Selah - 7 months

Selah, 7 months old big girl!! Time sure is flying, yet going so slow at the same time.  This last month has been rough.  You have NOT been sleeping well or napping and momma is getting very sleep deprived.  In spite of all of this, you are still the smiley baby you have always been.  Even though it has been rough, momma knows it won't last forever, and you are still worth it.  You have me saying that in writing so when you are 14 and driving me crazy you can still know you are worth it :-)

Oh Selah, you are still not mobile at all, but you have finally rolled over!  You are also sitting mostly by yourself.  It's when you get angry or bored and you arch that you fall over now.  You have also been wanting items that have rolled away from you and so you reach until you fall forwards, onto your belly.  Yesterday you pushed up onto your arms and hands!  You may be crawling soon!

Just this past week, two teeth popped through.  Momma is hoping this is where the not sleeping is coming from.  Maybe once that calms down, we can focus on getting you and mommy some sleep. I don't remember how cranky your brother was from getting teeth, but you sure are. You refuse naps and you have had the worst diaper rash and diapers.  Poor girl.  I'm hoping this is over soon.

Still no solids for you.  You mimic everyone eating though, which is pretty cute.  We will try again, probably this week.

You love to grab things, and chew on things, just like any normal baby I guess, lol.  You are so good at grabbing and holding onto things now though. Just like a little person.

Your hair is a mess!  You still have a little baby mullet, but momma had to buy you detangler and I have to use conditioner on that mess in the back.  You get such a rat's nest.  I still can't bear to cut your hair though, but I think it will have to be soon because it is starting to get into your eyes.

That dimple shows no signs of going away, it makes you so adorable.

Your hair seems to have a reddish tint...but I also think we thought that with your brother.  He is now super blonde and I think you will be too.

You growl now, so adorable!  And you copy us.  If we growl at you, you growl.  If Carson screams or yells, you yell, and if I make sounds at you, like "mamama" you make them back at me.  And yes! Mamamama has been added to your vocabulary and I am positive you know who momma is!

You have started reaching for people or things.  And when you reach for momma and I take you, you give me a big squeeze.  You also put your face against mine a lot.  I love it.

You and your brother...He loves you so much, and you adore him.  He always wants to hold you and he tries his hardest to make you laugh.  He also always goes and gets you a toy when you need one.  You aren't the biggest fan of him holding you though, you get pretty squirmy.

When you are fussy, I tell Carson to go talk to you, and that usually makes you happy for awhile.  So far you guys play pretty well together, but I can tell we are going to start having issues as soon as you can get to his toys by yourself.

Your little rolls are so adorable.  You have these chubby, chubby thighs.  I just want to eat them.

You love to nurse, you still nurse every 3-4 hrs, all day long, and all night long. But you are growing and thriving, so apparently you need it.

Momma still loves to dress you up, but she has been so good about not buying you clothes or outfits as of yet.  She may need to supplement your wardrobe this winter though, and you can bet she will have so much fun with that.

You smile at everyone and make everyone feel so special.  You are so friendly.  I definitely didn't get two shy children, that's for sure.

Mommy still hasn't left you with anyone besides daddy.  I did leave you with some ladies at church once, but that has been it.  Daddy has been trying to get mommy to pump so that we can start leaving you, but it is hard to find the time.  You nurse in five minutes vs the 20 min it takes to pump and then 10 min for you to drink the bottle, not counting the time to heat the milk if it was cold. But it would be nice to go on a date, or go skiing...

Oh you two, what would I do without you guys?

Selah, we love you honey.  Momma and Daddy pray every day for you and your big brother.  Stay little sweet girl. 

Selah - 6 months

Oh my gosh sweet girl, mommy needs to get on top of things!  You are now 6.5 months before I even get this up.  How have we already passed half a year since your daddy and I were sitting in the hospital room counting the minutes between contractions, wondering what you would look like and how your personality would be?  We love you so much baby girl. So sweet, sweet Selah, here you are at 6 months.

At your six month appointment, you weighed 15 lbs, 9.6oz and were 26 in long.  Your head size is in the 79th percentile.  You are growing and thriving.  I had to look up your brother's stats at six months. He was 17 lbs 6oz and also 26 inches long.  So you guys are pretty similar except he was fatter.

You are not a good napper, mom is going to have to do nap training like I did with Carson, but I am waiting until after the time change.  There is no reason to start any kind of sleep training until after that is over.

You can sit up by yourself, sorta.  You still fall over backwards if you do not have something in front of you to reach for. And you are still so floppy.  Your brother never sat still, and you won't move! You still will not put weight on your legs and stand up by yourself.

You are not eating any solids yet.  We tried acorn squash and we still aren't 100% sure if it was something momma ate or if you reacted to the squash but you started having blood in your diaper so we quickly cut it out.  Momma has been too scared to try anything else. You weren't really into it anyway.  Your brother didn't start eating until 8-9 months either.

