Four & Five Months Old

Oh my goodness.

It is unbelievable how busy we have been. 

I'm doing your four month and five month post together, which means that it is technically 1 month and 11 days overdue.

But you will see why I'm just now getting to it...

(I apologize for the photo dump...we did a lot!)

Right after your three month birthday, you and I visited GiGi again for the weekend.  We joined her first at the beach where she had been vacationing for the week.

You touched the ocean for the first time.

You also tried to order a drink from the cabana boy.

I've already blogged about your first Independence Day.

July 10th was Your Daddy's birthday.  We celebrated him with lunch at Johnny Rocket's!

You love him oh so much.

You came to mommy's work pool party.

You finally got the hang of this tummy time thing.  It's not so awful now.

You stayed overnight without Mommy and Daddy, because I had a work conference in Las Vegas.  Daddy tagged along.

GiGi kept you for the few days we were gone, and you had big fun together.

We missed you oh so much.

You turned four months old the day after we got back.

That day, we packed up the car and headed to GiGi's house for the night.  That next day, we went to Claire and Bill's wedding in Grayton Beach.

You were a hit at the party.  It was HOT, but we had fun singing and dancing with you.

After the wedding, we headed to Perdido for a few days at the beach with the Parrish/Murphey clan.

Here, we got your first real giggles while doing crunches with Your Daddy.  

We also ate at LuLu's for dinner, and Uncle Willie decided he wanted to wear you.

We went to the outlet mall, and you rode in your big girl stroller for the first time!

At your four month checkup, we got the go ahead to start feeding you solids.  You weren't a big fan of cereal at all...

So we tried applesauce.  You liked it a bit more, but were having a hard time getting the hang of the spoon, so we gave that up for a little bit.  You're doing much better now.

You had your first little cold.  You got it from me.  :(  So we used your humidifier for the first time!  Steam comes out of his ears.  :)

You are obsessed with your hands.

I decided I wanted to learn how to sew, so I started working on a little pillowcase dress for you.  It turned out super cute...

But a little big.  Maybe in a few months you'll grow into it.

Your O-Ball is one of your favorite toys.

You went to your friend Johanna's first birthday party.  It was a ladybug theme.

You pooped out at the party.

Lily was sick, so you came to work with me for the first time.  You would only nap on me like this.

 Good thing my desk chair rocks and I have my own office so I can turn the lights out.

I got a new car to help with the gas mileage and the old car was falling apart.

We went to a baby shower for our friends, Rob and Ginny, who are expecting Baby Anna very soon.  These are all the babies of our Sunday School class, who were finally all together for the very first time.

The Lord blesses and multiplies in numbers.

We had church directory pictures made, and you were ADORABLE.  I had totally planned not to buy any, but they were actually good, so I had to.

This is a picture of the computer screen.  I can't wait to get the real ones in.

And then you turned five months old.

Whew.  We have been busy.

At your four month appointment, you weighed 14 pounds, 7 ounces, and were 27 inches long.

You are right on track with development, hitting all your milestones.

You have no intention of rolling over ever again.  You've done it twice.  Once in your swaddle (still not sure how you did that), and once laying around in bed with me.  It took ten minutes, lots of grunting, and you immediately flipped out when you landed on your tummy.  So you gave up on that.

You'd much rather try to sit instead.

Your Daddy's favorite thing with you now is making you smile.  He does this silly little voice that makes you smile and giggle every time.  You look to find him in the room and when you see him, you grin really big.

You love Daddy.  You are two peas in a pod.  You are his Widdle Buggy.

My favorite thing is singing songs with you.  We sing all the time.  Old hymns, praise choruses, popular music, and silly made up songs about Charlotte.  I can always calm you down by singing "To Make You Feel My Love" or Charlie Chaplin's "Smile."  Your favorite is still "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder."

 Here are a few favorite pictures from these past two months...

You are the Great Cornholio.

Going to dinner at Dollie's.

 Out to lunch.

 You are such a jokester.

 Snuggling on a Saturday morning.

 Bath Time Buggy

 Playing with Mr. Monkey

 All smiles having dinner with Mommy

 Sleeping with your piggy

 Sweet snuggles

 Headed to church - you LOVE to go to church

Well, of course you are

 A smile to melt an iceberg

 Playing on your playmat

 Another Sunday morning - another reason for me to rejoice!

Which way to the beach?

 You are so much fun, my Little Bug.  I am so blessed to be your mommy.

Learning Who I Am as Your Mommy

I haven't blogged in a while.

