Miriam Elayne, you are 6 months old! Wow!

You are eating bananas, rice cereal, sweet potatoes, oatmeal cereal … and licks of chocolate snuck in as well 😉 You are rolling all over the place, planking, and turning in circles. Mommy and Daddy find you in totally different positions than where we left you a few minutes before.

You absolutely love music and dancing; you favorite artist right now is Nickel Creek – their song ‘Destination’ stops you in your tracks and a big smile appears …

Your temper is developing (yikes!) as well as your ability to communicate; you use a ‘coo gurgle’ to say yes/I like that or stop/I’m done with this activity 🙂 You recognize signs for ‘milk’ and ‘more’; you are learning those as well as ‘mama’, ‘dada’, ‘please’, ‘all done’, and ‘thank you’.

You find and LOVE the tags on everything – toys, blankets, bibs – everything!

Peek-a-boo really means something to you now – your object permanence is developing well; this also means that you know when Mommy is gone. That has lead to some red-in-the-face moments; not always but sometimes you get really mad when Mommy isn’t with you.

You’ve learned to sit this month as well; you can sit up to 10 minutes on your own but we still put pillows around you for when you topple from tiredness.

This month included your first Christmas! We had Christmas at Grandma’s in NE, our house, and Pop-pop’s in CO. Here’s some of our Christmas pictures, in no particular order:

Miriam Elayne, you are our greatest gift! You light up every day with your smile, your enthusiasm for life and learning, and your gentle spirit. We thank God for you every day! Mommy and Daddy love you so very much <3 You are our beloved sunshine!

Happy, happy 5 months, Miriam!

Wow, you have hit many fun milestones this month! You have learned to confidently roll from your back to tummy (11.11), and timidly roll from tummy to back (around 11.13) – you still like help with that part but you are trying. Early, early this month you also began to reach up/arch your back for Mommy (and others) when they reach down to pick you up. So cute! You celebrated Mommy’s 38th birthday on the 17th with her – you of course are her very best gift but you, Daddy, Brendan, and Aubry also got Mommy the second-best gift ever: the new Foo Fighters album, Sonic Highways!

One of your biggest moments this month was starting to eat table food. Your first food was bananas on Nov 21st, followed a few days later by rice cereal. You made some funny faces at first and didn’t really enjoy the slower process of eating (v drinking milk) but after a few days you must have realized how yummy food is because you began to eat like a champ!

On Nov 26th, you helped Mommy and Daddy celebrate their 5th Anniversary (which is actually on Nov 27th but that was Thanksgiving this year) by agreeing to stay with our friend, Jenny, and her 4 boys for a couple hours so Mommy and Daddy could have a nice dinner out. You did great and showed them how you could roll over! You’re a star at staying with others – you’ll go to anyone with a big smile but you do miss Mommy sometimes. A couple Sundays ago, Mommy left you at Baby Boulevard in Kids City at church while I attended the celebration service. When I went to pick you up, you were super-sad like you just knew Mommy wasn’t taking care of you. You even did the ‘catch in your throat’ sad cry 🙁 Mommy was so glad when you relaxed and calmed down!

Since October, you’ve been staying with a neighbor and friend from church, Sae, for a couple hours on Tuesday mornings while Mommy volunteers at Restore. You are really good at being away from Mommy for a couple hours already. And, you love to stay with Daddy when Mommy has Exchanges (for GOEX). The only time you really want just Mommy is at night. Your bedtime routine seems to require Mommy so far, but we’re working on that 😉

In early December, you had your first sick visit to the Doctor. You contracted pink eye somehow so we’ve been putting eye drops in for about a week and it’s clearing up just fine – although you do NOT like the drops! On a fun note, last TH/Dec 4th, Mommy was playing with you in your bouncer and you buzzed your lower lip really quietly. Just like your personality, you were so gentle, Mommy almost missed it – it was very cute! You are continuing to explore the feeling of making that and other noises with your mouth. It seems your first consonant is “g”, as in “guh”. We’ve been working on simpler sounds like “da” and “ma” but it seems you have a mind of your own 😉 We’ve also been working on some sign language this month: you are learning to sign for ‘milk’ and ‘more’, and seem to be understanding the sign for ‘milk’ sometimes already. We’re very excited to be able to communicate with you in other ways besides crying and smiling!

You also got your first library card on Dec 5; you just wanted to eat it.

