Five Months!

Five fantastic and fun-filled months have passed by so quickly. At first it seemed that time was on my side and it was moving slower than I had expected. But these past three months have flown by and I know longer have a hold of time...it's slipping away! So of course my trusty camera and I battle the passing time by capturing just about every funny and new moment that we possibly can.



My baby girl,

Accomplishments. There have been a few to say the least. Among these were starting solid foods, holding your bottle, sitting up, and best of all discovering the many uses of your hands. You amaze me with how strong you are already. Our new favorite playtime activity is when I sit you up by pulling your arms up and then you pop right up on your feet. You surprised me the first time you did, and I think you surprised yourself too. You just looked at me as if to say "did that just happen?!" Yes, it did girl. Something is always "just happening." I can't keep up with all of the new things that you do sweetheart. Like just the other day, I turned to grab the towel on the bathroom floor and you had pulled yourself into a sitting position in your tub. With a little help from the ledge in your tub, you were sitting up like a big girl....

And a big girl is exactly what you are becoming. You are eating like a champ. I'm sure it seems to you that I am depriving you of fruits and veggies but the doc said only one jar each day. I think you would eat ten if I let you. Your messiness depends on who is feeding you, but there are days when you just wanna be messy and it doesn't matter how hard we try to stay clean. Plastic bibs are the best invention ever!

Hallie Grace, you love your food and you don't like to wait for it!! And of course I have proof to embarrass you for years to come...

You leave little time for people to actually get food on the spoon before you are leaning forward and grabbing for more. You still love your baths. It is the only place where we can guarantee happiness 100% of the time. And you are pretty spunky after baths too. Today I caught you in a silly moment playing with your new toy in your bath robe....

You love to explore anything within reach. And if it's not in reach you will find a way to let me know that you want it to be in reach. ;) Your vision has definitely changed and you can now see people from across the room. One of my favorite games to play with you is peek-a-boo. You just giggle and give mommy the biggest toothless grins! Oh those smiles, they are worth a million bucks!

You are still healthy as a horse and "well fed" as most people put it. Those chunky legs do not go unnoticed! Sorry girly, you have mommy's thighs. What hasn't been so healthy are your sleeping patterns. Wait, patterns are something that have a rhyme or reason, and your's do not. So we will refer to them as sleeping conundrums. I have no answers. I counted the number of times you woke up last night and to quote the principal on Ferris Bueller's Day Off...."nine times." Nine times? Really girl? That's double what you did when you were one day old. We are kinda going in the opposite direction don't ya think? 90% of the time it can be fixed immediately by popping the binky back in your mouth. Now we just need to find some way to keep that sucker in your mouth and I think we would both get a lot more sleep. I am really developing a hatred for the monitor beside my head...those red lights flashing scare the bejeebies out of me! Your dad and I have been switching off making the sleepy trek to your crib to help you back to sleep. Sometimes it is hard for me to budge him when he is snoring and I let him skip his turn. ;) Whatever you want Hallie, just name it. You want a sleep number mattress? I'll get it for ya. Just let me know and it's yours! But you have to promise me a good night's sleep like the good ol' days in return.

You have been in a funk since Christmas Eve. I thought it was teething...but teething gel, Tylenol and teething rings do not help one bit. You don't have a fever or a runny nose. I thought it may be constipation but you let me know that wasn't the case. Lol. I'm at a loss. I resorted to a nice long car ride today to help you get some peaceful sleep and for me to regain my sanity. The car...we can add that to the list of places where you are 100% happy.

Although the past few days have been somewhat trying, month #5 has not been that way at all. Besides a bit of crankyness in the evenings, you have been too busy to upset. You have learned how to entertain yourself with your toys over the past month. You love your bouncer and you have finally figured out how it works. Not so much the bouncing part, but the spinning of the toys part and pushing of the musical buttons. Shorty, you still can't reach the ground but dad put a pillow under your feet to help you out. I can usually count on at least ten minutes of self-entertainment in your bouncer. That's leaves me just enough time to do...well... nothing. Ha!

As much as you love your toys and chewing on them, you prefer to be held.....

Somehow you are still wearing some of your newborn pajamas. Everytime dad gets you ready for bed you appear in your tiger pjs and each time I am amazed that those chunky legs still fit in there! As far as other clothes you are wearing 3-6 month pants and tops and can still fit into some 0-3 month shirts. Unfortunately we don't get a lot of chances to show off all of your cute outfits as you much prefer to do it up casual for daycare and at home. You love sweatpants just as much as your mom and dad do. I just realized yesterday that your bows have been neglected lately. What kind of mother am I not putting a 10lb bow on your pretty little head everytime we step out of the house???! Practicality wins I guess.

Baby girl, lots of big changes are coming up in your life and I pray that they will be good for our little family. I pray that you will handle the transition well and settle right into our new world. Your dad and I just love our nighttime rituals with you and probably will still be putting you to bed when you are thirteen years old. You are so innocent and pure. Please stay that way forever for mommy, ok? Thank you for keeping me smiling and giving me that warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. I am so proud to call you my daughter. Although I'm still not used to that word..."daughter." I love you more than words little one. Always and forever.