Your brother had teeth at this point, you do not.  I'm not making any guesses of when they will come in.

You are really enjoying playing with toys, spoons, anything you can get your pudgy little hands on, really. You still LOVE tags.  But mom or dad can put you in the bumbo with a baby spoon or a spatula and you will chew on it and watch all the chaos around you. :-)

You are not sleeping great at night, almost all day and all night long, you nurse every 3 hrs.  After the time change we will work on that because it is just too hard on mommy. But you are so sweet about everything it is really hard to let you cry. Even at night you don't cry, you talk and babble.

Your brother LOVES you.  And you love him.  It has been so cute watching you two interact lately.  He has been asking to hold you all the time.  And you just whip your head around when you hear his voice, trying to find him.

You have entered the distracted phase of nursing, you pop on and off the whole time, stopping to look around you.  I remember this with your brother.  It does not make it easy to nurse when we are out in public!

And your hair, oh lordy!  What am I going to do with your hair?  No matter how often I brush or even use conditioner in the back, it is just a mess. I don't want to cut it though, so I had better figure something out or I am going to have to cut it a little.  And it is growing so funny!  Instead of growing in the front, your hair is just growing down your back and staying short in the front. You still have a mullet honey, but you are adorable.

You are still such a content baby, but you have definitely started showing your spunky side.  You have thrown a couple "tantrums" when you want something you can't have, complete with screaming and arching.

You are still the smiliest baby ever.  Whenever anyone catches your glance or talks to you, it is just ear to ear on your round little face.  And you have such cute kissable cheeks. A

Your daddy is hopelessly wrapped around your finger.  Whenever you fuss, he is there to pick you up.

Your favorite toy is your wubby and then this taggie elephant.  You love tags girl.

You make several consonant sounds now.  Bababa, dadada, and then just straight yelling.  You can get really loud.  But you don't really yell, it is more like a guttural "ughhh" which you grunt with all your little might. It makes your daddy and I laugh.

Selah, you are just so sweet. We are so blessed to have you in our life.  We are enjoying our time with you little girl.  Don't grow up too fast!

Selah - 5 months

Oh Selah, how are you 5 months. I am so behind getting this up, but with the move, it has been nutso here, but you have been such a trooper.  You are my oasis sweet girl.  I pick you up and smell you and kiss your cheeks and the world seems right.  

Selah Joyce, you are still as sweet as ever.  You have definitely found your voice. You yell, laugh, blow raspberries, and generally make noise now.  You are not a quiet baby, but you are still so polite about everything.  When you wake up at night or from your nap you "talk" which is mostly you going "ahhh, ohhh, ehhh, ahhh" over and over again in varying tones. 

At your 4 month appointment you were almost 14 lbs! The doctor suggested that we start solids, but I am terrified.  I know you have some allergies as well and I'm terrified to feed you at all. But I will definitely wait until 6 months before starting anything.

You are in 3-6 month clothes, but the six month clothes definitely fit you better. Still in size 2 diapers but once you are out of those, mommy is going to buy size 3.

You have definitely had a sleep regression, big time.  Don't know if it is from a growth spurt or teeth, but man, three  times a night is just too much big girl.  Momma is so tired, but she can't stay mad or deny you.

You have finally rolled over!!  You roll from tummy to back all the time now, but you still don't roll from back to tummy.  But you kind of scoot/roll in a circle when you are on your back.

You love to eat.  You eat every 3-4 hrs still during the day and it has been every 2-4 hrs at night as well.  Geez girl!

We did try to pump and give you a bottle, but you only took the bottle from mom.  This creates more work for mom though, so she gave up and she just takes you everywhere.

You are so good at reaching and grabbing things now.  Momma has to be careful because you will reach out and grab my cup, plate, spoon, etc and dump stuff everywhere.

You are so floppy.  Your brother was always so stiff.  At 2-3 months we could hold him and he would push with his feet.  You absolutely do not.  If I even try to stand you on your feet and hold you, you don't try to stand at all.  The johnny jumper does not appear to be your toy of choice.

You LOVE your brother.  Oh my goodness.  As soon as you hear his voice your little head whips around to find him.  You just watch him endlessly and wait for him to pay attention to you. He can also get you to laugh like no one else can.

Your brother loves to mess with you, but you don't seem to mind yet.

You are still putting on the rolls. Your cheeks are getting so round and your little legs so pudgy.  I love it!

You are getting into toys and things we give you to play with.  You especially like tags.  I heard this about babies, but your brother was so NOT that way.  He always had to be up and moving.  You are content to sit there with a toy, pulling on the tag.

Above you are trying to pull forward like you are going to sit up. But then the picture below happens, and you promptly fall over.  You definitely don't seem close to sitting up. You like sitting up in your bumbo though.

You don't mind tummy time now because you can roll to your back.

