I love pictures. I love the way they can capture an age. A stage. A laugh. A moment. A memory.
But many of my favorite memories are unpictured.
Getting ice cream cones at Thrifty with my mom. Playing hide-and-seek, hiding in the spare room. Talking and laughing, then missing needed exit ramps.
Twirling on my dad's finger. Holding his pocket at the store. Running early on Saturday mornings.
Drinking a slurpee with my grandpa on our walk to the library. Watching my grandma make mini loaves of bread (with tips from the instructional video she got at the library) to accompany our homemade chicken soup. Helping my grandmother with her vitamins, the day's dose grouped
in a ball of aluminum foil. Eating shrimp at the steakhouse with my granddaddy.
Choreographing dances to "Doot-Doot" or "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" with my sisters, Becca and Catherine. Driving "White Lightening" to school together. Waking to six-year-old Matthew, brandishing his sword, in full knight-gear, "Wake up! The sun's up." Helping baby Rachel in the back of the minivan on the way to Palmyra. Bopping to "Itty Bitty Kitty" and organizing Christmas and Mother's Day concerts with the cousins.
Dancing to Brad Paisley in Mike's Campus Plaza kitchen. Trying out his first car ever. Rushing to the airport for our trip to meet the fam. Him carrying me over a snow bank at his brother's wedding. Mike mistakenly wearing his sweater backwards on our fifth anniversary. (Wait, scratch that: that's actually pictured.)
Walking down our street, the girls and their doll strollers in tow. Reading Pout-Pout Fish, my girls echoing the refrain in their droopiest voices.
Times that make me smile. Or laugh. Or even cry. Times I felt loved and life was full.
I'm glad I have a memory for when my photo album fails me. Here's hoping it lasts as long as I do.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
How to Not Throw a Party
Decide that we will just do birthday parties every other year in our family.
Step Two:
Tell everyone you're not having a party.
Step Three:
Begin to feel guilty that you aren't making the birthday girl's day special enough.
Step Four:
Ask Maggie what she would like to do for her birthday and get reply, "Have cousins and friends over!"
Step Five:
Call the local cousins and plan a simple family party for the night of the birthday: Pizza and cake.
Step Six:
Try to find something easy to do with a couple of Maggie's friends.
Step Seven:
Arrange two impromptu playdates (carefully not using the word 'party') to celebrate the happy occasion with PB&J, cupcakes and a few friends.
Step Eight:
Realize that instead of planning one party you have in essence planned three.
I guess that was easier...
I'm just poking fun at myself, because it's amusing that no matter what I do and how simple I try to be, I always manage to complicate things. But it really was easier to not have a full-on party this year. (I didn't worry about invitations--other than a phone-call--or getting my house ready or decorating.) And Maggie still felt really special. (How could she not after three days of celebrating?) So, missions accomplished.
Maggie and Kate played birthday party all week with some party hats they found in the gift wrap tub.
My friend Sam and her boys had us and a couple other friends over on Wednesday. She set up her bounce house, I brought lunch stuff and cupcakes. and the kids played all day. Maggie insisted on wearing her party hat over to Sam's so, in her words, "...everyone will know it's a little bit my birthday."
Then we did a park playdate with a couple other friends on Thursday. I forgot the crackers and carrot sticks, but no one seemed to mind too much. I did remember the lighter, but it was windy enough that we had to pretend the candles lit. And since both Maggie's little friends and their moms had birthdays this month too, we sang many rounds of "Happy Birthday." We even sang to Kate and her little friend who are both in December, just so they didn't feel left out.
And then came the actual birthday. Somehow, Maggie managed to fall and smack her head minutes after arriving at the park. I get a call from Mike telling me to bring some band-aids as I'm putting the cake in the car and heading to pick up the pizzas. I know it must be fairly bad because he wants me to come before I pick up the pizza.
When I get there, I debate in my mind whether we should just celebrate quickly as Maggie has been looking forward to this for so long or if we should head straight to the emergency room. (So I don't sound completely irresponsible, it's a fairly small but deepish gash, but has stopped bleeding and doesn't seem to be causing Maggie anywhere near as much pain as the idea of leaving for the hospital.) In the end, learning there is no wait, we head to the emergency room.
I calmed Maggie on the way telling her stories of the ER visits her dad and I have had. Ironically, we had just checked out Little Bill Goes to the Hospital about Little Bill's trip to the emergency room and had read Curious George Visits the Hospital not long ago as well, so Maggie keeps punctuating the stories with "Just like Curious George" and "Just like Little Bill."
She really was pretty brave and only cried a little on the way there and when we first went in. I cried more than she did when we were actually in there, feeling bad that much of her much-anticipated birthday whatchamacallit was being spent in a hospital emergency room. But I mostly hid my tears and it was all good.At one point, I was nursing the baby while waiting for the doctor to come back. Maggie looked at me over the coloring book a kind nurse had given her and said, with gauze on her forehead, "Mom, I kind of like the hospital a little bit." I was relieved that she could keep that opinion, as they decided to go ahead and opt for glue instead of stitches, which I know made the experience much less traumatic.
Everyone was sweet enough to stick around and so after the gluing and paperwork were over, we headed back to the park. Maggie told me in the car, "When I see Grandma Gotfredson I can tell her it wasn't so bad!"
I wish I had a picture of all Maggie's cousins surrounding her at the playground while she told her tale. It was pretty sweet to see their concern. Mike said she told them, "I went to the hospital and they glued my head shut."
