Melanie is 5 months old! I swear every month goes faster than the last. Here we go.
She rolls! But she only rolls from her back to her front, so she's been getting lots of tummy time. I usually leave her that way until she voices her distress.
She understands that she can get to things by rolling, so she is always looking around to see what she can reach.
She gives lots of smiles.
She will purposely hold back laughs when she is being tickled. It's pretty funny to see her squirm, grin, then put on a serious face.
She loves faces and always reaches up to touch cheeks or to grab a nose or lip.
She is much better at manipulating toys in her hands to get them into her mouth the way she wants them. Her favorites are the set of rattles that she got from Grandpa Moore and Sophie the Giraffe.
We have added books to her bedtime routine, and she seems to enjoy them. She at least likes grabbing at the pages and trying to eat them.
Sometimes in the morning she wakes up without crying. I'll hear her kicking her crib or making noises to herself. I peek in to find her looking at herself in the mirror or rolling on her side. She gives me a big grin when she sees me.
She likes to pull on Spencer's beard whenever she gets a chance, and she's getting faster.
A good laugh from Melanie always makes me happy. She usually gives the biggest laugh when she's anticipating the next tickle or "oooga-booga-boo".
In all, she's a little bundle of wiggles and fun. We love her so much.
Check back for some pictures.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Strawberries
Melanie tried strawberries for the first time today.
P.S. I set a very wiggly Melanie down on her back so I could upload these pictures and I heard her filling her diaper. I looked over and she was on her tummy! So there you go. I missed her first time rolling over.
P.P.S. Don't worry. She just did it again and I was watching. :)
Monday, January 19, 2015
Sleep Training and Other Less Stressful Things
Well, we've been back in Mt. Pleasant for a couple of weeks now. When we first got back, Melanie was still a little bit congested, so when she cried about being put in her crib we didn't fight it. After a week of her sleeping in her car seat, I decided that we needed to be done with it. We also were going through the transition to not using a swaddle during that first week back, and I think the car seat helped her feel a little more secure than just laying in the crib. Anyway, she was finally sleeping not swaddled, but only in her car seat, so I decided it's just time to take the plunge and get this sleep training thing going.
The first night I tried it she was crying for a while... and Spencer said he wanted to go rock her. I said fine, but she has to sleep in her crib. So he worked his magic and got her to bed in her crib. Seriously, for the life of me, I couldn't do it. She'd cry no matter what I did unless I was nursing her. Some days you just can't win. Anyway, that night when I got up to change and feed her, she cried and cried the entire time I was changing her diaper, which isn't normal, and I ended up putting her in her car seat.
That night was pretty rough for me. I wasn't feeling like super mom. I was also thinking a lot about sending her to daycare and all these other things. (Like how we found out that this spring there will be about 3 weeks of overlap in our coursework, so we have to arrange child care for that and I just don't know what we're going to do yet.) Add letting your baby cry to the mix, and I pretty much just felt like crying all night, too.
The next day I talked with Dad for a while and he helped reassure me that everything was going to be okay. Thanks, Dad. :) I decided to give sleep training another shot, and to not give up on it this time. So, day 1 went alright. Today she is doing better than yesterday, so I'm hopeful that in a couple more days she'll go down happily.
On a happier note, we've done a few things with some of people. We had a game night with Spencer's classmate Len and his wife, Lauren. They are both really nice and I hope we have more get togethers in the future. Friday night we had another game night with a few of his classmates. It was fun and we stayed out way past Melanie's bedtime, but she was happy and charming. She LOVED Zach and just stared at him or grabbed at his face for most of the time we were there. It was pretty funny. I'm always so grateful that Melanie is such an easy-going baby when we go out. It makes me think that we should go out more often, but we don't.
Melanie and I had a nice visit with Sister Graham, who is in our ward and our next door neighbor. She invited me over for lunch and we had a nice time chatting. I helped her use some 3M strips to hang some of her pictures, too. Melanie hung out, gave some happy smiles, and even rolled over for the first time (front to back)! Twice! She hasn't repeated it since then, and Spencer's a little disappointed, I think.
School picked right back up at full speed for Spencer. He's starting organ systems this semester, so it should be pretty interesting for him. I'm readjusting to not having him around all day. He does have a long weekend, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, so that's pretty nice. I'm not sure that we'll do anything in particular, but I'm always happy to have him home for an extra day.
The first night I tried it she was crying for a while... and Spencer said he wanted to go rock her. I said fine, but she has to sleep in her crib. So he worked his magic and got her to bed in her crib. Seriously, for the life of me, I couldn't do it. She'd cry no matter what I did unless I was nursing her. Some days you just can't win. Anyway, that night when I got up to change and feed her, she cried and cried the entire time I was changing her diaper, which isn't normal, and I ended up putting her in her car seat.
That night was pretty rough for me. I wasn't feeling like super mom. I was also thinking a lot about sending her to daycare and all these other things. (Like how we found out that this spring there will be about 3 weeks of overlap in our coursework, so we have to arrange child care for that and I just don't know what we're going to do yet.) Add letting your baby cry to the mix, and I pretty much just felt like crying all night, too.
The next day I talked with Dad for a while and he helped reassure me that everything was going to be okay. Thanks, Dad. :) I decided to give sleep training another shot, and to not give up on it this time. So, day 1 went alright. Today she is doing better than yesterday, so I'm hopeful that in a couple more days she'll go down happily.
On a happier note, we've done a few things with some of people. We had a game night with Spencer's classmate Len and his wife, Lauren. They are both really nice and I hope we have more get togethers in the future. Friday night we had another game night with a few of his classmates. It was fun and we stayed out way past Melanie's bedtime, but she was happy and charming. She LOVED Zach and just stared at him or grabbed at his face for most of the time we were there. It was pretty funny. I'm always so grateful that Melanie is such an easy-going baby when we go out. It makes me think that we should go out more often, but we don't.
Melanie and I had a nice visit with Sister Graham, who is in our ward and our next door neighbor. She invited me over for lunch and we had a nice time chatting. I helped her use some 3M strips to hang some of her pictures, too. Melanie hung out, gave some happy smiles, and even rolled over for the first time (front to back)! Twice! She hasn't repeated it since then, and Spencer's a little disappointed, I think.
School picked right back up at full speed for Spencer. He's starting organ systems this semester, so it should be pretty interesting for him. I'm readjusting to not having him around all day. He does have a long weekend, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, so that's pretty nice. I'm not sure that we'll do anything in particular, but I'm always happy to have him home for an extra day.
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