Dad Baby E Mom Baby Picture also featuring Aunt Cassy

Hair: Mom
Eyebrows: Mom
Eyes: Dad
Nose: Mom
Ears: Looks like Mom
Mouth: Dad
Cheeks: Combo
Chin: Mom

She has her own look though- we get told a lot that she looks like me by non family.
My parents are convinced she is a little Cassy (my younger sister) with blue eyes. Her spirit is like Cassy's for sure- just fun and outgoing and full of joy! She moves her hands around when she gets excited and wants to be a part of everything going on.

Oh I found some pictures of Cass on fb- no baby pictures but here's my cute sister:

Very left- she's probably like 3? And our cute cousins on the right. M and H.

Very left again. Then there's Uncle Forrest, me, Grandpa and uncle Ward.

3 or 4 years I'm guessing- she is so cute.

She's 5 here- because aunt Bethany is pictured as the babe.

aunt bethany, me(starting my awkward teenage years), cassy, forrest and ward

me and cass with our bunny we named Crystal...found out later she was a male. So we nick-named him bun buns.

Senior Picture

Looking through Cassy's pictures made me really miss her. I can't wait to talk to her- Grant is here saying he wants to cook hotdogs in mountains with aunt Cassy when she gets back from Mexico.

E 6 Months

Personality:
Loves to laugh.
She will whip her head around as fast as a jack rabbit to see whoever is talking or making noise- she has to know what is going on ALL. THE. TIME.
So because of this, she all of sudden just hates sleeping during the day- if there is something going on (like Grant always screaming or laughing hysterically about nothing) then she doesn't want to cuddle up and go to sleep! No thanks mom! Hello- there is fun stuff going on and I gots to know about it and want to be apart of it.
And really, she's not too much of a grumpy pants when she hasn't slept much during the day so it's easy to kind of just let her be awake. a lot.

New Tricks:
Sitting on her own!
2 bottom teeth!
Skipping naps. Like she'll take 3 naps for 10 minutes each...this is not normal.

Sleep:
Good night sleeper still. Ah the bliss.
She goes to bed at 7:30 now and sleeps till 8:30. Wow. I mean that's a good chunk of sleep right there. She'll still wake up for comfort nursing a couple which I'm fine with especially because she sleeps soooo good.
But...naps. She is like I said above, just completely enthralled with life and having a good ol' time all the time so she will now nod off maybe 3-5 times during the day for a bare minimum of 15 minutes- sometimes a half hour. I mean it is WORK to get her to sleep. I think it's just her personality- she wants to be in the action- talking to people- she's social and fun and doesn't want to miss anything. Ever. She'll get sooo tired but still refuse. It's very new territory for me as a mom.

Nursing:
Are we still at war? Um...no? She is finally understanding that when I nurse her, that comfort and a full tummy comes after that. And her latch is wayyyyyy better than G ever was. I just realized that the other day while I was nursing- like *Ding* she latches really well- I never have to adjust her lips- I always fixed G's. Always. But I do have to say she is really rough. I mean G was always so gentle but she goes to town! I wonder if the bink has anything to do with this but girl! I get scared for my life sometimes and now she has teeth! I'm worried.

Favorites:
Her big brother! Jumping on the bed is the best to watch because she starts pumping her legs to join in when G is having a ball on there. She seriously can't wait to run and jump and be a part of it all.

Food! We started after the watermelon thing now at exactly 6 months I started giving her food. I cooked some carrots for her which she LOVED and let her go to town on some banana. I still love the book Baby Led Weaning and am trying it again where food right now is more for taste and texture than for nourishment. But she is super excited about this food thing and is a pro already at making a huge mess so here we go!

Me. She is super attached. Which is cute but I didn't expect it for some reason. Just one night I took G to bed and let dad rock the babe and she just bawled and bawled. Finally I emerged and she heard me and whipped her head around like "oh good. Oh mom. Oh mom. Finally you are here. Okay, I will sleep if you hold me. Oh much better." I mean dad was doing a really good job and being super wonderful but she just had to have mom. So same thing now when I randomly hand her off to someone so I can take care of my rambunctious toddler- she starts looking around with this pout that promises to explode to a full on terror cry if I don't hurry back. Though I must admit it makes me feel good to know she likes me. I mean I do spend a lot of time taking care of her so I'm glad she notices.

Esther's First Food: Watermelon

Well, it's happened. 

I couldn't really stop it.

Our summer afternoon snack has most often been watermelon.

We were all on the porch chair outside slurping and crunching our delicious cold watermelon when a chubby little hand reached out and snatched the rind right out of my grasp.

I figured she would have fun tasting it and it was nice and cold in the hot weather. I put her in Grant's chair and she discovered a watermelon rind. This is a moment you can't miss with a baby- their first time handling food. Can you imagine? The texture, taste, temperature, everything so new and exciting. 

Plus she's teething and I'm sure that felt good on her tender gums.

And in action:

If you don't want to watch the whole 2 minutes of ADORABLENESS you can listen to the best part which is Grant in the background copying exactly what I'm saying at :21 to :30.  I just keep listening to that- I can't believe I didn't hear that while I was recording but I am laughing over and over again just at that part.

Esther 5 Months

5 Months

Her ears. Oh those cute adorable ears.

