Category: Evie

Dear Evie,

Another month has past (entirely too quickly) and you are now five months old. I’m going to try to keep this letter short because it is late and I’m sure you will be waking soon to nurse (again).

I can’t believe how much change can happen in only a few short weeks. When I wrote the last update you were just figuring out how to grab at things and roll over. Now you are rolling all over the place and playing with your toys like an old pro. You have even been trying to work on those beginning crawling stages. You can get your knees up under you and push forward, but you haven’t yet figured out how to get your arms up at the same time. I’m guessing it won’t be long though.

You are getting so much stronger. You want so badly to sit up but you just don’t quite have the back strength to hold yourself up yet. You can sit by yourself for a few seconds, but you lean over far enough that you can chew on your toes. Of course, you may be doing that on purpose because you really seem to like your toes these days.

A few days ago I gave you your first taste of squash (the baby food variety). You weren’t at all impressed with that and screamed at me until I gave you some of your beloved rice cereal/apple juice mixture. I eventually got you to eat a few more bites of squash. The next day you didn’t mind the squash so much. Since then you have also tried sweet potatoes and applesauce and loved them both.

A little over a week ago, we took you on your first trip to Dallas, Texas. You got to meet most of your extended family on Daddy’s side, including your great-grandparents Mama Goodie and Papop Albert. You also got to meet Vivian and Clyde, some friends that are very special to Mommy. I don’t think you got put down more than once or twice the entire time we were there. Everyone wanted to hold you and they were so impressed by how happy you were. The last couple of days in Dallas you did start getting pretty fussy though. At first I just thought it was the change in routine, but then I realized you were teething. A couple days after we got back in town your first tooth finally popped through your gums. The second one seems to be well on its way too.

You are getting more talkative every day. You love to make noise. I love to listen to you gurgle and coo when you are play. You have also started letting out little squeals now and then and I can already imagine you as a teenager squealing for your favorite boy band. This morning you woke up really early and decided that mom and dad needed to wake up as well. You were lying on the bed between us and kept reaching out and hitting us on our faces while babbling on. When I finally woke up enough to pay attention to you, you smiled at me and said something that sounded like, “Ma!” Mama would have been better, but I guess I’ll take what I can get.

Of all of the amazing things you have started doing this month, the very best part of it all has been your laugh. I’ve never heard a better sound in my life. The really great part is that nobody can get you laughing like your big brother. He loves to talk to you in the car on the way home from day care and always gets you laughing. Hearing my two kids giggling together in the back seat is quite possibly the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. I can only hope that you will continue laughing together for the rest of your lives.

Love always,
Mama

Dear Evie,

You turned 4 months old a week ago. Why am I just now writing this letter to you? Well, quite frankly I’ve been entirely too busy to sit down and get my thoughts together. Your 4-month birthday fell on Friday and then we spent all weekend in Omaha so we could take you, your brother, and your cousins to the Omaha zoo. Yes, we do have a local zoo here in KC, but the one in Omaha is so much better. We got to explore an indoor Rain Forest, a Desert, and of course the aquarium, which seemed to be your favorite. You loved watching the fish swim around.  The only things you didn’t seem to care for were the heat and the fact that I couldn’t feed you at the exact second you decided you were hungry.

This last month with you has been so much fun. You are really noticing things around you now (like the fish!). You watch with great interest when your brother is nearby as he’s always doing something silly. You also love to grab at your toys and (more often than not) shove them into your mouth. Every time I lay you down in your crib you reach toward your little pink teddy bear that Zachary brought you at the hospital. You can’t always pick it up by yourself, but you try so hard.

You are getting the movement thing down pretty well actually. You’re arms aren’t so shaky when you reach for things now and on July 1st you rolled over for the first time. You rolled from your back to your tummy and Mommy, Daddy, and Zachary all got to see you do it. It took a week or so for you to get really good at it, but now I can’t lay you down anywhere without you trying to roll away. It makes me so nervous when I leave you in my bed in the mornings, but I don’t want to move you or I’m afraid you’ll wake up.

Speaking of sleeping, you have learned to put yourself to sleep. It is this amazing thing that I didn’t even realize was possible until you just did it one night. I needed a few minutes to help your brother get settled in bed so I put you down in the pack ‘n’ play. When I came back, you were sound asleep without so much as a peep. I thought maybe it was a fluke so I tried it the next night and you went right to sleep again. You also seem to have put yourself on a sleep schedule which is amazing as well. You are ready for bed every night around 8:00 to 8:30 and if I just lay you down you go right to sleep. You still wake up quite often during the night to eat, but not having to fight (or listen to a screaming baby) at bedtime makes it all worth it.  The next step will be getting you to sleep through the night in your own bed.  I have to admit I’m not in a huge hurry for that though because I’ll miss snuggling with you all night.  You’ve recently gotten in the habit of holding my hand and most nights you sleep tucked inside my arm with our hands intertwined.

My absolute favorite time of day with you is when you first wake up in the morning.  You are so happy.  You often do your happy growl and babble on and on like you are telling me a story.  It makes it so hard for me to get out of bed because I would rather just stay there and have conversations with you all day.  I expect that those morning sessions will be some of my favorite memories of you as a baby.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that you were staring me down at dinner time.  You would follow every bite I took with your eyes.  You watched as I moved my fork from my plate to my mouth.  I figured if you were that interested in what I was eating, maybe you were ready to start eating some food of your own.  A few days later I gave you your first taste of rice cereal.  I mixed it with formula the first time since I didn’t have any extra breast milk pumped but you ate the entire bowl.  The next night you refused it.  Then I tried mixing it with a little apple juice and water and you’ve been a happy girl ever since.  You love your cereal now and when it’s time to eat you have your mouth open and waiting for each spoon full.

Besides all of the other firsts you’ve experienced this past month, you also received your first real injury.  While attempting to play with you at day care, your brother accidentally let go of a toy and it ended up hitting you right smack on the eye.  You had a pretty nice bruise on your eyelid for about a week but it’s all better now.  I’m sure it is the first of many bumps and bruises you will receive from him during your life.

Evie, you are growing so fast.  It seems like you get bigger and bigger every day.  Tomorrow you go to the doctor for a check-up and you’ll get weighed and measured.  I’m anxious to see just how much you have gained in both height and weight.  The last time I weighed you at home you were just over sixteen pounds and I’m sure you’ve gained more since then.  I love watching you grow, but there’s a little part of me that wishes I could just keep you tiny forever.

Love always,
Mama