Halfsies

So Miss Amelia Lee is officially six months old. I can barely believe it. She's a wild little lady, that's for sure.

She is--by far-- the most active baby I've ever met. She literally never stops moving and even tosses and turns (and practices crawling!) in her sleep. She's in constant motion. She loves to stand and bounce and turn around and around. She's sitting up like a champ and has started lunging forward onto her knees and then pulls herself to where she wants to go/what she wants to get. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen when she can officially crawl. She grabs at anything and everything within reach and most likely puts it into her mouth. I imagine her inner monologue goes something like this, "Oooooh! What's that?! Give it to me! Oooh shiny! Put it in my mouth! Hmm, something over there moved--give it! Oh! Oh! What's that over there?! I can do it MYSELF! What's that noise? Is that mine? Yes it is!" You get the gist.


She's a smiler--but only on her terms (but thankfully she likes to smile almost as much as we like to see it). She is definitely starting to recognize people (other than mama and daddy) which is super fun. She loves to be outside and has from the very beginning--it's a foolproof way to calm her. She likes to have her head stroked and her back rubbed when she's tired. When I'm nursing her she insists on holding onto one of my fingers in each hand (which limits my iPhone usage). When she stares up at me and smiles (with my nipple between her gums and teeth--ouch) my heart practically bursts. Speaking of teeth, she's got two. And they are big! I think the top ones have started their descent as she seems to be bothered by them on occasion. Oh, and she's bitten me more than once and it is NOT cool. It seems to have happened when her teeth are bothering her, so I can only hope that she learns not to bite before her top teeth actually come in. (OH I HOPE.)


To celebrate the beginning of her 6th month of life, we fed her avocado. I would say she tolerated it, at best. Since then she's also tried banana. It's a work in progress. She also started using a sippy cup which makes her seem like such a big girl! She mostly just chews on it though. She loves to drink out of my water glass, but I'm trying to resist the temptation to let her do that or I'll never have my own drink again. Actually, her absolute most favorite toy is my water bottle. So, yeah. So much for that.


Sleeping continues to be our biggest struggle. Mostly because I often have a difficult time getting back to sleep once she's awoken me, so basically it's something I need to work on. For the last couple of months she typically wakes up 1-3 times a night. Those 3'ers are BRUTAL but luckily they are few and far between. She burrows into my neck when she's tired and clutches onto my shirt like a little monkey. Naps are also all over the place. She usually takes three naps (~9am, ~12pm, and ~4pm) but how long they will last are anybody's guess. However, if I make plans that you can pretty much guarantee that she will be out for 2+hours. I wish I could somehow trick her into doing this on "regular" days. She likes to keep me on my toes, that little one. She's been taking a bottle like a pro for months now, which I appreciate greatly since it gives me some needed freedom. Mostly she goes to sleep without much of a fuss. I have found that she'll eat the most when she's tired, so I feed her right before bed. Sometimes she'll fall asleep in my arms and sometimes she falls asleep on her own in the crib after rolling around and complaining a bit.


She's growing more and more interested in toys and her favorites are Sophie, wooden blocks, jingle ball, her wooden rings, and Clementine. She also loves her bunnies who sleep in her crib with her. She wakes up and plays with them for 30-45 minutes until she lets me know she wants me to come and get her. She usually plays in her crib after each nap as well, so I know she likes her alone time (don't we all). My favorite thing is to go get her from naps (when it's been a sufficient amount of time, that is). She is SO thrilled to see me and kicks her legs and flails her arms about with a huge grin on her face. Sometimes I just want to squeeze her pants off.


She LOVES to roughhouse and giggles up a storm when we toss her around and hang her upside down or let her ride on our shoulders. Her daddy can make her laugh like no other (sometimes to the point of spitting up) . I keep trying to catch it on video but she's camera-shy.

She's a curious little creature and really wants to know everything about this big world of ours. I can leave her to play on the floor by herself for a while in her room but sometimes she calls out for me to come and play too. She mostly likes to chew on books, but sometimes she'll let me read the whole way through. She loves to look at herself in the mirror--oh so vain.

