5 Months Old

Sarah is 5 months old today. She was pretty excited when I told her.

But she was confused and sad that there would be no cake and candles. (I don't get it either.)

And didn't believe me that she couldn't eat any even if there were.

Highchairs, Hair Flowers, Swings and Fingers

Since Sarah doesn't like to be excluded from the action, we decided to bring her up to our level and bust out her highchair. She's still a little small for it. Do they make booster seats for highchairs? But she loves being up high and playing with her toys.

This video cracks me up. She was trying so hard to be mad but couldn't stop sucking on her turtle's head.

And for various reasons, Justin and I haven't joined the trend of big flowers on baby heads. Thus, this may be the only time you'll see one on her. I have to say she looks adorable and she got a big kick out of looking at herself in the mirror with this on.

And here we are on the swings. Boy am I grateful for spring.

And Sarah will still suck on anything but a binky. Oh well.

The Many Adventures of Sarah the Pooh

One of the best things about being a parent is that you get to relive the best parts of your childhood. Example Staying up until 11 pm watching Winnie the Pooh by yourself: lame. Staying up with your not-so-tired 4-month-old watching Winnie the Pooh: Good parenting and good fun.

And of course, Tigger is her favorite. She jumps on my lap right along with him.

Attached Parenting

While waiting at the doc's office earlier this week, I read an article about Attached Parenting (parenting style where you hold your baby all that you can and see to their needs before they cry, etc). After reading this, I realized, I am one; not because I decided to be but because I have a baby that apparently read an article on Attached Babying in the premortal realm. Sarah is, to put it simply, a high maintenance baby. So much so, there are times that I look at her crying, fussy face and say, "get used to being an only child." She's not a difficult baby, just not "chill" like I had naively dreamt of. She's not complicated either- "Hold me and I'm happy. And if you're not holding me, be where I can see you or hear you, although your minutes are numbered."

Early on I learned to split up my daily activities in 3 categories, Things I can do while holding Sarah (who needs 2 hands to make dinner/brush teeth/put on socks?), Things I can do while feeding (such as write on blog) and Things I can do while Sarah is sleeping (the shortest list because she's also a short napper).

But things are better now. I had been told by my sister and mother that something magical happens around 4 months old--babies just mellow out. Although some evenings around 3 months I didn't believe them, they were right--Sarah is pretty chill these days.

But have I helped her mellow out or has she trained me to be "attached"? On any given day I can be seen doing at least one of the following. (Compared to a month ago where I could be seeing doing one of these things ALL DAY LONG.)

1) Making dinner while singing "Old McDonald" so many times we've left the farm searching for animals. What does a kangaroo say?

2) Singing "Pokey Bear" while fastening her carseat buckles, getting her dressed or any other activity that eats into her play time. For some reason life is less scary if you're hearing a song about a bear that likes to be slow.

3) Watching TV in closed caption while Leona Lewis is blasting through our surround sound. For some reason, loud music is calming to her. So better than the CC on because I can't hear over Sarah's screams.

Think that sounds crazy? The craziest thing is that even on the worst days, I don't want her to change. She's just this wiggly ball of energy and curiosity that I don't want to hold back. Sarah is Sarah and I love her for it. Am I praying that my next baby will be a little more chill? Yes.

I Wear My Life On My Sleeve

I told Justin yesterday that instead of asking how my day was, he can just look at my shirt and get a pretty good idea.

My new attitude about snot/slobber/spit-up on my clothes: If I'm not getting my picture taken or going on an interview, I don't care.

4 Months Old

Sarah turned 4 months last Friday and today was her check-up. She is now 11 lbs, 14 oz and 24 inches long. She's just a little squirt which is a blessing since she still likes to be carried around most of the day. The doc says she's perfect. I concur.