Amelia is 4 Months Old!

How can our baby be 4 months old? Amelia is turning into quite the big girl. She is now rolling in all directions quite rapidly. Earlier today, she transported herself to the trashcan on the floor of the hall to check out the plastic bag inside and ended up tipping it over on herself. Luckily, I was right there to catch the can before she was covered in 2 days worth of poopy diapers (and yes, the trashcan now has a new, baby friendly location). With all her self propelling these days, we have had to upgrade to a bed sized comforter on the floor to attempt to contain the spit up stains on our carpet. She still manages to get herself to the side and urp over the edge, but it helps. Scooting in the forward direction isn't far off as recently I've watched her work and work to get to toys right in front of her. Legs kicking and arms flailing push her forward at about 2.5 mm per hour, but she is getting there! Or rather, not getting there yet.

Keeping her on her belly for the whole photo shoot was quite the ordeal (and quite the workout!). Thank goodness, my favorite assistant, Daddy was home to help keep me on her belly and get her to smile big!

I'm not sure what is up with her hair...either her head is growing so rapidly, it appears her hair is falling out (my favorite theory) or her hair is falling out. I am so sad to be loosing the wild woman hair.
Looking up at daddy


Checking out her hands...contemplating spitting up on her outfit.
Giggling

Our girl also loves to be upright. I'm not sure if this is related a little to her spitty reflux or just a baby determined to satrt running to catch up with her brother. But, Amelia loves to sit and stand upright. She would do this all day long if I had nothing else to do.

Standing with Daddy's fingers

Standing with Daddy's help - you can see here how nicely his fingers have healed after our December car accident.
Peeking out from under her hat

As you would expect, Amelia is quite interested in her brother's toys and generally whatever he is doing. William is tolerating this new, mobile sister of his. Previously, he could keep both ladies in the house happy by providing his sister with one toy to look at and then playing with the rest of the 857676846354687654654654 toys we have in our house himself. This ploy does not work any longer, as Amelia works and works to get herself over to where William is playing to check the toys out for herself. So far she is happy to just watch him play and isn't demanding an equal share for herself. But, those days are coming.
Our girl has discovered her toes in the last week or two - I love this stage of grabbing their own feet for entertainment.

Fingers and toes
Just the sweet toes

Amelia continues to be quite social. There isn't anyone out there who she won't smile and giggle for. She is quite the flirt and charms people from the other side of the room on a regular basis. We frequently go places with her and have complete strangers approach us after she has worked her magic on them. She is utterly irresistible. We think so too.

Amelia flirting with her Daddy
These cheeks were made for kissing. And that is just what I do. Amelia is also giving kisses back quite deliberately. Although, they are on the messy side (open mouth, drool, occasional spit up), but she makes up for the fact by giggling the whole time she is kissing me. As if she couldn't be more delighted about kissing me.

I'm looking forward to our doctor appointment later this week as I am certain that she has made some big weight/height gains this month. Judging from the size of her jowls, number of chins and the amount of rolls on her thighs, I would say she is now getting enough to eat. She is looooonnnnnng like her brother and is wearing sized 12 month sleepers. Anything that is one piece needs to be sized 12 month. The two piece outfits are somehow more forgiving and she can squeeze her way into some 6-9 month stuff. Although the 3-6 sized pants still fit. in fact, the outfit she is wearing in these pictures is sized 6-9 month. I just bought it last weekend and I thought there would be "room to grow". Turns out I'm going to need to have her wear it a whole bunch here because I don't think it is going to fit much longer.

Although she loves eating, her curiosity about the world around her is starting to interfere with this favorite pastime. If there are noises or people talking loudly in the room around her, Amelia often has to stop and check out what is going on. This girl doesn't want to miss anything. Even if it is quiet and the two of us are alone, she frequently has to stop eating to flash her beautiful smile at me...which always makes me laugh. Which in turn, always makes Amelia laugh, which makes me laugh more. It isn't unusual for us to sit on the couch and quietly giggle at each other for several minutes until one of us decides it is time to get back to business.

Curious
What are you doing Mama?
Checking things out...

Speaking of eating, we are breaking ground on teeth. She is on the early side, just as William was with her first tooth breaking through just a few days before she turned four months old and the second tooth close behind. I'm not sure what kind of food she thinks she'll need those teeth for, but I guess she'll be ready when we get there.

Frequently the pose around here: as many fingers in the mouth as will fit. Enough to gag herself on a regular basis. I'd worry about her predisposition towards an eating disorder, but take a look at those chins. I'll worry about that later.

In fact, sometimes more than one hand is even good

Amelia Ann, you are as sweet as can be. You are such a beautiful blessing to our family and we love you to pieces. Your smile lights up our day and I could sit and watch you for hours. In fact, sometimes I do. Just because I can, and you are mine. I love you so much, baby girl.

One out take showing my lovely assistant, Daddy in our photo studio/bathroom. You'll see the toilet directly behind Daddy's head. Nice, huh? Here Daddy is holding Amelia in place so she will QUIT. ROLLING.OVER.ALREADY. so I can take a picture.

Tooth #1 on Kid #2

July 28th. Front lower right. Good bye gummy grins, goodbye.

Amazing Amelia

Amelia sure is growing and learning new things lately! It is definately time to say goodbye to the newborn and hello to our kicking, giggling, rolly polly girl!

Amelia loves to stand. For hours on end it feels like. So, we pulled out the exersaucer to try it out. Amelia loves, loves, loves it! Right away her attention was caught by some spinning wheels shown in the picture above. The interesting thing (maybe only to me) is this particular part of the toy never interested William at all. I don't think he ever played with it. So, it was funny to me that Amelia spent a huge chunk of time playing with it and figuring it out.

One hand is always in the mouth. Poor kiddo with the teeth coming in...

