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. 

Movie Night With Grant

We just had a "special night" with this boy. We've never let him stay up and watch a movie with us but we decided we would let him last night. We bought Chasing Mavericks and assumed he would get tired and snuggle up with us and just fall asleep watching a boring grown-up movie. He watched the whole movie exclaiming throughout "BIG WATER! Dangerous!!!!" whenever he saw the big waves. 

WE just love him to pieces and while we won't be making a habit of letting him stay up with us, it sure was fun hanging with this kid. 

Just have some pictures of this kid I need to put up:

posing and screaming "cheese"

head turban

After nose diving into the dirt on a picnic in the mountains.

Esther 3 Months

She's a big baby. Tall and big. I like fat babies- I really do- I love the chunk and having a few pounds makes them not so fragile-ish. BUT! They grow out of their clothes so stinkin' fast! And your arms hurt from carrying the chunk around. I don't know if I'll ever have a small baby- I was hoping my girl would be smaller than G- and she is but she's still chunky. I'm not going to lie- when I see babies a year old and the same size I get a little jealous that they get their baby smaller longer. Oh but she is so cute and I just need to do some weight training so I can stop whining about my arms ;) That will solve all my problems.

Uniqueness:
Always, always has her little hands together up by her face- G never did that- it looks pretty girly too- like "oh hi, you are looking at me? *girly giggle*". Then she'll do her little smile into her shoulder all shyly and cute. Oh she melts my heart.
She talks and talks and LOVES when you sing to her.
She crawls! Well- not really but holy cow! I put her on her tummy for tummy time and she moves those legs and feet and pushes her face into the floor- she doesn't like that but she moves.
Still a good sleeper! Yay!
Loves her binky sometimes even more than eating- she's hungry but wants the binky first then she'll take the boob.

And here's some more cuteness:

And some more:

And a few more:

first time- hated it after this picture:)

practicing sitting up

Awwwe.