BooBoo Bear

Just in case your day calls for a baby's laugh...

What I especially love about this vid is that Luke is being just so classicly Luke: Has to be in the middle of the action.

Laney has accumulated many nicknames in the past five months. BooBoo Bear is her latest, compliments of Luke (I'm hoping I said it first and he didn't come up with that one on his own). Either way, it is pretty darn cute when Luke baby-talks like we do to his sister, calling her BooBoo Bear.

BooBoo Bear turned five months old on Monday. I receive the BabyCenter email updates each week, which include developmental milestones, tips and tricks, videos and articles centered around your baby's exact age. What it failed to include in this week's edition, however, is any explanation as to how I could have fallen so hard for this little girl. Yes, I fear I will soon be bald thanks to postpartum hormones. No, I am still not getting uninterrupted sleep. Unfortunately, she is still stubborn about the bottle and where she sleeps, but daughter, you have captured my heart. You are worth it.

I think this is what God wants to say to us: You are worth it.

"While we were still enemies, Christ died for us." —Romans 5:8b

Now that is love.

I am guessing the not-so-little-one is 16 pounds now, judging by the difficulty of lugging the car seat in and out of the car. She has loved trying solids, maybe a little too much. After she ate an entire jar of sweet potatoes, I read that you should start with just a teaspoon or two for those first feedings! Whoops. She was a bit fussy that next day, with more spit-ups than usual, so we'll take it a little slower. The girl loves to eat and I love that she loves to eat. Even at 2am. Okay, I don't love it at 2am, but I am far from hating it :)

Laney is typically only waking to eat once at night, right around 2 or 3 in the morning. Then she's back down until 5ish. For a stretch there, she was sleeping all the way until 4 and then down again until 7. Sweetheart, what was wrong with that schedule? I feed her again at 5ish and she'll take another hour cat nap before getting up for the morning. She and I are working hard this week on falling asleep apart from a feed. She is doing so well as long as I don't let her get overtired. I think the longest she's cried is about 10 minutes. I am hoping she starts stretching her naps a bit more, since right now they are all about one hour, sometimes a little less. Right now she's going on an hour and a half ... good girl!

The name Laney means "Light" (this is partially why we picked this name ... her brother's name means "Bringer of Light") and that she is. She is a light and a delight. She is so much more content these past two months. The older she gets, the more I'm convinced her tummy was not the happiest of campers those first weeks. It's most noticeable in the car and what a relief to not have to listen to her scream every car ride.

She is rolling like crazy and so close to sitting and rolling from back to tummy. She is still a wiggle-worm and I'm so thankful to nurse her since that's when I get my snuggles. She is an observer like her brother and wants to see the world, not sit still and cuddle.

Laney went with Luke and I to the pumpkin patch with Luke's class for her first field trip. She rocked it! She stayed in the Baby Bjorn the entire time and nursed while the kids had snack. I was so hesitant to take both kids by myself. It truly could have gone either way, but it went the good way.

Luke and his "best" buddy, Kayser. It's all Kayser, all the time.

Laners and I at the patch

 I didn't expect the stranger anxiety to start so early, but it looks like it's here. Yesterday, while I was at work, my mom watches the kids in the morning and then a sweet girl named Andie watches them in the afternoon. It was the first time Andie had Laney by herself and it was not pretty. I'm choosing to look at the positive and focus on the fact that by the time I got home, Laney was letting Andie hold her without screaming. It can only go up from here. She is a mama's girl and as much as I want her to be attached to me, I definitely want to keep challenging her to be open to new faces.

We love you, Laney. Happy 5 months, girl!