You still have sandy blonde hair, but some people are saying they can see a hint of strawberry blonde.  I have had some people mention I should cut it as well, since you kind of have a baby mullet, but I can't bring myself to do it.

You have perfected the mermaid, right before you roll over.  You are getting strong big girl, but I think you will sit, crawl, stand, walk all later than your overactive brother.

Mom has been trying to be more consistent about your naps and bedtime.  I kind of do what I did for your brother, which is called the 2,3,4 schedule.  You wake up and then 2 hrs later, a nap, then 3 hrs after that nap is another nap, and then bedtime 4 hrs after that second nap. You have still been needing a late afternoon nap though, you can't quite get to bedtime.  You also haven't really had a chance to have good naps with all the moving.

Look at those jowls, You are so adorable!

You sleep fully in your crib now, no rock and play.  You are also unswaddled.  To put you down mommy just gives you your wubbie in your bed and says goodnight, after making it dark.  You are very good about going down on your own.  She occasionally has to come give you your pacifier back every now and then, but not too often.

Selah, your daddy and I pray every day for you and your brother. We love you so much and always will.

Selah - 4 Months

Selah, where is the time flying?  It seems all I have time for is to do these monthly posts and no time to share any of the amazing, hectic, crazy, and honestly exhausting aspects of our lives right now. But for this moment I get to just focus on your little amazing self and share you with everyone.

 So, Selah, at four months old you are reaching and grabbing things!  It took me by surprise because I just assumed you would be my baby for like, ever, but you are steadily growing up.  You are starting to love all your little baby toys and crinkly books.

You are the most smiley baby that ever lived. I'm sure of it.  We can wake you up in the middle of a peaceful nap and instead of screaming at us, you look at me and just give me a sleepy smile.

You are able to sit in your bumbo and you like it. You also try to sit forward when we put you in your high chair or just sit you up.  You are in no way close to sitting, you aren't even rolling over yet, but that's okay.  I don't mind that you are not mobile.

We haven't had your four month appointment yet, but today (7 days after your 4 month birthday) we are out of size 1 diapers and I am putting  you in size 2s.  So you must be over 12.5 lbs.  You were 11.5 lbs at your 2 month appointment. Your 3 month clothes are also tight!  I can squeeze you in them, but it isn't easy and the pants are too short.  We got all your 3-6 month clothes out this week.

Your hair is a sandy blonde, just like momma.  My little mini me!  I love it.

You LOVE your daddy.  Seriously, he can make you laugh better than I can.  And Carson, oh you love Carson.  You love to watch him race around and whenever he talks or interacts with you, you are just enamored.

You are sleeping consistently from 8pm - 7am ish, getting up once or twice to eat.  I really need to start working with you on a nap schedule, but it is so hard with Carson.  I feel bad making him sit at the house so you can sleep.  Once we move (what? more on that later) and it gets colder I will really start to hit that hard so we can get you on a good schedule.

You are so easy to put down for naps. I put you in your room with your wubbie (pacifier) and turn out the light.  That's it.  I maybe have to go give it back once or twice, but you are very polite about it.  In fact, you are very polite about everything.  When you scream, we know something is terribly wrong.

You need one or two morning naps, one afternoon nap, and then a late evening nap around 5-6pm to get you to bedtime.  Pretty similar to your brother.

Momma still hasn't tried to put any food back into her diet. You are just so happy and I don't want to ruin that.  I'm thinking after 6 months we'll try again.

You love it when people just talk to you and include you in things.  You smile and coo and just generally be cute.  You have found your voice though and your "talking" gets really loud sometimes where Mike and I can't even hear each other talk.

You blow raspberries like a champ, and you love it.

Momma tried a bottle last week for a 5k she did, and you wouldn't take it.  I tried one other time and you also did not like it.  I'm sure if I kept trying, you'd get it, but I just really have no desire to give you one.  I have a girls night this weekend and I'm just going to come home in the middle to put you down.

You are just so sweet, everyone who sees you and you smile at just melts.

You nurse every 3-4 hrs now.  I think by this point I had your brother on a 4 hr schedule, but you are still closer to every 3 hrs.

You laugh when you are tickled or when people make funny sounds at you.  You also laugh when Carson laughs if he is right in your face.

Your hair is so funny, you have a baby mullet.  It is so long in the back and kind of short on top.  sorry girl, mom isn't cutting it yet. It's just too cute.

You still hate tummy time, you immediately start fussing when we put you on your tummy and then it turns into full on tears.

You also still have that birthmark right next to your left eye.  I'm glad it hasn't gotten any bigger, but it is kind of cute. and you still have your dimple *love!

Your brother is starting to take more interest in you now that he can make you laugh and smile.  He also loves to get your blankies, wubbie, and toys when you need them. You two are so sweet together and the lights of my life (besides your daddy).  Love you Selah, you have stolen momma's heart sweet girl, well, all of our hearts.