Makenzie turns 8!

6 months=1/2 a year!

Can't believe you've been with us half of a year already! Your personality is really coming to the surface now. I think you are gonna have quite the temper--between that and your size (21 lbs now), noone is gonna mess with you! You are laughing out loud and trying really hard to say Mama.

It took you forever, but you can finally roll over both ways now when you want to. So far, you choose not to most of the time! You can sit for even longer without assistance now too. You can move objects from one hand to the other and get them to your mouth successfully most of the time too. You have discovered your hand and you seem to be in awe when you watch it and turn it over and make a fist and almost wave--it's really funny to watch. You are eating baby food for breakfast, lunch and dinner now. You have a bottle around midnight and can sleep until 5-6am now. And you love your sister!!

Locks of Love

5th Month with Stormie Grey

This month has been full of sickness for our baby girl. First, we had a case of RSV. We were able to catch it early and avoid any sequelae or hospital stays. It was so very hard to see you so so sick and miserable though.

A couple weeks after we got past RSV, you got sick again and had your first ear infection. This is an improvement when compared with older sister who had her first ear infection at only about 3 months old! When you saw the pediatrician for the ear infection, you weighed in at a whopping 20lbs! Again, compared with sister who didn't weigh 20lbs until about 9 months old!

You went through a period of stranger anxiety that broke Granny's heart. You wouldn't even let her or Pepaw or Nanny talk to you without you bursting into tears! You still aren't rolling over really, but you can pretty well sit up unassisted for at least several minutes before you topple over backwards or to the side.

You are eating baby food for breakfast, lunch and dinner now. You love sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, and prunes. We have tried meats a few times and they make you shudder and make funny faces.

You still love your big sis and light up when she speaks to you or even walks into the room. And here is a picture of big sis cheesing at school with her friend.

4 months old!

As much as we are trying to relax and enjoy your infancy, you are growing so so fast! Today, you had your 4 month check up and your stats are astonishing! You weighed in at 18lbs 3oz and you were 26.75 inches long; this is off the chart for height and 97th percentile for weight. As compared with your "big" sister who weighed 14lbs 15oz and was 25 inches long at this age, you seem like a little giant! You have outgrown many outfits that should fit you and are wearing 6, 9 and even 12 month outfits.

You are much more vocal than your sister was; "talking" up a storm. You love to play with your hands and most of the time, you hold them in a little praying position; clasped together. You will swipe and grasp at large items like the toys on your bouncy seat, a blanket or a teddy bear and you constantly are chewing on your fist. You have not rolled all the way over in either direction yet, but you often times will get all the way over on your side or will end up on your tummy after being put to sleep on your side. You are very contemplative and alert. You seem much more aware of your surroundings than Makenzie was and you really seem to study people's faces, the t.v. etc.

Speaking of Makenzie, you adore her! When she is around you or talking to you, you cannot take your eyes off of her and you will smile really really big at her. She will hold you and sing to you to put you to sleep. She loves to carry you, feed you and even change wet diapers if we let her. She loves to take a bath with you and play with you like a real, live baby doll too! We hope you two are always so in love with each other!

Christmas 2013

Christmas totally snuck up on me this year. We have been so busy and then we all got the stomach bug about 3 weeks before. A few days before Christmas, we finally had time to go see Santa for a picture. This is a pic of a pic, so the quality is horrible, but I am too lazy to scan it right now. We waited in line forever so Stormie was asleep by the time it was our turn! Makenzie told Santa she wanted her 2 front teeth this year for Christmas!

This Christmas, my sister, Greg and Danielle came down. We did Christmas Eve at my mom's house and then everyone came to our house for Christmas day. We don't get to see them very often, so Makenzie gets a little overstimulated when she's around them.

Makenzie still believes in Santa...this year, she left him 2 cookies, a Fiber One bar and a soda!

Stormie totally slept through Christmas morning, but it was nice to have another year to enjoy it with Makenzie alone. She wanted to use the giant stocking this year, and luckily Santa knew exactly which one was hers!

She asked for a stroller this year for her American Girl Doll and Bitty Baby. It's difficult to find a stroller tall enough for a 7 year old, but Santa knew right where to go!

She was super duper excited to get more American Girl Doll clothes! Love her face here!

She asked for a new pair of cowboy boots. I loved this pair, but we ended up having to take them back because her feet had already grown again! She picked out another pair that she loved too so she was happy.

3 months old

Time has flown by and you are already 3 months old! You are smiling, laughing, and cooing up a storm. You are way more of a talker than your bigger sister was. We made a trip to the ENT this month to check your hearing and your noisy breathing and all was fine. At the ENT office, you weighed in at a whopping 15lbs 6oz!

You are eating about every 3-4 hours and still wake up once or twice during the night. You are starting to enjoy the bouncy seat, exersaucer and your activity gym, but you really prefer sitting up in something like the Bumbo most.

Big sister loves to make you smile and coo. She is a big helper and loves you to pieces!