just so precious that she can't possibly be mine.

I just need to vent here so please be patient.

I am soooooooooooo sick of people looking sad or dissappointed and saying 'poor thing' when I say that my daughter is going into daycare. It is not a bad thing.  I have really enjoyed being at home with her for the last three months and will enjoy the next five weeks that I have with her but I have always known that I was not going to be a stay-at-home mum and am really missing the social interaction that I have at work. Apart from the money (which we need to put a roof over her head and food on the table) I need to be challenged and really do enjoy my job. I am totally happy with my choice of daycare and know that they will care for her and look after her as good as I could. I am a teacher so she will be in care from 8-4 ish each day and she will be with me for all of the school holidays so it's not like I will never see her. So please stop looking sorry for her about going to daycare, I'm not.