My only excuse is that we lost the cord that connects the phone to the computer.  I pretty much only take pictures of you on my phone.

Gone are the days of the camera.  I'm so glad we got iPhones about a month before you were born.  

Anyways, I found the cord randomly in my car/junk bin.

So now I'm back to writing to you.  :)  I totally missed your four month post, so I'll combine your four and five month post in a few days.

Sigh.  You're almost five months old.

In the short span of your almost five month life, I have learned so much about you.

I know exactly how you like to be held, how to put you to sleep, what your hungry cues are.  I can predict almost down to the minute when you'll have a poopy diaper.  I can sense a meltdown about five minutes before your lip starts to tremble.  I know every inch of your body and could spot your tushie in a line up of 100 cute little baby tushies.

I know you.

But what is even more amazing is that in this short five months, I have learned so much about myself and what I believe to be true.  Things that I think you should know in the event that one day you become a mother.

And I become a grandmother.  Oh gag.

1. I've learned how far my body can be pushed in pain and how resilient it is to bounce back.  I also learned when to take the drugs.  Your body will do amazing things when it comes time to have a baby.  

2. A mother's intuition is a real thing.  From the moment I held you for the first time, it was like a tiny lightbulb switched on.  I just knew what to do.  It was as if I'd been your mother forever.

3. I am so impressed with God and his ability to create and love unconditionally.  I am convinced that you are the most perfect creation that ever existed.  He made you from a thought.  He has planned from the beginning of time to give you to me and your daddy.  And as much as I love you, He loves you even more.  Mind blowing.

4. I cannot stop doing something that makes you giggle.  If it makes you giggle right now, it might not make you giggle tomorrow.  So I make you giggle until you stop because I never want to miss one single giggle from your sweet belly.

5. I find great pride in you.  Whenever people tell me how beautiful you are or how sweet you are, even though I already know it, I beam with pride.  There's something special in other people notice just how wonderful you really are.

6. I've learned to never say never.  Things you say you'll never do as a parent will fly out the window in a moment of desperation.  Now I just laugh at how naive I was going into this whole parenting deal.

7.  My parenting motto is "roll with the punches and have no regrets."  You are a bundle of confusion because you change every day.  I try to be as laid back as possible in raising you, knowing that you don't care at all about my schedule.

8. I've learned to never ever EVER listen to what other people say (except your pediatrician, of course). People you know, even strangers, will try to offer parenting advice.  They are very quick to judge your decisions and speak their criticism.  People have no filter around new mothers.  Your GiGi told me right before she left after spending the first two weeks with us, "She is YOUR baby.  Do what you feel is right."  That resounds in my head every time somebody tells me what "worked for their baby."  What worked for them may not work for you.  So I smile and move on.  We're doing just fine without everyone's input.

9.  I've learned to accept help when it is offered.  Never turn down a friend who wants to bring you dinner.  Never turn down your mother when she says, "I'll give her a bottle."  And never turn down a relative who wants to give you gas money.

10.  I've learned to relish in you.  Whenever I am with you, I try to soak up as much of you as possible.  The dishes can wait.  Your snuggles cannot.

11.  I am so much more in love with your daddy than I ever was before.

12.  I've learned that I am home to you.  Just today, you had to come to my work because Lily was running a fever and we didn't have a backup plan.  I tried everything I could to get you to nap quietly in my office, but you just wouldn't.  So I laid you on me, and rocked you a bit in my desk chair (thank goodness for a rocking desk chair) and you went right to sleep.  You weren't familiar with my office, but you were familiar with me.  I am what makes you comfortable.  I pray you never lose that.

13.  I've learned to appreciate my mother so much more.  Somehow the two children she raised turned out to be contributing members of society.  I see now just how hard that is.

14.  Being your mommy is the greatest thing I've ever done, will ever do, and is my proudest accomplishment.

15.  I've learned that I would go to the ends of the earth for you.  I will go hungry, I will beat up a bully, I will go to jail, and I will jump in front of a train to make sure that you are happy and healthy and safe.  And I've never been so sure of something in my life.

16.  I will do absolutely anything to make you smile.  I've danced, I've made funny voices, I've blown raspberries on your belly, and I've sang Call Me Maybe more times than I can count.  Anything to see that beautiful big grin.

One day, you are going to be a mother.  You are going to understand all of this.  Then you are going to say to me, "Wow, Mom.  I get it."

And I will smile and say, "Yes, baby.  I know."

And then I will know that my job is done.