Half of a Dozen Months

I must have blinked  There's no way it's been 6 months, but various calendars have confirmed that February 18, 2013 marked Amelia's 6th month. To quote a 7 year old girl I met recently, "wow, she's old". I must admit, I am proud of myself for keeping her alive this long. Despite my lack of experience in the field of baby charming - that doesn't sound right, handling? Wrangling? Nope, rearing is the word I'm looking for, baby rearing - she's growing really well. When I was hugely pregnant, stuffing my face with avocado shakes, and watching the Olympics I began to pray that my daughter would one day be pretty enough AND tall enough to play for the US women's Olympic Volleyball team. However, when she was born I was concerned that she wouldn't be able to make the team. She was so little - technically too small to ride safely in the carseat, and she had an extra finger. Regardless of her skill level would she be allowed to play with the other super model athletes if she was too short and had a superfluous pinky? Totally kidding about the extra finger by the way, no polydactilism here. I had you goin' though didn't I? Anyways, she was a tiny little thing. Just over 6 pounds and only 17.5 inches. 17.5 inches! I've seen fish bigger than that! I thought she would be below average forever, I started to think about her future as a gymnast. Not that there's anything wrong with being at or below average, I was just really hoping that she got the tall genes. I quickly got over her shrimpiness because she's so dang cute. Seriously, with big blue eyes and a head full of red hair she could grow to be 5' 3" and it wouldn't be a problem. But, her most recent checkup renewed my faith in DNA and a tall future (good thing too, gymnastics is expensive). She measured in at 26.5 inches. That's 80th percentile folks! I realize that being in the 80th percentile doesn't necessarily mean she'll grow to be 6 feet tall. It's just nice to see that whatever I'm doing seems to be working, and that feels good! You know what else feels good? Looking at pictures of a really cute baby! Enjoy :)

All toys end up on or near the mouth

We're working on sitting up

Girlfriend's got an attitude about solid food

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She's happiest in the nude

Bonus picture! Jumbo Jess on the 4th of July. Amelia had exactly 45 days from this point  to grow, but I think she took a few days off.

Bath Time

We hit the 5 month mark just a few days ago and Amelia just keeps getting cuter. She loves her daddy. Whenever she hears him talking she instantly smiles and begins looking around the room for her father figure. She also likes to fly. Sometimes when I hold her she wiggles her way onto her stomach in my arms. Above everything, this kid loves a bath. She loves to splash and try to grab everything out of my hands...little klepto.  Despite her thievery, bath time is probably my favorite part of the day. We sing together (rather, I sing while she makes noises and occasionally spits) and just enjoy being silly together. Tonight I was lucky enough to get some really cute pictures.

Who's excited for a bath?!

Naturally, the warm water brings out funny faces

Learning through eating, such a glorious stage!

"Just eat it, eat it, eat it..."

Her hair does some funny stuff once it dries. Can you see it?

... And a happy new year!

Oh New Years, you've finally got me under your goal setting spell. I've never been very eager about making resolutions because I knew over the course of the year I would either lose interest or just forget about my goals.  I intend for this year to be different. I've come up with a few totally reasonable things to accomplish this year. I will remind myself of these goals each day and I won't give up on myself when things don't go as planned. The other day I heard someone comparing goal setting to a GPS. They said that if you make a wrong turn or don't follow directions exactly as the GPS has outlined for you it doesn't really matter, you will still reach your destination. That slightly annoying robot voice will tell you to make a U-turn, or she'll say "recalculating" and find an alternate route for you. Perhaps a more scenic route. Ms. Garmin or Mr. Tom-tom will get you where you are going. Often when we set out to accomplish something things don't always go as planned. We may get way off track and have to make a Uturn at the next light or we may find that the original plan wasn't as ideal as we thought. In that case you start to journey down a new road, enjoy the scenery that you would have otherwise missed, and reach your destination a little later than originally anticipated. Sometimes neither of those situations work out and you find yourself at the nearest gas station asking the more experienced locals for help, and they can tell you about every bump and bend on the road ahead. This year I resolve to keep on truckin' with the following goals...


1. Journal weekly. I don't always have much to say, but there are many things I would like to remember  in the coming years.

2. Play the mandolin more often. That poor little cousin of  a lute doesn't get much attention these days.

3. Run a 5k. I have walked many races but only once did I run the whole three miles. Even if I don't sign up for a race I still plan to give the soles of my shoes a solid 3 mile adventure in 2013.

It feels good to have goals, they are experiences I can look forward to.

Christmas

We had a holly jolly Christmas this December 25th, and I have some pictures to prove it. Geoff had to work in the morning which was fine because I needed to finish wrapping presents. Once he came home we commenced the stocking destuffing, present unwrapping, and Ferrero Rocher eating. We then headed to the Smith house where continued to eat, eat, and eat some more - at least that's what I did.

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

The ghost of Christmas past

Merry Christmas!

Books anyone?

I'm kind of weird about reading. Whenever someone asks me "do you like to read" my usual response is "Well, I know how to read, so that's good right". Lately, however, I've really enjoyed reading. Is this a sign of premature aging? If it is, I'm okay with that. I just finished Bossypants by Tina Fey in a record two and one half days! There were pictures so that definitely helped a lot. The only other books I've read in less than a week were The Berenstain Bears and Good Night Moon. Anyways, my intentions behind this post are to solicit book recommendations and finally make Levar Burton proud of me! If you know of any good books, fiction or nonfiction, please let me know!

It's Thanksgiving you turkey!

I love Thanksgiving! Everything about it is so fantastic. It looks good, smells good, tastes good, and puts me in a sweet slumber when the evening rolls in. I remember having a lot of fun on Thanksgiving as a kid. I remember little Granny coming to visit us one year, hiking Mount LeConte another year, and hearing stories about an infamous food fight at Meme and Papa's house between my older siblings and cousins. Like past feast days, this one was excellent! Stefan and Emily came from Idaho to visit, and as always, it was good to have them with us. Geoff earned a blister after chopping almost 9 pounds of sweet potatoes...what a champ! After we gorged ourselves Danielle and I put on a show. That's right, after dessert we Jazzercised what our mamas gave us. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the Jazzercise exhibition, but if you can picture our bodies glistening with sequins as we move in perfect harmony to the musical stylings of Beyonce and JLo then you don't need pictures. Who am I kidding? There weren't any sequins, but we do have some pretty sweet moves.

The sweet beginnings of chutney

Liam...incognito

Ginger cousins!

Kitty Rozz

Gwennie is very good at entertaining Amelia

The Interview

Between getting excited for Thanksgiving and spending time with Geoff, I've been anticipating Amelia rolling over. I'm happy to announce that this evening was the first official roll over. She's been working up to this for a while by rolling to her side and then allowing me to push her over. On the night of November 14, while participating in some pre-bath tummy time, she executed the roll over with excellent form and perfect grace. Unfortunately, we weren't able to capture this event on film, but cameras were rolling for the post roll interview. Take a look...