We all talked about what animals each of us would be when we visited the zoo last time. The cutest little animal was the bat-eared fox. Seriously she's the bat-eared fox. I know she'll probably be self-conscious about those ears later oh but they just suit her and make her that much more adorable.

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=151338

Taken by Garr- good picture!

With Grandmama- who is very against binkies.... I was too, I was too- now I see the light. 

She loves seeing her great grandchildren.

Awwwwwwe.

Starting to like johnny jumpup

twirling and pictures to look at- fun stuff.

Sleeping?

• She's still pretty good. Sometimes she will wake up in the middle of the night.

Changes?

• Teeth!!! One of the bottom two just broke through- probably why her sleeping has changed a bit.

• Food! I let her try a watermelon the other day. She is always reaching for everything we are eating now. Oh boy here it comes...I don't think she's going to be as patient as Grant. She is eager. He was content with milk. She has more practice handling toys so she's capable of grabbing. She's only 5 months! I want to hold her back just a bit.

Cuteness level on a scale of 1 to 10?

• Obviously 10.

Sibling Relations:

• Darn it all- Grant is biting her fingers and throwing toys at her again. Do I need therapy? I am exasperated to say the least. I am at a loss. But, I am going to figure it out because I know these two are going to be best friends. I found some good mantras on tempers and beliefs and such and I am committed to changing something because I know this can be a peaceful experience- just need some adjustments. 

I love this girl. She is wonderful and beautiful and fun and she just is moving along growing up while I am trying to figure out so much in our lives. But time doesn't stop and she's going to keep growing.

I'll let you know how the mantras go :)

Family Pictures 2014

Family Pictures turned out to be pretty painless this time around....other than berries on my new shorts! It came out though so it's all good. Here are some of my favorites:

Jay's socks...*sigh*

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Here we are chillin' on the porch.

E will look at me and I'll coo and goo at her, hoping to elicit a smile.

 She looks

 Almost smiles....

 changes her mind....

 okay mom, same old stuff....you've done that weird face a million times....

 oh! okay...that's a little more interesting...

 eh....yawn....

Then Daddy comes home.

And magic happens.

 Immediately every part of her lights up and is excited and happy

 "Hello Beautiful!" is all he says.

 Can you see how much she adores her dad?

 She just kept staring and smiling.

 And started cooing.

 And talking back...in a good way...just telling him about her day.

 This is when you know she's really excited. She'll grasp a big fistful of fabric or blanket or whatever is nearby and bring it up to her face.

She loves him soooooooo much.

And this is what happiness is.

Esther 4 Months

This shirt fits her so much. Everyone makes her happy and she makes everyone happy. 

16 pounds

That is 1/2 of what Grant weighs.

This girl.
Oh my.
This girl melts my heart.

Updates:

Personality: 
How can I describe this precious girl? She is so chill. She is polite. She is patient. She is FUN!  I've never seen a baby who smiles more than she does. She smiles and coos at everyone but is getting attached to mama to put her to bed.

Nursing Wars:
She still doesn't like nursing all that much- binky baby. So this is how nursing goes: It's been 4 hours, she's fussy. Here you go baby- take some milk. "WAH!!! I don't want the milk to come out of there! Give me my binky!!" So I comply. "Oh, um. um. Thank you. um um...wait WAH!!!!! I need milk!" Okay- here you go, I try again. "WAH!!!!" So then I end up squirting a little milk in her open mouth. "Oh?!" she stops flailing..."yes..that's what I need." Finally she'll take the boob. By this time I am perspiring and feel like I just ran a mile- my arms sore from trying to keep the baby in my lap while holding everything in place for her to latch on. Almost every time. But then she'll eat contently for a little bit but when she is full she'll bob on and off on and off and look at me putting her fist to her mouth. So then I give and present the binky and she sucks on that for a while and then either goes to sleep or is content and then she'll play. It is tricky my friends.

Development:
She is so close to rolling over! She is on her back and will crane her head all the way around while arching her back to see Grant doing something silly. So close.

Laughing! Grant was throwing around a little stuffed star the other night (when he should have been sleeping mind you) but he threw it and made a funny noise and Esther cracked up. She actually full on laughed! Oh it was music to my ears. It's one of those moments that you didn't know you were waiting for but once it happens you feel so relieved and happy and life is perfect in that moment.

Describe Esther in a few words this month:
This girl is FUN.



Pictures:

Bath time. 

Grant helped me dump water on her. It was cold from the facet. Oops. She got over it fairly quickly.

I got the best video of her squirming in excitement being in the bath tub. Just really like "what is going on?" she is moving and it looks kind of strange but you know she's just excited to be in the water...I just have to find my camera so stay tuned....

She has now discovered her toes and you will see her sitting up and start head diving down to them- I think she really wants to put them in her mouth and hasn't realized they can come up to her instead of her going down to them...

Someone said she looked like me! I think it's the coloring. I look at her and go, "She's so white!" Then I'll look at my leg right by hers and I'm even whiter! 

The hair. Oh boy the hair. ? ??? Is all I gotta say. :)

Oh but look at those lips. And those blue eyes. And those perfectly round cheeks. She is a beautiful child.

I am sad I can't find the camera right now (well for a few days now...so weird) because I got her smiling seeing her daddy first thing from coming home from work and boy oh boy she doesn't hold back anything. Her smile spreads from ear to ear. She loves her daddy.