7 month update!

Sweet Amelia Joy, you are 7 months old!  And since I can't seem to get in a groove writing your updates, I'll cut to the chase, because who knows when you'll jolt awake from this nap.

You have cut two teeth, which came at the same time 1 week after you turned 6 months.

You eat so. much. food.  It makes me so happy! We have just done Baby Led Weaning this time (so no purees) and it has gone so well. From pretty much the get-go you have been able to grab food with your hands, and feed yourself with a pre-loaded fork.  You absolutely prefer to feed yourself and I am just crossing all limbs that continues because your 2.5 year old brother still requires a full-court press to get his dinner down.  You almost always just eat what we eat for dinner, and favorites so far are avocado slices, sweet potatoes, black beans, grapes, watermelon, chicken, SMOOTHIES.... I could go on.

dont mess with the watermelon eating process

You're still nursing every 4 hours or so during the day, and twice (eye roll) at night, usually around 1am and 5am (and as a side note if anyone's wondering - I'm doing my second round of Whole30 this month and it has not affected my supply at all, which was a big question mark for me).

Your absolute defining characteristic is your smile.  You smile at EVERYTHING (think Elf: "smiling's my favorite!") and everyone.  Strangers, friends, family, dog - doesn't matter.  And this isn't just a grin, it's a whole-face-smooshed up, body and arms flapping, squealing smile.  Everyone asks if you're always so happy and I can honestly say that we are so blessed that yes, you are always that happy*, and you spread that infectious smile and laugh to the rest of us, who could use even a slice of that joy.  Thank you for that, and I pray that fruit of the Spirit you were named after follows you every day of your life.

obliging to be "Baby Carrie" for the 15th time that day

*Of course you don't literally smile all day every day.  The main thorn in your side at the moment is being put down for naps, specifically the afternoon one.  Come close child, and let me tell you a secret: There is no limit to how much I would pay for someone to put me in warm pajamas, give me a hug, and gently lay me in a dark, quiet room for an unlimited amount of time to just... sleep.  YOU HAVE IT GOOD GIRLFRIEND.  So sleep.  Just take a nap.  I promise nothing fun is happening out here - just mommy telling your big sister to stop dancing during her rest time.

You are sitting unassisted now for long stretches, and can roll, scoot, and flop your way to what you want to get across the room.  But not crawling, and I am A-OK with that.  You're probably our most content to just lie there and chill kid so far, which is why you're not off to the races.  You can sit or lay and hold something, inspecting it forever.

when there are no shirts to be found but you're trying to be modest...

Amelia, I'm not just saying this: you are a GREAT baby.  Do I wish you'd sleep through the night?  Sort of.  But then I wouldn't have those 5-10 minutes of just us, which are few and far between.  Which is probably why I haven't rushed you out of those night feedings yet.  And do I wish you took two 2-hour naps a day?  Duh.  But I'm learning that's not really in the cards for my kids, and instead I'm incredibly grateful that you wake up with a huge smile and don't stop.  I speak for all 4 of us: you are our joy, sweet girl.  You are loved.

Amelia's 5 month update

Dear Amelia,

Nevermind this is the first update since you were one month old.  Let's overlook that for a minute and just celebrate that you're FIVE MONTHS OLD!  How?  WHY?  Time, slow down!

Five months is simply a wonderful age.  We have all settled into our new normal as a family of 5, and while there's still plenty of chaos and insanity and "how will I make it to bedtime today?", I feel like we've reached a groove at this point.  You're also still (fairly) immobile.  I say fairly because you definitely can scoot, roll, and inch your way around a room - the other day Addie yelled to me and said "Moo-oom, come see what Amelia's gotten into," and there you were, on the other side of your bedroom floor, with your sound machine pulled on top of you and biting on the cord.  Nice.  But, you're not crawling so I can leave you in one spot and find you *generally* in the same area when I come back. But at 5 months, you're so interactive and full of life.  You love to observe everyone and everything.  You can sit quietly watching your brother and sister for really long stretches, and love to people watch at the grocery store, the pool, and anywhere else there's lots of activity.  Once you're one-on-one though, it's like you're ready to unload about ALL you've seen, and you talk up a storm.  Kind of like when daddy gets home and I am ready to talk a mile a minute off of his poor, unsuspecting ears.

a toy interesting enough for all three! yes! 

Now that you're knocking on half a year, we've also fallen into a much more predictable routine.  You're not quite napping by the clock yet, but once you wake up in the morning, I have a pretty good idea how the rest of the day will fall.  You're usually awake for about 90 minutes after waking, and then go down for a nap - sometimes that's for 45 minutes and sometimes it's for an hour and a half.  

This past month I had to get serious about sleep, because we had fallen into some unsustainable habits.  At least, they were unsustainable with two other wild kids running around, like rocking/feeding to sleep, and these ridiculous 3-hour marathons for bedtime.  Mama pretty much turns to a pumpkin at 7pm, so bedtime lasting from 7-10pm was. not. OK.  It has taken some work, but we are in a much MUCH better spot of you falling asleep totally on your own, without the swaddle, in your crib, without the paci... yeah we had a lot to change.  You're still waking a few times at night to eat, which I am working on weaning you off... I'm fine with once but 3x?  Just... no.  Hoping I have great things to report on that next month.

