Baby Girl's Unbirthday

Our precious baby girl has has passed the half year mark (which seems rather impossible to believe). This seems the appropriate time for a general baby update.

She is turning in to quite the character around here.  She is growing into a little personality and we couldn't be more thrilled to learn more of who she is each day.



If she is awake she prefers to be outside.  Must be her Pops in her. The trees, the sunshine, she loves it all. It is also probably related to the fact that she will never remember the stepping outside and immediately passing out from heat exhaustion (our little California girl).




She squeals and yells happily with delight all day.  She seems just happy to hear herself.  She makes some ahhhh, bbbbbbb, and waaaaa sounds, but nothing intentional. If she is anything like her big brothers, I'm sure she will be fighting for her turn to speak in just a hot minute.

Gone are the sleepy infant days of napping all day.  They have been replaced with sitting, crawling and exploring.




I cannot believe we have arrived here so quickly.  She is moving as she pleases.  She rolls where she wants to go, and is up on all four and crawling off the designated "baby space" as quickly as she is put down.  She is pulling up to her knees and Jason has already had to lower the crib.  This baby girl is wasting no time growing up.



{I promise we don't treat her like a puppy (often), she is just most interested in what her brothers have}

She is eating dinner and getting after it. She prefers avocado over sweet potatoes. Peas and bananas have been outright rejected.  She pretends to chew with each bite I take and makes it harder for mommy to steal treats during the day.  She might be the baby who mostly skips the baby food stage, which would be just find with mommy.


She is still nursing! This is huge.  She has lasted the longest of any of my babies.  I have prayed and pleaded over our nursing relationship and I'm so grateful the Lord has granted me this gift!  She is still super interested in me over the bottle.  We have to use the bottle (I have always had a finite supply no matter the supplements, pumping, prescriptions, and so forth I have tried), so it can be frustrating that she would rather wait for the momma milk that will never be sufficient, but I am so happy that we are still here.  She has not had any sickness and her skin still looks great (could be totally unrelated, but I'm grateful just the same).  I am so happy our momma and baby nursing relationship is still going strong.



{Bonus happy baby pic unrelated to what I am saying}


Her favorite people in the world are still her three brothers.  And the adoration is mutual.  Lord, may they always love each other so dearly.



Part of Walker's reading assignments each day is to read to his sister.  They both get something out of it, until Lydia decides it is time to chew on the book then we move on to the next assignment.


Bedtime is firmly at 8 o'clock each night, her choice not mine.  She sleeps for about a seven hour stretch at night and then decides she has missed me so much that she needs a middle of the night snack.  I really don't mind the waking and snuggling, until about four o'clock in the afternoon the next day, but these days are fleeting and all too soon she will not need momma so much and I will miss it (she says as she slugs down another cup of coffee).



She takes two great naps during the day, which has made schooling so much easier these days. I am so thankful for the mild California weather, because we can take our schooling time outside.  And when we are outside, baby girl is much more accommodating to me focusing on her brothers.



Lydia is, in many ways, my most enjoyable baby and my hardest baby.  It is fantastic how the Lord has woven those two things together.  We are slowly figuring out how to balance three big brothers, busy school lives, crazy Daddy business building and making our new home during this first year of our Baby Girl's life. Sometimes the hardest things are the best and that is right where we are!



She makes us all so happy and our family is so much richer for her being here.  Happy six months Baby Girl, so excited to see you crawl, toddle and run through the rest of this first year.