Emilyn is 5 months old!
- We are finally having a little more of a schedule throughout the day. She still has reflux and takes medicine (otherwise she cries and cries very unhappily) and therefore eats every 2-3 hours or sporadically when she is hungry if she's spitting up a lot. But sleeping during the day has improved.
- I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and figured out that she really does get tired after being awake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. She doesn't nap exactly at the same time each day, but it's much better than before. She also takes more naps than normal because they are sooooo short. Once in a while she sleeps an hour or more, but generally they are more like 45 minutes. I'm realizing that she wakes up in the middle and if I just let her cry a bit she'll sometimes go back to sleep and get a longer nap. She goes to bed at 8:00, gets up more than I would like still at night (2-3 times), and wakes up for the morning around 7 or 8. Then she naps around 9-10, 12-1, 3-4, etc. just depending on how long she sleeps at each nap. She usually takes 3 or 4 little naps during the day, but sometimes only two.
- She has brought back the pterodactyl scream from her newborn days. It is more like a screech actually. I guess she is realizing that the ear piercing cries get my attention!
- She is finally as of last month, sleeping in her crib in her own room. I wish she would only wake up once at night since I have to go ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE HALL!, but so far she is starving and eating "full meals" around two times in the middle of the night.
- I'm trying to fix this by having her eat baby food, but she isn't too in to it like Matisyn was, and so she doesn't get much down. We're working on it, it's still new to her. She won't have anything to do with rice cereal, even mixed into another food or put in a bottle. She ate it the first few times and now won't have any at all. Last week I started with carrots and then tried pears a couple of days ago. She's still getting used to the new flavors. I think she only humors me by eating so that she can play with the spoon!
- She still sucks on her fingers to soothe herself, which I love, and sometimes her thumb. Since Matisyn would have stolen the binky from her I'm grateful now that she never took one, but happy that she found another way of calming herself. I can put her in her crib awake to fall asleep and she might cry a minute, but then she just shoves those cute little fingers in and goes to sleep.
- She still loves toys. I had to go out and buy a few more because we didn't have that many for Matisyn. Emilyn gets bored easy and always wants entertainment and stimulation from toys or especially from people. She is starting to be unhappy when I walk out of a room. She likes to sit up in her seat and play with toys and watch what I'm doing. She has longer periods of being content now on her own if she has toys to play with. . . depending on her mood! She really doesn't like to be left on her own, and it's hard for me to get much done with her.
- She talks, spits, and makes noises all the time. She loves to hear herself make noise, and so do we!
- She is rolling now, from front to back, and side to side. She gets so proud of herself and we all cheer for her!
- Matisyn is still crazy around her, but for some reason Emilyn thinks her sister is hilarious now. Matisyn can make her laugh more than either Matt or me. Even if she's rough with her Emilyn thinks she's funny. I have to watch though because she can also make her cry with one of her tight squeezes or from ripping a toy out of her hands. The other day I went down to put a load of laundry in and ran back up when I heard Emilyn screaming. Matisyn had pulled her out of her swing and was laying on the ground hugging Emilyn as tight as she could with her face smashed down on her stomach. I can't leave them alone together, which makes getting things done interesting.
- To sum it all up Emilyn is an adorable, chubby, smiley, sometimes happy, sometimes demanding, busy little baby and we love her so much!
Here are a series of pictures of her performing like she so often does. On this day she informed me she was getting married (too many happy princesses finding their princes in fairytales!). Isn't she gorgeous in her wedding outfit?!!!
Let the performance begin!l
That pretty much sums up Matisyn, but here are a few other thoughts. Ok, so more than a few. Let's face it, I could write a book on the girl!- Matisyn gets attention pretty much everywhere we go, either because she is so cute and charismatic, or so loud, or throwing a tantrum. She amazes me because she is either making me laugh and smile or making me yell and discipline her. She only hears what I say at a dull roar at least.
