An update on my 5 month old

Five. months. old. I cannot believe it. Every day I wake up and am in a pseudo state of ‘shock’ that I am a mom. There isn’t a moment of any day that I am not thankful for her; in the darkness of 2am, in the chaos of non-stop crying, in the poo explosion aftermath… every moment with her is precious. Even though I work with children every day {as a pediatric speech therapist} this is my first developmental ‘rodeo’ so-to-speak – For the first time I actually have a front row seat to watch the development of a child from start to finish. It is so amazing to see her learn. It seems as though I can actually see the wheels turning when she is exploring something and learning. Her personality is really beginning to emerge as well. I certainly try my best to take 10 billion photos of her a day in order to catalog every moment but I will admit it is getting harder and harder to get all of the shots I want to. She is quick like a fox and I am slow like a sloth when it comes to working my camera!

5 month collage

on floor close up

Here’s a brief look at our girl at 5 months:

  • Has found her feet and assumes her new ‘roadkill’ position {as we have deemed it} as soon as you lay her down. Those feet have even found their way to her mouth a few times. feet up

  • Is sleeping through the night fairly consistently. Wahoo! {though this weekend she is definitely making me a liar because she hasn’t slept more than 3 hours straight the past few nights; the result of a growth spurt + teething combination. dagger!}.
  • Has two teeth. Yup, you heard me right – TWO teeth at 5 months. The first one appeared just after her four month birthday; the second on popped up just 5 days later. I guess it doesn’t surprise me; such an over-achiever!

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  • Is not yet sitting up; and frankly, I don’t think she cares to try at the moment. As soon as I prop her up she lunges forward into taco position to grab at her feet and give them a good slobbering.
  • Has discovered that rolling can actually get her places. Earlier this week I laid her on her play mat so I could work on some Christmas thank you notes. Next thing I know she had rolled 5 feet away from her blanket! Yikesabee! This means I need to a) at least baby proof the floors in our house, and b) start actually vacuuming on a regular basis. Sheesh, babies are a lot of work.
  • Is definitely starting to lose a bit of hair, especially in the back from rubbing her head back and forth as she falls asleep. Like mother, like daughter I guess because I am losing hair as well! It started right around 4 months postpartum because of hormone craziness {just like everything else in pregnancy} but hopefully my hair will come back bigger and crazier than ever!! Charlotte’s hair is getting longer as well, and starting to look more like a bad toupee with a comb-over in some areas and an exotic bird plume in others.
  • Is still loving bath time. Chris is a baby bathing pro.
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  • Really loves hanging out in her wrap. Thank goodness, or no grocery shopping would be done in this household.IMG_3148
  • Has tasted a few new foods {more on this in another post}; but so far she’s a green bean girl!

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  • She is really starting to express herself vocally; screeching, hollering, laughing, singing. It is amazing how quickly they learn that their noises are powerful and meaningful!

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Love you to pieces sweet girl! {even though it has taken me 3 days to write this post because you have been quite rebellious when it comes to your sleeping schedule as of late}. What will this next month bring? I am so excited to find out!

Christmas 2012

Christmas came very quickly this year. I am surprised that I was able to get as much together as I did {gift wise} – it was nothing short of a miracle. I am not the type of person who usually shops for gifts the weekend before Christmas, though this year I will admit I had Chris pick up the last few gifts on Christmas eve while I was at work. Also.. never again will I work on Christmas eve if I can help it – It was just way too stressful; though I commend those parents who brought their kiddos to their speech therapy appointment on Christmas eve… that is definitely the dedication I am looking for the other 364 days a year. How about next year you just give yourself, and your therapist {who, contrary to the belief of many 3 year olds, does not live at the office and sleep under the desk} a free pass from therapy.

I digress.

Here’s how our holiday went down:

{also, just a disclaimer – no, your contacts are not dry or old. yes, many of these photos are a bit blurry. The lens and settings we used was not quite fast enough to catch all of the action and I’m not talented enough to know how to fix that. bear with me as I am still very much a novice photographer}.

Sunday morning we had a great church service with some awesome music {led by my husband… so proud of him :)}. Here are Charlotte and mommy in our ‘anti-Christmas’ colors. I’m not agains Christmas colors, I just don’t like to be too match-matchy or predictable. Plus, I want Charlotte to get as much wear out of one of the adorable dresses that Chris’ Aunt Brenda gave her.

Aunt Brenda's outfit

Sunday evening was our “Big Family” party. Big Family is the group of people that, while not all actually related to us by blood, are an extension of our family in a much more meaningful way than blood could ever create. There are grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It’s a beautiful thing and I love that no matter how our lives change over the years we are able to come together for a night of love and laughter. We had to take a few group shots because we forgot the tripod and had to ‘rotate’ photographers {next year’s photo will be perfect because we will plan ahead!!!}.

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big family 2

I love being able to catch up with old friends each year. It is crazy how quickly time passes, but always good to be able to pick back up with them as if we were never apart… though this time the conversation tended toward “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re a mom”. Charlotte got a lot of snuggles and a few new hairdos… hello ‘Cindy Lou Who’!

big family

As I mentioned before, I had to work on Christmas eve {well, I didn’t have to, but being in a per diem position means no paid time off and no pay-check if I don’t work}. Once I got off of work we headed out to our church’s property where the outside pavilion was decorated with beautiful twinkle lights. There’s nothing like singing Joy to the World outside at night; it definitely helps to give you the mental image of what played out in Bethlehem so many years ago.

“Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every hear prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing. yada yada…  While fields and floods, rocks hills and plains repeat the sounding joy”.

Reminds me of the verse in Luke 19:40 – “He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” The earth was not silent at Christ’s death and I certainly believe it wasn’t silent at His birth.

new years eve 2012

After the Christmas eve service we raced back to our house to spend some time with Chris’ parents. For the past 2 years Chris and I have had an easy time of juggling families around the holidays because Chris’ parents were living in Germany, leaving our schedule open to spending time with my family. We will definitely have to work out something better for future holidays because Charlotte was in bed almost immediately after we got home  from the Christmas eve service so she barely got a chance to visit with her Lola and Grandpa. It was so nice that they took care of preparing all the food though!

Christmas morning was spent at my parent’s house. We were late {as usual} and I forgot Charlotte’s gifts from us at home {along with my makeup… yikes!}… but at least I remembered to bring my family’s gifts…. and I did remember to bring Charlotte! My mom always outdoes herself with breakfast-y snacks and then brunch later… she makes it look so effortless! Maybe by the time I am a grandma I will be able to pull off a Christmas morning like that. Thanks mom! {and dad… I’m sure you had a lot to do with things behind the scenes}

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Playing with the manger scene.

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75349_10200173279237324_823383901_n snuggles collage giftsOpening gifts… “we hope it’s a teether”!!
opening gifts collage

Christmas afternoon we went to Chris’ Tita Winnie’s house for a family dinner. I don’t have any photos from that but they are floating out there somewhere  on someone’s camera 🙂 Charlotte’s Titas gave her so many wonderful gifts!

This week I picked up a few patients from other therapists who are out of the office over the holiday so I am working Thursday and Friday after Christmas. While I am at work, Charlotte has been home with her daddy.

feet - 4 months

This is what I would like to think is happening at home while I am at work…

snuggling with chris

this is what my husband is posting on Facebook while I am at work, making me break out into a panic {honey, five alarm peanuts, lumpia, and ham}.409472_10100776375414397_415471260_n

Oh well, she’ll survive.

 We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Charlotte meets the Christmas tree

Charlotte had her first meeting with a Christmas tree last week at my parent’s house. It was love at first sight.

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Who needs light-up baby toys when you have twinkling tree lights?!

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And Charlotte is blessed to have two awesome cousins who love her very much. So sweet to see them together.

cousins 2012

Next on the blog? A tour of the Christmas decor in the Baker home. One last year before we have to be baby proof!!!

Charlotte meets her grandparents and a Missouri Thanksgiving

Charlotte met her grandma and grandpa Baker for the first time 2 Fridays ago! She was a good sport and waited very patiently at the airport (She looks so serious in this picture, which is unusual for her).

Waiting at the airport

ESCUSE ME, I Mustache you a question…

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It was love at first sight for everyone and we are so glad to have them back in the States!
meeting grandpa

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The following Monday we were on a plane headed to Memphis where we would then drive to Chris’ father’s hometown of Kennet, Missouri to be with the Baker clan for Thanksgiving.

Charlotte was SO unbelievably wonderful during the flights and car traveling. I was one proud mama!

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When we landed in Memphis we stopped for some good ‘ol Memphis BBQ before hitting the road to Missouri.

“Charlotte, next time please save some ribs for everyone else”!

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Here’s a tour of Kennet:

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Haha, just kidding. There is more to Kennet than dirt roads, I just didn’t take many pictures while we were there.  I can only juggle one valuable thing in my hands at a time and lately I’ve been choosing the baby!

Causbie’s Bakery is a must when visiting.
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And I always like to visit some thrift stores and antique shops while I’m there.

Swyngomatic? Really, Graco? I wouldn’t trust that contraption with a ham sandwhich, let alone an actual 10+ lb baby.

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I was very sad to find my favorite (after my one visit there previously) antique shop was closed both times we tried to visit; I’m guessing because of the holidays. Very sad. I had my heart set on some blue mason jars. womp womp.

Charlotte got lots of snuggles from her family, especially her Lola and Grandpa Baker. I am realizing that I didn’t really get any pictures of other family members while we were there… so not like me at all!

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(‘Thankful for Mommy’ shirt for Thanksgiving!)

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And she met her great grandpa Baker for the first time.

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Her smirk cracks me up. I think she knows something we don’t know. She’s a very wize baby.

 

 

The Baker family. Grandpa Baker has 4 children, 10 grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren.

So glad we were able to get a family photo.Baker Family 2012

Charlotte was loved on by all of her new family members and was gifted with some very adorable clothes from Aunt Brenda and Aunt Jeannie (thank you!) and her Lola Pam. I CANNOT get over these shoes. SO cute. I am kicking myself for not buying more in bigger sizes while we were there. I haven’t seen this brand anywhere!

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Charlotte was, again, a very good traveling baby. I pretty much kept her in my k’tan wrap while moving through the airport so my hands would be free. Also, we (meaning me) experienced changing a poopy diaper in an airplane bathroom TWICE. Actually not as bad of an experience as you my be imagining in your head right now but it definitely earned me a new ‘mommy badge’!

I wish so badly that this picture (below) had been in focus, but what can you do with a cell phone camera in a moving car trying to take a picture of a moving baby?! I will post it anyway in all its blurry adorableness because I love the face she is making.

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Sleeping on her daddy on the plane.

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We had so much fun with our Missouri/Arkansas/Tennessee family and were sad we couldn’t spend more time with everyone but were so glad to be back home.

After all, Virginia is for Lovers.

LOVE