This is fascinating (but not enough to take my hands out of my mouth)

At meal times we've been having some trouble with Amelia wanting to be with us. One of us ends up holding her and doesn't get to eat (or drops food on Amelia's head). So, we pulled out the high chair and now Amelia sits with us in her high chair - what a big girl!

Cars are a great motivation to roll around. My heart stopped the other day when I walked into the room and Amelia wasn't where I left her (about 3 feet south). However, her brother's cars were a great incentive to get moving!
We have discovered our feet! And we take great delight in pulling off whatever socks mom puts on us. Look at my talent!

My talent from another direction

Mom left me playing with blocks in the far left region of this picture. When she came back....Amelia had traveled a pretty big distance! Wow! Time to get out the BIG blanket!

Angels Among Us

I don't have much to say. I'm busy holding on to our kids and being thankful for the blessings we've been given. I've posted a little about our friends, The Hawns. There are no words...no right words to describe the loss our friends have experienced today. If you are the praying kind, I know they would be appreciated.

Amelia and Ryan about 2 weeks ago. Ryan and Amelia enjoyed each other's company for a shart visit. Here is Amelia contemplating how to get the keys away from Ryan.

What a beautiful boy...

William and big sister Charlotte Hawn looking at books together last week when we brought the Hawn's some dinner.

Say this 3 Times Fast!

As seen from the car on our trip home from MN last time:

William 2.5

William 2.5 the newer, faster, crabbier version of William

It is so amazing and crazy at the same time to think about my baby boy being 2 1/2 years old. My sweet, sweet boy is getting to be so big and grown up!
It seems like everywhere you are going these days is at top speed running. You love to go fast!

Running....weeeeee!

Except when you don't feel like it...then getting you to move is like cheering on a turtle. I wouldn't mind, but the story time crowd doesn't wait for anyone.

William, you are such a special boy to us. You make us want to laugh (and sometimes cry) with your antics hundreds of times a day. You are curious, helpful, outgoing and stubborn. The last bit though was inevitable between your daddy and me. I am pretty sure you got most of it from him, although he'll tell you differently. I'll never admit you got it all from me. In short, I think you are amazing. Which is something you now say everyday, all the time "That's amazing".

You are growing so much and learning new things everyday. You pick up new phrases on a daily basis and incorporate them into your conversations. "That's amazing", "I love you, Mama/Daddy", and "Oh my gosh!" are all things you've picked up in the last few weeks. Your need and desire to understand the world around you has led you to constantly ask questions. I understand this is typical, but answering the same question one thousand times a day gets pretty old. For example:

William (buckled into his car seat): Going, Mama?
Mama (driving): To the grocery store to get some food! Yay!
[pause]
William: Going, Mama?
Mama (driving): To the grocery store to get some food!
[pause]
William: Going, Mama?
Mama (driving): To the grocery store to get some food!
[pause]
William: Going, Mama?
Mama (driving): To the grocery store to get some food!
[pause]
William: Going, Mama?
Mama (driving): To the grocery store!
[pause]
William: Going, Mama?
Mama (driving): To the zoo.
[pause]
William (with smile on his face): NO! To the grocery store to get some food!
[pause]
William: Going, Mama?
Mama: Turns the radio up before her head explodes (please note: the voice in the backseat continues)


Unfortunately, the questions aren't limited to the car rides. They are a constant, ever present part of our day together. It is a good thing I love you. A whole lot. Because I'm not sure how many times I could explain to you about matching up the socks or washing the dishes otherwise.

Your new found vocabulary can also make it a lot of fun to hang out with you. You read me the books using the pictures to tell stories - which is way more entertaining than just reading you it as written. You are curious about the world around you and ask hundreds of questions about everything you see and touch. You like to be right in on the action, in the middle of everything from sorting laundry to putting gas in the car. However, you aren't quite there with being able to tell us what is always on your mind. This is a problem because it leads to multiple meltdowns several times a day. You aren't always sure what you want, but you ARE sure you want to have a say. We're working on it and I think we've made some progress.

Exhibit A: I WANT TO USE THE CAMERA! IT IS MY TURN!
Exhibit B: If I can't use the camera, I'm not going to look at you and smile.Exhibit C: I don't like this camera thing if I can't hold it.

Exhibit D: IT'S MY TURN!!!!! LET ME PUSH THE BUTTONS!!!!

You continue to be heart melting sweet to your baby sister most of the time. You kiss her good morning/good night and bring her toys and books to look at when she cries. You touch her very gently and love to help me hold her and give her baths (right now you help her splash in the water and watch me wash her). You can make her laugh like no one else can by just giving her the hint of a smile. You brighten her day in just a fraction of a second with your beautiful smile and infectious laugh. You don't always like to share with her and have trouble understanding why certain toys are off limits to you, but you're learning.
You are so silly. You love to do silly things to make us laugh. And we love it too. Well, the first and second time anyways - the next 546876516846981681 times are always entertaining. You also love to do things by yourself from putting on your shoes to putting clothes in the washer. You still don't understand why you aren't allowed to drive the car or mow the lawn and we have meltdowns about one or the other roughly once a week.


You continue to adore all vehicles. Basically anything with wheels is awesome in your book. You've even taken to correcting me when we are out and about and we see a vehicle ("Not a digger Mama. Excavator.")

A happy birthday cupcake seemed appropriate

We happened to have cupcakes leftover...so I bribed you into eating broccoli in exchange for one of these. I still can't believe you ate it. By yourself.
Yummm.....A boy with his 1/2 birthday cupcake
Daddy and Amelia watch...daddy isn't sure he is happy about having another sweet tooth in the house....

You were pretty happy to tell me baby sister is "too little to eat cupcakes"
Happy baby sister