She's the most incredible person I've ever known and I'm so happy she's ours.

tiny piles

I took some pictures after folding Miss Millie's laundry yesterday. I actually LIKE folding her laundry. And putting it into little piles. And marveling at the fact that her little body fits into those little clothes. I'm in love with my baby. There. I said it. KTHXBAI.

FIVER

Bunny McGee turned 5 months old today. Five whole months. She celebrated by taking two long naps and letting me get some work done. She's a real doll, that Amelia Lee. For some reason when I talk to/about her I must use two names. It's just the way it is and has to be. Deal with it Millie Bean!

I think this past month has been my most favorite thus far. She's SO fun! She's a mover and a shaker but she also seems to be able to just sit back and chill sometimes, which is pretty much our lifestyle so that's nice. She's silly and serious and curious and observant and oh so much more. While she seems overly interested in what we put in our mouths (grabby mcgrabberson), we're holding off to start solids until the six month mark (although I have to admit, I'm getting anxious to begin--I'm excited!).


She's a squirmy wormy and much prefers standing to sitting. She's barrel-rolling and prefers to lie under the coffee table and gnaw on its legs. She chirps and sings and screeches and squawks and squeaks and it's honestly music to my ears. She's a starer too, which I'll eventually have to inform her isn't too polite. But for now, she's learning. She's taking it all in. She's smart. She knows what she wants and she tells us. But she's shy. And she's coy. And she's the cutest thing I've ever seen.


She's sleeping SO much better and it makes my life so much easier. She still wakes up once a night, usually around 4am and then goes back down for another 2-3 hours. I can deal with that. I mean, don't get me wrong, it will be a delight when she starts the 7-7 stretches, but for now I'm content and pleased with her sleep routine and just want what is best for her. If she wants to eat, I want to feed her. She usually takes 3 naps a day (one morning, one early afternoon, and a short blip nappy to make it to bedtime) that range from 45min-2hours. So that's that for now.

We got a surprise a couple weeks ago when a small white line popped through her bottom gum line--a TOOTH! And let me tell you, her favorite teething toys (our fingers) are no longer a good option--that thing is sharp! She seems to be managing the pain fairly well, but I've been using some homeopathic remedies when she seems particularly bothered and fussy and they seem to be effective and help soothe those gums.


Oh! Another big change...we had to drop the swaddle cold turkey one day because she was rolling around her crib like a maniac. It did affect her sleep for a couple of nights but now we're back. I was pretty worried about the whole thing...for no reason apparently (shocker). Now it's the cutest thing to watch her sleep with her arms outstretched. Speaking of watching her sleep, we basically stalk her via video monitor. I mean, I'm obsessed with that thing. It's so fun to see her wiggle and flip and turn and settle herself back to sleep. I also realized how often she'll wake up and play around in her crib without making a sound when I previously assumed she was sleeping. It's so nice that she likes it in there so I can just let her play and entertain herself for a while until she lets me know she wants out. Getting her up from a nap or in the morning is probably one of my favorite times. She gets SO excited and grins the biggest grin and kicks her feet and her whole body bounces. I pretty much feel that same way.

She's growing up right before our eyes and we couldn't be more proud. She's our lovey love and our munch (munchkin) and our baby girl babe and we love her so. Happy fiver monkey buns!

Four Months

Amelia turned 4 months last week on the 3rd of July, which happened to be the exact date that we found out about our little bean, one year ago. What a year it's been.

Some of her favorite things these days include:
- standing
- sitting in her bumbo
- sucking/gnawing on her hands, your hands, your shoulder, her toes, etc.
- going for walks in the bjorn
- staring at herself in the mirror
- smiling, a big 'ol gummy smiles
- kick kick kicking in the bath (and therefore splash splash splashing all over the place)
- "talking" to her "friends"
- waking up from naps
- making us laugh
- observing the world around her
- helping mama water the plants and flowers on the roof

Um, and some other stuff.



