Five Months

I know I'm a week early- but Anna is practically five months old! While many nicknames come and go, "Pumpkin" seems to be the one that has stuck :) What strikes me the most about Anna this month is how HAPPY she is. All the time! I still can't believe it! It's like this magic switch turned on at 4 months and she does nothing but smile and coo. I knew it would happen at some point, but I didn't expect it to be this early or this drastic. I can actually go into stores and do things and she just sits quietly and looks all around. Everywhere we go people comment on how happy she is! Even the worker in the church nursery said she has never seen a baby smile at her when getting her diaper changed the way Anna did :) This makes my heart happy because it certainly was a rough first 3 months. Maybe this was due to her traumatic birth, the separation, or her GI pain for all those months. Maybe it was a combination of things. Either way, I'm so glad she is finally joyful and at peace!

Some pics from this month:

Anna did great during her first beach trip and meeting 20+ family members. She let everyone hold her, slept well in a new place, and wasn't bothered by all the daytime noise. My mom suggested getting her used to change before 6 months, and I'm glad we had the opportunity. Now she seems to be able to adapt to new sleeping situations fairly quickly, with a few requirements- it has to be dark and there can't be too much outside noise creeping in. She loved meeting all her siblings and cousins. She did have a bad bout with eczema at the beach house. Not sure if it was the sunscreen (we used physical sunscreen but it might have still bothered her) or the regular changing from cold air conditioning to hot beach weather. We managed to get it under control using some Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy lotion. She loves being in the pool!

Anna has been laughing since last month and loves to laugh. She giggles when people are expressive and laughing themselves- including the pediatrician, who called in his wife to witness her cackling :) On a side note, we love our doc- he had a sponsoring Shriner show up at our well-visit to meet us and get an appointment for her at Shriners Children's Hospital in Greenville. Child orthodontic conditions are their specialty and they have a complete prosthetics department on site. They don't even bring up the issue of money as everything is paid for by their sponsorship program all the way until the child is 18- what a blessing (shout out to Justin Timberlake who is the number one donor to Shriners Hospitals). We have an appointment for Sept 26.

She LOVES to roll over- put her on her back and in 2 seconds she will have switched to her tummy. She prefers hanging out on her tummy with her head and chest pushed off the ground so she can see what's up. She loves to be held and can bear most of her weight on just her one little leg- what a trooper! She regularly talks to herself and makes these vowel-consant sounds (ah-goo). So cute.

She still goes to sleep at 6:30 and now sleeps for 9 to 10 hours or so before waking up to eat, then goes back down for another 2 hours or so. I was so happy when she dropped her other night feeding at the beach! She's not really on a strict schedule, mainly because she wakes up at different times in the morning. Sometimes she wakes up as early as 6, other times as late as 7:30. But overall, she eats every 3 hours and is sleepy and ready for a nap after about one-and-a-half hours of being awake.

Anna, we love you more and more as time goes by. You have proven yourself to be such a fighter from the very beginning. You are so filled with joy and I know you will bring joy to everyone around you. I can't help but think that God blessed you in this way knowing the challenges you were up against. I try to soak in every moment spent holding and cuddling you- every laugh and giggle and contented coo. I'm so thankful that you love to be held, cuddled, and kissed because that is my favorite thing to do! I pray God will help me to show His unfailing love for you, how "altogether beautiful you are; there is no flaw in you" [SoS], and that everything in this world is a loss compared to knowing the greatness of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May he shine powerfully in your life. I love you sweetheart.