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| Lily @ 5 Months! |
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| Our sweet Lily @5 months! |
My sweet, snuggly, demure baby will be five months old in
the morning and while she has been working towards it for a while, all the
pieces have rapidly come together in the past week and she has truly shifted to
the next phase of baby - a baby who is an ambi roller, who won't be in the same
place she was when I put her down to grab my water. A baby who doesn't
just sweetly smile but erupts into a huge, expressive gaping grin that seems to
stretch through her entire body as she reached out towards her big sister today
in the hall this afternoon as I picked the girls up from daycare/preschool.
A baby who can sit up on her own for increasing periods of time and who
loves to stand in the exersaucer, emphatically grabbing anything she sees and
frantically trying to shove it in her mouth. A baby who suddenly wants to
reach for so much beyond me as she transforms into what I only semi-lovingly
refer to as the octopus phase, which means I better have a lid on anything I
ever want to drink and that if her dad and I are going to split a salad, I
should expect her to rip things off my plate and dunk her toys in my lemon
vinaigrette unless I eat across a great canyon kind of distance, holding a
fifteen pound baby with one arm while I crookedly hunch-stretch to my plate in
an attempt to gracefully shovel food into my mouth so I can continue to nourish
my growing baby.
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| *snap* - heyyyyy |
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| she loves being outside! |
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| and still sleeps harder than any of us. ...Daniel texted me this picture from one morning while they were getting ready, with the caption "who IS this child?!?!" She was happily playing and had just rolled over to nap while he was making breakfast for himself and Hannah |
70% of me is so excited for her and the new adventures this
will bring and what this means for her, proud of how far our family has
journeyed together, thrilled that she is so healthy and strong and bright eyed.
8% of me has seen this coming all along and has knowledgeably spoken of
this period and how once they are 5-6 months old it suddenly seems possible to
leave them to work because they have suddenly become more interested in the
rest of the world than dependent on their mommy to entertain them. But
10% of me is devastated - I LOVE babies, omg guys, I LOVE the early baby phase,
the mystery of it, the discovery in it, the beautiful simplicity of their
needs... they may be demanding needs, but they are simple, and the thought of
the snuggles-for-days that comes with it takes my breathe away. 8% of me
is devastated and chokes up as I type that this unbelievably sweet early
mystical baby phase has passed. And 4% of me knows that part will still
resurface over the next year or so, and I will find it in the quiet moments
when my baby wakes in the night and needs me, when she doesn't feel well and
wants to be snuggled, when she nuzzles in and naps in my arms, when she slowly
wakes up on weekend morning, and that will have to be enough....because I also
know all of the beautiful things she is gaining as Lily grows and blossoms.
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| our blossoming baby! |
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| #dimplesfordays |
Hannah and Lily have their own language now. They
speak in tongues. Literally lol. They “thuppppp” back and forth and
squeal with delight when the other mimics it back.
Through the month, Lily learned to roll both ways more and more smoothly. She loves blowing bubbles with her tongue and squealing. She has really started to enjoy tummy time and has air-swims on her tummy. Her face has really changed - suddenly seems much more that mid year, quintessentially cute and responsive baby. And just at the end of the month, she was able to sit up on her own. I knew she was working towards it...and on a Saturday morning she was sitting, back a little too rounded to fully support herself. The next day, Sunday morning, her back was straight and tall and she was sitting up all on her own! So amazing!
Hannah makes Lily laugh more than anyone else can.
Hannah expressions has coined some fun expressions/phrases
lately -
- "House is making a mess!!!" = earthquake scene in TV
- "Holly kiss chocolate" = Holly licking chocolate ice cream off
of Hannah
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| She's also been OBSESSED with her penguin matryoshka...this is "TINY" (which she will say in an extra high pitched voice for emphasis) |
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| apple picking and climbing trees, a child after my own heart |
At 2.5 years, Hannah is vibrant, spirited, and amazing.
Her flavor of the month obsession is the Jungle Book - she LOVES the
movie. She has been talking more and more and more - she repeats almost
every word you tell her and is continually asking “What's that?” “Who's that?”
and “What're you doing mommy?” She talked through the entire Jungle Book
film asking us about the animals and what they were doing, repeating their
names over and over. On the way home today "noo nooo Lily
kay-ing (crying), lily (should get) mommy milk ok?" Her favorite character is "biiiiiiiig tiger" and we are pretty positive that is who she will be for Halloween...if the obsession keeps up, we're definitely going for it.
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| the cutest toddler in Harris Teeter |
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| playing with a nearly walking baby Logan! |
There’s a set of colored rounded objects that stack up
vertically from largest to smallest. Hannah can usually put a little of
it together, but usually needs help. Recently, when she asked for help, I
showed her that the pieces were numbers 1-10 and would ask her what number
comes next and we were able to put the whole tower together with numbers, it
was really cool!
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| The is the most Hannah-esque pose ever and captures a glimpse into her daily spirit and activities |
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| before even 2.5 she can pedal her tricycle independently |
Hannah has also been enjoying puzzles. My sister
Alison had gotten her a book with 12 piece puzzles inside. She needs
help, but it holds her attention and we can spend time putting them each
together. At first, I had to do most of it, but would spend time
explaining to her the logic behind how I placed each piece. But
frequently, as she fumbled through and did things her own way, I felt like she
was never actually listening to my logic (like straight edge pieces go along
the sides, two edges is a corner piece, etc). The night Hannah
turned 2.5 years old we did puzzles together (and I was paying special
attention to all of her abilities since it was such a special, landmark day).
Not only did she initiate , but she started immediately evaluating all
the different things I tell her (“there’s grass!” and then put it at the bottom
of the puzzle, etc) I was a proud humbled mom.
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| Apple picking...while Lily tries to eat the leaves LOL |
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This pretty sums up the daily juggle...holding on with healthy, happy kids...but nearly losing my grip and laughing at myself all.the.time.
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This month we also flew to SC for Emily's wedding. The wedding itself went beautifully and Emily was a gorgeous bride! But for our little family of four, flying down there and back and surviving the weekend was catastrophic. ...Like...movie level ridiculous and probably merits a post all of its own or I will never believe it myself. Let's just say delays, missing planes, traffic jammed runways, stomach bugs, eye infections, sprained wrists, and ZERO sleep... But for now... here are a few quick highlights of the beautiful weekend -
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| On the tarmac bus heading to the plane |
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| Meeting Grandma in the airport |
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| snuggling with Uncle Michael |
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| Heading to the rehearsal...ready to roll |
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| Rolling to the rehearsal |
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| Hannah's face says it all...it's been a rough rainy rehearsal evening and her injured wrist has left her less than happy |
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| wedding day prep! behind the scenes - Dr. Papa is wrapping Hannah's wrist, I'm topping Lily off before I get dressed, and we are all getting ready to roll |
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| Hannah, sweet flower girl! |
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| ZOMG we are FINALLY in the car at Reagan, heading home... |
