7 months

My sweet sunshine, you are 7 months old now.  You can sit very well unassisted and sitting is how you prefer to be.  You will sit and play with your toys quite nicely.  Especially if your sister sits down and plays with you,

You got your two bottom teeth this month and you have also been trying different foods.  So far I have given you bell peppers, cucumber, apple, pear, avocado, frozen peach, mango, and asparagus.  You like foods that are easier to hold on to.  Avocado, pear, and mango were too slippery, but the second time I gave you mango, I held it for you and you were a big fan.  You haven't actually eaten much of anything yet, mostly just tasting and playing which is just fine.

You do this really cute thing where you tilt your head to the side and I think it's so adorable.  You also learned how to nod your head, but you look like you almost fall over when you do it because your head is heavy!

You still love to talk and are learning new sounds.  I believe your newest one is "oh".  You are getting a little better at blowing raspberries, but still not quite there.  It's adorable watching you try.

You have been unusually grumpy lately and we're not quite sure why.  You're sleep has been negatively affected and neither one of us are very well rested.  You just want to nurse constantly and have started spitting up in the morning because you are too full from nursing all night!  That isn't good for either one of us, so we're going to have to figure out what to do about that,

Even though you are more grumpy than usual, you are still a very happy baby.  You just seem to be very whiny and it's hard to figure out what you want.  Other than to nurse constantly!  Hopefully everything gets worked out soon.  I keep having to remind myself that you will sleep one day, I just wish it's sooner rather than later.

I love you my sweet, happy baby.  I can't imagine life without you.  You bring such joy to our whole family.

5 years

My sweet girl, you are 5 years old now.  Your birthday was February 22.  I cannot believe you will start kindergarten in the fall!  You love your preschool, so hopefully you will like kindergarten too.  You seem excited for it, though you are not a big fan of change.  We shall see how it goes.

You love to sing and dance and your favorite singers are Taylor Swift, Katie Perry, and Justin Bieber.  You have been asking to go to ballet class, so hopefully I will find a class for you soon.  You recently went to your cousin's dance recital and could hardly contain yourself while watching because you were so excited.  You also got to go to one of your cousin's dance classes and had a blast!

Your best friend is Elsa and you always tell everyone, "I have a real friend named Elsa" because everyone thinks you're talking about Elsa from Frozen.  Whenever you and Elsa say good bye to each other, she says, "Good bye Elsa!" to you and you say, "Good bye Raeya!" to her.  It is the cutest thing.

You with your best friend Elsa on your birthday.

Books are still high on your list of favorite things, but you spend most of your time these days playing with your "treasures".  These consist of various small, shiny objects.  Usually beads, gems, sequins, etc.  You absolutely love treasures and we are constantly finding them all over the house.  I don't always know what you're doing with them, but you have such a great imagination that they provide hours of endless entertainment.

You are extremely girly and will only wear dresses, the fancier the better.  Sparkles and frills are the best as far as you're concerned.  You also love jewelry and need to pick out a necklace everyday to wear.

You are a great big sister and do an excellent job at entertaining your little sister.  She adores you and you're pretty fond of her too.  Watching the bond grow between the two of you has been one of my greatest joys as a mother.

You are very interested in reading and I'll bet it won't take you very long to learn.  You are starting to be able to write some letters, like the ones in your name, but you have a hard time because you want it to look just right and that takes practice.

You are still extremely cautious and you're definitely not a risk taker.  While sometimes I wish you were more daring, I know that as you get older and the consequences become more serious, that I won't have much to worry about with you.  You're always going to stick with safer choices and that is just fine with me.

You have grown up a lot this past year and while I'm not fond of the sass and attitude you've acquired, it has been great watching you grow and learn new things.  You are gorgeous inside and out and I hope your curiosity and thirst for knowledge will serve you well when you start school.

I love you so much my little girl.  You give the best hugs and have the most beautiful smile.  I can't wait to see what comes next.

 

 (Photo by JRoPhotography.com)