Miriam, you are growing and changing so quickly. Sometimes, I feel like you change before my very eyes! You show us so much joy every day – you truly are our sunshine and we could not imagine our lives without you. Your sweet, gentle personality seems to most enjoy playtime one-on-one with another but you do tolerate big crowds in small doses. You are starting to enjoy peek-a-boo and are beginning to realize that objects exist even when you can’t directly see them. We are looking forward to every moment as you move towards your next big milestone – 6 months old!!

Miriam Elayne, you are our brave, sweet, beautiful, and smart girl! You are our beloved sunshine!

Miriam, you are four months old!

This month, many memorable events occurred in your life. You are changing so fast, Mommy and Daddy are having a hard time keeping up with you; but here are a few of our favorites this month:

On Oct 12th, you were dedicated to a lifetime of loving God at our church, Restore; your Imagine Statement read, “18 years from now, Paul and Teresa hope that Miriam will be confident, persistent, honest, gracious, and compassionate.” Your brother, sisters, and Grandma were all there to celebrate with you as we dedicated you to God! We’re so grateful for you, our wonderfully made gift!

On Oct 15th, we experienced your first laugh out loud! Mommy was kissing your face while you played on your play-mat, and you giggled aloud a couple times; Daddy witnessed it 🙂 It was such a beautiful sound! A few days later, we captured this video.

On Oct 23rd, Mommy took you to your first Baby Storytime at the public library; you loved seeing the other babies and toddlers play, the colors of the books, and the singing we did.

On Oct 26th, we took family pictures together. It was a gorgeous Fall day; Mommy’s friend Gretchen met us at a beautiful trail area near our house and took some stunning shots. You, of course, stole the show!

On Oct 29th, you rolled from your tummy to your back all on your own!! It was so exciting and Mommy happened to be videoing you at the time. You had no idea what you did, and you probably did it out of frustration, BUT it was adorable. You’ve only rolled over a couple times since, but you can turn yourself all the way around (360*) on your back, and you are loving your bouncer, turning yourself around in there as well. I’m sure that next month, Mommy and Daddy will have a lot more movement to report 🙂

On Halloween this year, you were a ladybug. The cutest ladybug ever! Daddy and Mommy took you to a local shopping area that was doing a “trunk or treat”. We walked you around, gathered a bit of candy that the stores offered, and basically showed you off 😉

A very special event occurred last year around this time; Mommy had a GOEX event with a friend in Olathe, KS who had discovered that Mommy was about 6 1/2 weeks pregnant with you. All of her friends at the event prayed for you at that time; that you would grow perfectly inside Mommy’s tummy and that you would be born safely in God’s time. It was so special and helpful to Mommy. THIS year, we went back on Nov 6th to those same friends who hosted a GOEX again and got to meet you!! You were so good the whole day, letting everyone hold you and giving big smiles. Mommy and Daddy are so blessed to have you, Miriam!

The only sad part of your month was that you came in contact with the virus, Roseola 🙁 You didn’t get a very bad case but it was a sad day for Mommy.

Miriam, you are our brave, smart, beautiful, and sweet daughter! We love you very much!

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Miriam Elayne, you are three months old!  What an exciting month for you!  On Sept 10th, you discovered you had hands.  Momma was in the kitchen making you a bottle, and when I came back to you on your play mat, you were looking at your left hand like it was an alien – ha ha!

Speaking of your play mat, you are really good at playing on your own already.  Your favorite toy this month became Froggy – you coo and coo with him and have also learned to grasp him by bringing your hands together.  You and he hug a lot each day! This lead us to wonder if your favorite color could be green.  We think so because when you are out for runs/walks/at FitMom with Mommy, you love staring at the green trees too.

At your 2-month check on 9.9.14, you weighed in at 11 lbs and measured 22.5″ long.  The doctor checked all your reflexes, vitals, and developmental milestones – you are above average to advanced in all areas!  Great job, sweet girl!!

Your first set of (five) immunizations was also on Sept 9th.  You did great but you were definitely sad and scared.  Mommy held you tight and we cuddled for the rest of the day as you recovered.  We discovered this month that your tummy prefers soy formula over any other; this was a very helpful discovery and has definitely lowered the amount of laundry you go through each day 🙂

In a developmentally appropriate way, you have your hands in your mouth much of the day … this has lead to you putting everything in your mouth and even beginning to hold your bottle on your own.  That hand-eye coordination is coming along very nicely!

