Mackenzie is 5 months old today – amazing! Yesterday, I took Brianna to a play date with her buddies William and Julia, whose Mom just had a baby girl 3 weeks ago. I know my baby girl used to be that small (and that fragile), but it is amazing the difference 4 short months can make! M is the Squirmiest. Baby. EVER. And she is super strong in her legs and neck, which makes for some interesting “wrestling matches” sometimes.
Personality: M is really laid back, unless she is hungry or having tummy troubles (and really, who wouldn’t be?). Otherwise, she just takes it all in. She will demand to be in the same room as everyone else, but is generally content to hang out and watch the shenanigans going on around her. Her favorite activity is watching B. Here they are getting ready to go to the pool.
Sleeping: She sleeps great at school (usually at least 3 naps a day, with one being between 1.5 and 2 hours). She also sleeps quite well at home during the day, and usually takes at least one good 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon. She does not have a consistent schedule in either place, but is generally content to sleep almost anywhere (stroller, car, baby bjorn, swing, boppy, etc.). At night she typically falls asleep in the swing by 8:30-9, and we put her in her cradle for the night by 10:30-11. In general, she wakes up once a night, sometime between 3:30 and 6. The last few days, she has woken up between 5 and 6, and generally goes back to sleep. I can live with this; it is the 3:30 to 5 wakeup calls that are rough. We will put her in her crib as soon as we get the climate in her room under control (probably by this weekend). I am very curious to see if she sleeps better there – the cradle really is getting rather small, and she can’t really roll onto her side there (her preferred sleeping position in her crib at school). When she is having trouble sleeping (or calming down), the pacifier is a big help. But, we never give her the pacifier at night and her teachers also do not give her the pacifier when they put her down for a nap. She generally just falls asleep (and/or occasionally just sucks her thumb).
Eating: She eats like a champ! Still no solid foods, but she has started watching us intently when we eat, so I think she will be ready soon.
Size: She wears 3-6 month clothes, weighs 15 lbs. 2 oz., and is roughly 24.75″ long (these are home measurements, so accuracy is questionable).
Appearance: Her hair is still darkish, but I think it is getting lighter and will result in something closer to mine and Brianna’s. Her eyes are dark, but not a pure brown. Right now, I would still characterize them as dark hazel. She has the cutest little round head, with round cheeks – very much a Gerber baby type face. And she is filling out quite nicely – her legs will soon be those cubby baby legs everyone loves to gush over. Her little finger nails and toe nails are razor sharp and hard to maintain (see squirmy reference below). As a result, she often has scratches on her legs, but she doesn’t seem to care.
Teeth: No teeth yet, but she has been drooling like crazy for a couple of months. She attacks, with great enthusiasm, her cold teething toys. And I do mean attacks…imagine a starving animal presented with food. I keep expecting to hear her growl as she gnaws on them. Whatever you do, don’t put anything delicate in between her and her teething toys!
Cognitive/verbal skills: No words yet, but she talks all the time, using all different kinds of sounds — lots of ahs, rahs, uhs, etc. She also loves to blow raspberries and stick out her tongue to spit. And she is getting really good at laughing. Tickling her generally just results in grunts, but funny faces and crazy shenanigans around her generally result in some pretty good belly laughs.
Physical skills: She is REALLY good at grabbing things and holding on tight (read as keep your jewelry and hair out of her reach…). She also has gotten pretty good at grabbing her bink (when she can see it) and putting it back in her own mouth (yay!!). Her favorite toy is Eli the elephant, and she loves to grab all the various hard, crinkly, etc., objects dangling from Eli and play with them. Often, the hook ends up looped over her arm like a purse. Her feet are a current favorite. She doesn’t seem to stare at them much (never has), but she does love to grab them and play with them.
She can’t quite sit up on her own, but you can prop her in a corner for at least a little bit, and she is getting really good at manipulating her exersaucer toys and spinning around to get to all the different toys. She can roll over from her tummy to her back (and generally does so quickly), and often rolls from her back to her side. She has not rolled over from her back to her tummy, but it is unclear whether that is because she can’t, hasn’t figured it out yet, or just plain doesn’t want to. (She has rolled from her back to her side, and then much later followed that by rolling from her side to her tummy).
I got this for Jason for Father’s Day, but it didn’t arrive in time. So, the photo had to wait a few days. I know I am biased, but I think the shirts are right!
Starting with Memorial Day and ending this past Tuesday, June brought us lots of BEAUTIFUL weather and lots of visitors. Tatie Kat came Memorial Day weekend, when we had fun playing with Hawke, planting fairy gardens, and just generally enjoying the holiday. Here they are planting their fairy garden.
All done!
They are just about ready to be transplanted – we will probably do that this week. As an aside, my Mother’s Day gift (the squash plant) is doing quite well, as you can see here (taken ~mid June).
The weekend after Tatie Kat left, Brianna and Jason had a Daddy-daughter date night to see a show. All ready to go!