Just before 4 months you rolled over tummy to back, and then about 2 weeks later rolled over back to front.  You're starting to do that baby sit-up thing where you can't just lay back in a chair or on the floor, you have to see how far you can hold your head up and for how long and seriously?  That can't be comfortable so let's all just relax.

You're just a model 3rd child.  You go with the flow, sleep on-the-go when necessary (which means every day at the pool for your last nap...), are fine with being passed off to anyone, and are social, social, social.  You are content to be plopped down pretty much anywhere and on a dime, like when brother HAS TO GO POTTY RIGHT NOW and you're in the middle of nursing.  You can keep yourself content for a LONG time, but do love to be held (by all members of the family...).

Lest we think it's all rainbows, for posterity I will write down that we drove to Florida at the beginning of June and, in summary, we are never going back.  At least not in a vehicle.  We are officially 0/3 on kids who will sleep in the car (WHY?) and for a 3.5 month old that is just brutal for such a long trip.

No solid foods yet, and we will wait until about 6 months for that, but you are definitely interested and have started lunging head-first toward my plate at every meal, trying to grab any stray morsel.  You've been on Zantac since a really scary incident at 7 weeks old (oh man, is that a story I need to write down... I'll just leave this photo and come back to that).

But we are now weaning you off it and all is well!  No vomiting!  No terrifying incidents! No emergency room! Yes!

Overall, this has been the fastest 5 months of my life.  I'm actually still kind of surprised to look down and not be pregnant.  And yet here we are with a big, moving, babbling baby!  You are the perfect addition to our family.  Your brother and sister adore you, your dad can't get enough, and I'm head over heels.  We love you SO MUCH!  And I promise to write more updates!

Amelia Joy's 1 month update

Dear Amelia Joy,

Time is flying, and as I write this you're already over 5 weeks old.  You can go ahead and stop growing, because you as a newborn?  Just delightful.  Even though there are two older kids running around, and even though I trailed off a bit on your brother's monthly updates, I'm determined to at least halfway document these first months with you, because halfway is better than none.

You were born at 6:06pm on a Friday evening, 3 days before your due date.  As my cousin remarked, "what a considerate little girl, to be born early in the evening!", and you've continued in your considerate ways since then.  Everyone told me about the "adaptable third child" and so far, that has been true!

because you have to snap a pic before you leave for the hospital - even if it's 3am.

proud, proud daddy of his third mini-me

super candid, but one of my favorite pictures of the 5 of us so far

At birth you were 8 pounds, 3 ounces (71%) and 22 inches long (99%).  At your 1 month checkup you were 10 pounds, 3 ounces (77%) and 23 inches (97%).  The VERY first thing I noticed about you was your the size of your hands, followed soon after by the size of your feet and length of your toes.

aren't those toes like fingers??

some serious flippers on this girl

this is a 0-3 month sock.  Notice how far beyond the allotted foot area your heel goes.  

You sleep a lot.  Newborns are awesome like that .  Mornings can be a little unpredictable, but I realized that I'm almost always waking you up to leave for something, and toting you around to your siblings' morning activities, so it's no wonder - there's no chance to settle in for a nice long nap.  By 1 or 2pm when all the activities are mostly done and we're (usually) home, you typically pass out for a really long stretch - over 3 hours if I'd let you.  I have to say this is a real mercy with three kids, since everyone is down (though big sister doesn't sleep anymore) at the same time and I have some time to attack the tornado of a house, which, no matter HOW clean it is in the evening, is an absolute disaster by approximately 7:22am.  At night you're usually down around 8pm (but have been known to go on food binges til nearly 10), sleep a 4-5 hour stretch, eat for 10 minutes then back down for another 3-4 hour stretch, then back asleep until around 8am.  Really good stuff.

this makes me laugh - looks like you're breaking it down on the dance floor

You are for the most part so easy-going.  You are passed back and forth between two very energetic kids all. day. long, and seem to actually enjoy it.  As mentioned above, you get carted around to all their stuff, which usually requires waking you multiple times every day when you're sleeping peacefully. :-/  You deal with Will coming in to check on you every nap 18 times while talking extra loud even though I've told him 19 times not to.  A day before turning a month, you gave us your first social smile and surprise!  It was at your big brother and sister, not at me.  (not bitter)  You cry when you're hungry or tired or if someone accidentally kicks you, but otherwise you just quietly look around, taking it all in.

first smile - March 18

Likes so far: being swaddled, stroller rides, being worn in the carrier, brother and sister, funny faces, sleeping and eating.

Dislikes: 11am-1pm when you'd rather be sleeping and/or eating but instead we're running all over the place.

Sweet Amelia, it is so wonderful to have a baby in our home again.  You remind us all to stop rushing, to slow down, to be a little quieter, a little more considerate, to notice a little bit more.  You also remind us all to give a bit more of ourselves, to sacrifice a few more of our own desires for the well being of another.  I'm learning that again as I wake up multiple times during the night, as I give of myself physically, and as I have to say "no" to social things I'd rather say "yes" to.  Your dad and siblings are learning these lessons too in their own ways.  But it is good.  I'm learning that with each child, there isn't less to go around, but quite the opposite - there is so much more.  You are a gift to each one of us.

We love you so very much and are SO happy you are here.