You took your first flight this month too! We spent Oct 2 – 5 in the Loveland, CO area; Mommy was on business there with The GO Exchange, and we celebrated Daddy’s 38th birthday with a visit to Estes Park and with Momma’s sister and her family that live in the area. You were an awesome flyer – you nursed and slept nearly the whole flights 🙂 #mommyanddaddyweregrateful

Miriam Elayne, you become a greater joy with each passing day! You still sleep through the night except for one feeding and you are so close to rolling over already. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of who you are becoming and can’t wait to see how each month shows us more of who God designed you to uniquely be!!

You are our sweet, beautiful, smart, and brave Miriam!
You are our beloved sunshine!

Miriam Elayne, you are two months old!  Wow, what an awesome month you have had!  Talking, cooing, smiling – you have become quite interactive and continue to be our sweet, flexible, and (mostly) patient baby.  Mommy is always impressed when she has hour-long work phone calls and you just snuggle with her the whole time, listening and learning.

This month brought lots of talking and cooing – you truly enjoy talking with Mommy, Daddy, and siblings!  You are recognizing Mommy and Daddy’s face quickly now.

You are very fun when you’re waking up – you stretch and stretch for about 10 minutes!  You love getting oriented back to the world around you.

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This month also brought your first sickness 🙁  Mommy and Daddy had a scare when your temperature got too high but you were a champ and fought off your runny nose/cold all on your own.  The next day you were back to your happy, energetic self!

One really cute thing we noticed this month is that after you sneeze, sometimes you make a sweet little sigh; as if you’re so relieved by that sneeze.  You also make a super-cute wheezy, inhaling sound after your bottle.  We just love all your noises!!

Your Mommy and Daddy love to run (and Mommy missed it a lot while she was pregnant with you).  We all took our first run together on 8.20.14; it was hot and humid but together we made it about a mile and a quarter!   Mommy has a lot of work to do but you were patient 🙂

You had big days on 8.13 and 8.14 – you started cloth diapers which you have done so well with – no diaper rashes to date! – and you gave us your first genuine smile!  What a joy it is to receive that blessing each day from you, our little miracle!

Mommy and Daddy are also blessed by your sleep habits.  You started sleeping all through the night this month! You slept from 10pm to 630am on 8.18-19.2014, and have kept nearly those same hours since except for a few short feedings here and there.  Wow!

One sad part of the month was that you had a nightmare the night of 9.5.14 – you were just getting over a bad cold/runny nose/slight fever from the week before so that may have been part of the  reason but Mommy and Daddy have never heard such a blood-curdling scream 🙁  Mommy was so sad for you and cried with you … it lasted only a few minutes but it was a really tough few minutes!  Daddy and I talked with you and you finally settled down by nursing with Momma.  We hope that never happens to you again!

We went to visit Grandma Pam in NE this month, and you got to meet your Great-Grandma Lila too!   You were thoroughly enjoyed that day.  Even Great-Uncle Greg came by to see you:

Miriam, you are our truest joy!  You melt our hearts each day and we are so thankful God gave you to us.  May you continue to grow healthy and strong, and may you always know that we love you deeply.

You are our sweet, strong, beautiful, and brave Miriam.

You are our beloved sunshine!

Miriam Elayne, you are one month old! Mommy and Daddy can’t believe a month has passed already!  You are a wonderful baby … your favorite activities are eating and snuggling – you especially love laying on Mommy’s tummy to (get to) sleep and Daddy’s elbow-cradle snuggle-naps are one of your favorite times of day.

You had many visitors during your first month! Even from far away places like Colorado and New Mexico …

Your smiles are wide and varied.  We love seeing all your funny faces!

You have even starting talking a bit, and you are starting to track a slow-moving object with your eyes. Recently, you graduated from NB diapers to Size 1; next week, we will begin using cloth diapers 🙂  Mommy and Daddy are excited to save money and be “green” with you.

You and I (and Daddy if we go in the evenings) have been taking walks almost every day since you were two days old.  You look adorable in your BOB stroller and it is great prep for when you will soon be going for runs with Mommy and Daddy!

Your brother and sisters adore you as well.  You enjoy having them hold you, feed you a bottle, and play with you on your giraffe playmat!

 

Miriam Elayne, your Daddy and I love you more than you could imagine!  You are true joy to us and we pray that you will continue to grow healthy and strong.  May this memoir be a love song to you from us!

You are our sweet, strong, beautiful, and brave Miriam!  You are our beloved sunshine!

Love,

Mommy

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