Jason graciously shared the evening with Kitty and Grover…
The next day, I went on a hunt for an exersaucer for M. She had been having a blast with one at school, so I figured she was ready for one at home too. I was successful, and it is a HUGE hit! Jason and I are particularly fond of using it whenever we are trying to eat – it is nice to be able to eat at the same time again. 
It’s even better when B joins in the fun!
The following weekend, Grandma & Grandpa arrived for a week. We had a wonderful time playing and visiting with them. My Dad also did a fantastic job building the shelves for the cubby above our fireplace. Once we stain the doors and put them up, the space will be all finished and ready to use for lots of good storage (pictures later)!
Right after Grandma & Grandpa left, Nana and Poppa arrived for a long weekend. We saw a Beatles cover band do a “Father’s Day” show (M pretty much slept through it), and enjoyed the lovely weather outside.
It has been a crazy busy month, but we have had lots of fun!
Amazingly, M is 4 months old already (I know, she is nearly 5 months old, but life is full). We went to the doctor a couple of days ago for her checkup and she is doing great! Her numbers are: 24.75″ long (at tad over 50th percentile), 13 lbs. 13 oz. (a tad under 50th percentile), and 41.3 cm head circumference (a tad under 75th percentile). She eats great, and she sleeps pretty well – she takes about 3 naps during the day (usually 2 short and 1 longish), and she usually falls asleep by 8 or 8:30 at night. We then wake her up between 10 and 11 to give her her last meal for the night (usually Jason gets his snuggles in by giving her a bottle), and then she sleeps from 11 to sometime between 4 and 5 fairly consistently (after eating she usually falls back to sleep until 6:30ish). I am still waiting for a consistent 11-7 type of thing at night, but I suppose I should be grateful for what I do have. So far she sleeps GREAT at school – yay!
Personality-wise, she is pretty laid back. She only fusses when hungry or gassy. Even being tired doesn’t seem to phase her too much – she just goes to sleep. She also smiles a lot, and is just starting to grab/play with things and to laugh. One thing she has been doing for quite some time now is TALK. While I have no idea what she is saying, that doesn’t seem to phase her. She can talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk… She is also just about the squirmiest baby I have ever seen! We don’t mind – that all just makes her all that much more fun!
During May B also finished off her Kindermusik class. We will start another one in the fall, but until then we are taking the summer off. The first week where she didn’t have Kindermusik went o.k., though she misses it dreadfully! She LOVES Miss Susan! (Anyone who has EVER tried to hug B can appreciate the second picture).
One night after I had given M a bath, I laid her down on her play mat while I took care of a few things. When I came back a few minutes later with her clothes, she was fast asleep sucking away on her thumb – tired baby! So we wrapped her in her fabulous blanket from Tracy and she stayed just like this until we got her up for her last feeding and to put her to bed:
Interestingly, this is how she also sleeps at school (on her side). At home she stays on her back, but I think this is really because she is still in the cradle and she just does not have the room.
Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn’t document the headbands. B decided that M needed headbands, so…
I had a fantastic Mother’s Day weekend. My weekend started when I picked up the girls from school. Since it was Friday, we also had to bring home all their stuff from the week (e.g., blankets). Since it was Mother’s Day weekend, we also had to bring home my gifts. It was beautiful out, so I walked to school to get them…with only the stroller…getting home with all that stuff was very interesting as my gifts were much larger than expected!
Here is M with the gift *she* made me:
B gave me a squash plant she grew from seed at school. I KNOW Jason took a picture of her and me in front of it after we planted it, but I’ll be damned if I can find it. Here is one way after the fact (mid-June).
Jason got me a beautiful gift – he definitely spoils me! Next time you are here, I’ll show it to you.
Friday night there was a neighborhood “kick off the summer” party. The kids had a great time running around, chasing each other, dancing to music, eating snow cones,.. you know, all that fun kid stuff. On Saturday, I got the whole morning to myself to do whatever I wanted, including getting a lovely and relaxing pedicure! Saturday night we went to an early dinner for sushi (B loves to go so she can get “brown noodles”), which we followed up with ice cream. B had a great time admiring all the pretty girls in their pretty prom dresses (and has since decided dresses are her favorite outfits!). Sunday morning, Jason planned on making me pancakes for breakfast (we rarely go out to eat on Mother’s Day – restaurants are crazy busy!). That is until B declared she was taking me to McDonalds for free Mother’s Day breakfast. I admit, it would not have been my first choice, but she was SO excited, and we had such a good time! We had a very relaxing day, where we planted my squash plant and just hung out. I wish I could post more pictures, but I really don’t have any. I was pampered and taken care of and quite simply never picked up the camera.
I did not realize it had been so long since I had posted any pictures…sorry about that!
The girls are both growing like weeds and entertaining us every day. I’ll use the next few posts to update our May adventures (I promise I will post them soon). Until then, here is a quick snapshot of each.
Here is M in one of my baby dresses – it is still a little big, but you can still see the cuteness. I’ll take another when she is bigger and more mobile…so you can see the cute ruffled bloomers…
Here is B wearing her favorite animal shirt…ta da!