The other big thing is that we've been working on getting her into a better (for us) sleeping routine. We're excited by her progress and hopeful for even more improvements. My dear husband has been sacrificing his rest and sleeping in her room (we're transitioning her into her crib) to feed her bottles at night. This strategy will hopefully get her to drop a night-feeding (or two) and teach her that it's fun to sleep at night! No warm, snuggly boobs to enjoy...until morning (ish). I don't expect her to sleep all the way through the night yet especially because I really do think she's hungry and she's still such a peanut that I want her to be getting all the food and nutrients she wants/needs. But hopefully she'll start to during the DAY! We went through a spell of waking every 2 hours or so when she was right next to me and that was just too much so we had to try something. I've been getting an almost full-nights sleep for the last few days and let me tell you, it is MARVELOUS. Probably the best gift ever.

She's such a joy to be around and I couldn't ask for a happier baby. She's smiling and laughing and cooing and it's so much fun to experience her delight. OH! And on her 4 month birthday (spent in Northern Michigan) she said MAMA!! I mean, I know she didn't really know what she was saying, but STILL! I die of pride.

happy fathers day, daddy

dear daddy,

i love you to infinity and beyond and back again. especially when you tickle my chin and even when you scratch my cheek when you give me a big scruffy kiss. thank you for being you.

love,amelia lee millie bean munchkin mini don

Sadcakes

Well, it's happened. Miss Millie has her very first cold. Sadcakes McGee are we. She's sneezing a ton and her little nose is red and running and she even has a bit of a cough. Ugh times a trillion. None of us are getting much sleep because little miss keeps waking up coughing or because she can't breathe through her nose or maybe just because she feels like yuck and wants some love.

Of course I feel guilty because I'm assuming that she caught the little bug from the gym daycare. The one thing that I do for me and only me. Part of me wants to see the bright side: she's building up her immune system so she can ward off other illnesses. And I know that's true, but right now I just want to snuggle my runny-nosed lady and make everything better.

3 months

So, our baby girl is 3 months old. She teaches me something new each and every day and I'm certain these lessons will continue. She loves to blow bubbles while she squirms about on her playmat. She'll kick and swat and grasp onto the rings that dangle above her head and I'm continually amazed by her strength and determination. She'll coo and cluck and grunt and squawk at the animals as well. She loves to be naked and squeals with delight as I change her clothes or diaper. She's been fighting some diaper rash (that we had yet to experience) so I've initiated the "bare bottom baby" mission in an attempt to combat it. She's a big fan. (I mistakenly thought that the cloth diaper route would not lead to the dreaded diaper rash...drats.)

After several successful feedings, she is resisting the bottle. Not so fun for her Daddy who comes home from work and has to deal with a stubborn little miss. Not so fun for her worrying Mama either since my consulting job starts in two weeks and I'm forced to be away for 8-9 hours three days in a row. She's a strong-willed wee little one, that is for sure. I think we all know who is the victor in the battle of baby vs. parent, but we will not cave.

She's got amazing head control and has since she was 9 weeks old, a talent seemingly well-sought after by other parents. Who knew! She adores the "facing-out" position in the bjorn (particularly while Daddy is cooking). She loves to be outdoors and take walks and even just stand out on our balcony and watch the world move around us. She's observant and curious and super duper smart. She can basically sit up so we're going to get her a bumbo seat so that she can just chill slash strengthen her core muscles (I need one in adult size for the same reason). She has also mastered standing--quite an impressive feat. She stands in the bath, on our laps, and on the table or counter.

Her new best friend is a giraffe named Sophie and she loves to squeeze her neck tight and nibble on her toes. Everything seems to go into her mouth these days, which has me wondering if her teeth are starting to develop underneath those darling gummies. She laughs and smiles and giggles and she occasionally gets into laughing fits where she laughs then I laugh then repeat. Those are the best.

Her sleep is nothing short of unpredictable. Way back (all of 2 months ago) I had this idea in my head that by 3 months she would be sleeping consistently through the night or something insanely ridiculous like that. Wow was I wrong. I can honestly say that she was sleeping much better a month ago. So there's that. These days she might sleep 8 hours one night and then the next night be back to waking every 3 hours. Our routine is the same, so your guess is as good as mine. And mine is pretty worthless. Oh the ever-coveted sleep.

We started an infant massage class last week so we've been integrating that into her bedtime routine. Fingers crossed that it's supposed benefits of longer, deeper sleep and better digestion ring true for our little lady.

I love her from the deep-down-depths of my heart to infinity.