I honestly can’t believe it. How on earth did my teeny tiny just-over-8-pounds baby girl turn into 15 pounds, 26 inches of a little person?!? Selah grew up this month. No, I don’t just mean that she grew…I mean, she grew up.
Selah is starting to feel like a contributing part of our family. I don’t know if that makes sense…she’s just become so aware of Elliott this last month, and loves to smile and giggle back at him. She watches him as he goes back and forth in a room, turning her head completely over her shoulder to see where he’s going. And as soon as he comes near, she laughs and laughs. She adores him.
Just after her 4 month birthday, Brian set her on her back and when he came back into the room she was on her tummy. So although she clearly must have known how to do it, we still had never seen her roll from her back to her tummy until February 19! She did it then, and then over and over and over again that day until she was a pro. Now, we set her on her back and she instantly and quickly rolls to her tummy. I think it’s because she loves to PLAY! She loves to have a good view of what’s going on in the world, what on earth her big brother is up to, and which toys are within her grasp. She loves tucking her knees under her…looks like she’s gearing up to learn how to crawl!
In other news this month, Selah has decided to boycott napping. (And, seriously, if anyone reading this and has ANY ideas for me, I am game!!!) She had conquered the 45 minute intruder and was taking three 2-3 hour naps a day, and then one day she JUST STOPPED. She goes right to sleep when I put her down, but wakes up at 45 minutes and giggles, chats, and plays for 45-60 minutes until she falls asleep again. And you must believe me when I say I’ve tried EV.ER.Y.THING to fix this little pattern. Longer awake times, shorter awake times, dark room, noise machine, cooler jammies, warmer jammies, swaddled, loosely swaddled, dancing on my head and spinning around 4 and a half times while wearing the color blue and singing lullabies backwards…and NOTH.ING. WORKS. Apparently it’s common to have sleep problems between 4-6 months, but we never went through this with little man. She’s still sleeping amazingly through the night, so I suppose I should pick my battles :).
I think she just really likes to play! I should get her a shirt that says, “Life is too short to take naps. Play hard.” 🙂 As soon as light creeps into the room when I open the door to get her from a “nap”, she starts kicking her legs super fast and giggling and laughing. It is the cutest thing ever. And as soon as she sees us in the mirror, she just gets the biggest grin on her face. I love it. I love her.
Here are some memories and milestones from her last month of life:
She loves grabbing faces…
So, Selah has always had an incredible fascination with the outlet/plug above her changing table. I don’t know what it is, but she will arch her back and crink her neck so she can have the best view possible of it.
She loves playing with all the new toys Elliott brings her.
She loves chatting with her big bro!
She still loves her tongue…and polka dots!
The thing to do this month is chew on her finger. This finger hardly ever leaves her mouth…
The weather has been beautiful here, and was in the mid-80s on the first day of March. Perfect opportunity to bust out this outfit from Aunt Danielle.
Selah has started a little “comfort” habit of sucking the bottom of her lip. I think it is painfully cute…for some reason it just melts my heart into a puddle when she does it.
Selah will sit for a few seconds unsupported, but still does better holding on while sitting up.
But she still prefers standing to sitting…when we stand her up she just laughs and giggles.
The way to get her to giggle is to lift her high above your head, drop her down, and nuzzle your head into her chest…she just loves it.
I’ve gotten her to laugh SO HARD by doing this…we haven’t caught her best laugh on video yet, but you get the idea…
Selah Bethany, you are the most perfect addition to our family! We love watching you grow and we love every day that you teach us more about who you are!
Happy 5 month birthday, my sweetest Selah B!!!!
Melt my heart!!!!!!!!
OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!!! Can’t wait to see her in person!!!!
Sweetness abounds!. We hope to meet both Selah and Elliott one day…soon?
Hugs from us,
Aunt Paula and Uncle Joe
What a cute couple of kids you two have. Will see you when you are in Colorado Springs! Love, Ed and Lucia
Love Selah and havent even met her!
Someone sent this to me when Q was born and the humor made me feel better (regarding sleep issues). The best advice I ever got was to relax and laugh at myself. Took me 3 kids to get that, but it was the only “sleep solution” that got me through it all!
From the Huffington Post:
“There is literally nothing you will obsess about more in the first year of parenthood than your child’s sleep patterns. You will read studies. You will make logs of night wakings only to find in the morning that you accidentally used a lo mein-encrusted chopstick and a DVD case to record this vital information. You will volunteer nap schedules — without prompting — to total strangers. You will study the creaky floorboards in your house like a military operative searching for land mines in Afghanistan.
I can’t stop you from doing this. However, I can tell you that no matter how your child sleeps and how you choose to address it, sleep will suck for the first year at least. If you DON’T sleep-train, it will suck because it’s unpredictable and erratic, and you get kicked in the side of the head a lot. If you DO sleep-train, it will suck because you’ll be sentenced to live out the same schedule day after day like Bill Murray inGroundhog Day only with less imminent death (and sleep-trained babies STILL have days/weeks/months of relapse). So chill. It sucks for everyone. You can’t really screw it up, because it is inherently screwed up. Anyone who pretends they know what they’re talking about is either lying or trying to sell a book, probably both.
Hope the humor helps,
Kari
I am (mostly) at the laughing point…except when I’m at the crying point, HA! Love you, and thanks for the words :).
Susanne…Your kids are adorable! I can’t believe I haven’t met them, or your husband, yet. Elliot looks to be guiding her just right. I hope he keeps it up and I hope everything is perfect for the four of you right now.