- She is extremely social and loves her friends. When asked to name them they usually include Izzy, Maili, David, Porter, Cooper and she always throws in Papa, Grandma Karen, Chunk, and Mommy and Daddy. She doesn't always share or play nice, but she loves to be around people and thrives from their energy. She glows in a crowd, or at least makes her mark, depending on the day!
- Her favorite toys right now are mostly her dress-up stuff. She loves to be a princess. She likes to play with her little princesses, her dolls, and her barbies. She loves her kitchen and carries her food around in little bags and purses and sets up tea parties and picnics for us. She also loves any toys we will play with her, books, puzzles, games, blocks, trains, etc.
- She loves to be outside, but will rarely go out by herself. I've found if I go out with her or downstairs to the playroom and play for a bit, I can disappear and she can keep playing for quite some time. She loves to ride her bike and her scooter and would play everyday at the park if I would let her. She can make friends with strangers there, but really loves to go with friends!
- She still loves television, and would watch it far too much if I let her. She loves the Fairy Tale movies, especially Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid, and also loves the shows Dragon Tales, Dora the Explorer, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
- She is so imaginative and creative, and I often find her pretending and making games up to play. At the park today she used wood chips all to be her flower garden, a birthday cake for Santa Claus, and Little Bo Peep who lost her sheep.
- She LOVES treats. Cookies, cakes, candy, "spicy" drinks, you name it. We have to keep a lock on the pantry or she helps herself to treats or snacks all throughout the day. She likes to cook with Matt and me and loves to stir and pour and make messes. She also likes cereal, corn dogs, mac and cheese, "bnoodles", eggs, peanut butter and jelly, and nuggets. Her healthy choice and probably her favorite of all is fruit. She likes all kinds and would eat it all day. She chooses fruit over fries.
- Bedtime has become difficult. She has new fears that she never had before like shadows and bugs and monsters. She doesn't nap very often now, so she really needs an earlier bedtime. We've been trying to put her to bed between 8 and 8:30 after baby sister, but she usually fights it which she never used to do. She loves to read books and poems at night and loves us to tell her stories. She can use her imagination to tell quite good stories now too. Some of her favorite books are Pinkalicious, Fancy Nancy, Dinosaurs Roar, Where the Wild Things Are, and the Shel Silverstein poems.
- She loves preschool. She is like a little sponge that wants to soak up as much information as possible. She can recognize all of her letters and knows a lot of their sounds and words that start with those letters. She comes home from school and sings the songs she learned and tells us about what her teachers said. Some of her favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle, If you're happy and you know it, Baby Bumblebee, and I am a Child of God. (She learned the middle two at preschool.) She loves Miss Heather and Miss Denise. She can count to 20 and is starting to catch on to the pattern to keep counting, but isn't sure about thirty, forty, fifty, etc. She can write some letters and numbers and can write the MATI part of her name. The S is tricky!
- She is very independent and likes to do things for herself, including pouring, cutting, getting dressed, etc. She pretty much goes crazy if she doesn't get her way. I am ready for the tantrums to slow down, but also appreciate her persistence and assertiveness. I just wish I could direct it in appropriate ways. She really has two very opposite sides to her!
- She LOVES water and would swim in any kind, including the bathtub, for hours. She has become an amazing little swimmer in the pool and can pretty much manage on her own, with us just there for support. I'm going to miss the warm weather. I'm not sure what she'll do without time at the park, in the pool, or in the sand box.
- To sum up Matisyn, she is beautiful, smart, fun, funny, imaginative, creative, "spirited", sometimes difficult, crazy,and out of control, independent, energetic, outgoing, and keeps us on our toes. You never know what to expect from that girl, and life would be boring without her. We love her very much!
"Mommy we don't have a pet. We better go get one before it gets dark."
Matt: What do Mommies Say?
Matisyn: "No."
"Bye, my prince, Cinderella is going on "bacation" (yes with a b) to her Grandma's."
Matisyn: Mommy, let's go see Grandma Karen and Chunk in "Calfilornia".
Mommy: It would take too long, they live pretty far.
Matisyn: Well we better get driving then.
"I lost my fire breath."
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