And then we enjoyed cake and presents. Maggie still enjoys reminiscing how she had to remind me to get her pizza since "she missed that part." (She didn't even appreciate the fact that I was going to let her eat cake first! Who'da thunk?) We had strawberry-shortcake-style chocolate cake with pink cream. (Mag had decided on my birthday, way back in August, that a strawberry shortcake was going to be her next birthday cake, but told me this week that she wanted it with chocolate cake and pink cream. So we made chocolate cake and dyed the whipped cream and cream cheese topping pink. It's only your birthday once a year!) Maggie's cousins gave her a little purse and sunglasses she had been longing for from Children's Place, as well as a cute pink lunchbox. She carried both around all weekend, while wearing the Hello Kitty shirt from us and playing with her very own Rainbow Dash (after having coveted Kate's rainbow-haired pony for quite a while). And we finally picked up a Thomas engine for her (after she had endured envying Kate's Percy since Christmas).
We officially got through the last couple cupcakes. And Maggie is already looking forward to her next birthday.
More on my darling four-year-old later. Good night.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
"Mom Will Rescue You!"
At first, life as a mother was easier in many ways than the previous hectic stage of school and teaching as a newlywed. I could nap when baby Maggie did. I actually found time for an occasional show; I could watch while nursing my baby, without guilt that I should be working on something. For once my schedule was completely my own. Well, that is my own as long as I met Maggie's needs. But she was a placid little baby. And new babies are so tote-able. I just did whatever I wanted with baby Maggie in tow. It was definitely an adjustment: I was now responsible for this adorable little person and I wanted to do everything right by her. I was a bit lonely, with fewer peers around. And it was a little harder to take a shower or exercise exactly when I wanted. But life was pretty peaceful.
After Kate was born, we had some stressful moments once in a while, when both babies needed something at the same time. But Kate was so adorable and such a fun, giggly, happy baby. Maggie loved being a big sister. Life was still pretty smooth.
I think it was around when Kate started to crawl that I started feeling like I would never be able to catch up. That feeling set it more and more as Emily came along. I can't keep up with all the memories I want to record for them. I can't keep the kitchen floor swept enough. I can't keep everything out of the children's reach or the books from being pulled off the shelves and scattered around. And I can't keep the laundry baskets empty.
Slowly, but surely, I went from playing house to being a real "mom." Mike is now impressed if I smell like perfume instead of spit-up. My main topics of conversation include children's eating, sleeping and toileting habits, telling cute anecdotes about my kids, and seeking and sharing cooking, cleaning, yard, and home-making tips. I spend the bulk of my time caring for little people's basic needs and trying to keep our home liveable. I now understand why people let their children wear tacky character t-shirts. (For some unknown reason, kids like these best.) I am often involved in preventing and settling disputes. (One of Kate's first sentences this winter was "Maggie push me.") And what I want most during the kids' nap time is a nap of my own.
I love this quote given in this wonderful talk by a church leader, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
"One young mother wrote to me recently that she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like “goo goo.” She worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be able to be equal to the task, the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.
"But one thing, she said, keeps her going. I quote: 'Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with Him.'..."
This mother's thoughts capture many of my own. So much of my life is spent doing things that will be immediately undone or need to be redone. But, in spite of that, I want to somehow be a perfect wife and mother, an expert housekeeper, home decorator, chef, nurse, photographer, record keeper, lawn and pest control professional. I want to be in good shape spiritually, mentally and physically. And I want everyone in my sphere, including myself, to feel connected, happy and cared for. I know in my head I can't do it all. But that doesn't stop me from wishing I could.
On my down days, I am grateful for this encouragement from Elder Holland:
"May I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well...Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And 'press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.'
"You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master’s garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and sometimes weep over their responsibility as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And it will make your children whole as well."
She goes on: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”
I am grateful for now. I am grateful to have time to be a mother. I am grateful for my three sweet girls. And I am grateful I have help and encouragement. From my amazing husband, Mike. From my own mother. From my terrific family and extended family. From my fabulous friends. From my church leaders. And most importantly, from my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ, who can rescue not just my children, but me too. I am grateful.
After Kate was born, we had some stressful moments once in a while, when both babies needed something at the same time. But Kate was so adorable and such a fun, giggly, happy baby. Maggie loved being a big sister. Life was still pretty smooth.
I think it was around when Kate started to crawl that I started feeling like I would never be able to catch up. That feeling set it more and more as Emily came along. I can't keep up with all the memories I want to record for them. I can't keep the kitchen floor swept enough. I can't keep everything out of the children's reach or the books from being pulled off the shelves and scattered around. And I can't keep the laundry baskets empty.
Slowly, but surely, I went from playing house to being a real "mom." Mike is now impressed if I smell like perfume instead of spit-up. My main topics of conversation include children's eating, sleeping and toileting habits, telling cute anecdotes about my kids, and seeking and sharing cooking, cleaning, yard, and home-making tips. I spend the bulk of my time caring for little people's basic needs and trying to keep our home liveable. I now understand why people let their children wear tacky character t-shirts. (For some unknown reason, kids like these best.) I am often involved in preventing and settling disputes. (One of Kate's first sentences this winter was "Maggie push me.") And what I want most during the kids' nap time is a nap of my own.
One morning in December, while scrubbing crayon off the kitchen tile, I was thinking of things that are hard about being a mom. I wanted to play a game with my kids or color with them and instead I was scrubbing crayon and feeling grumpy. The next morning, a spilled bowl of cereal threatened to ruin my day.
But then I heard my sweet Maggie say to little Kate, "Don't worry, Kate! Mom will rescue you."
And I did. All my patience rushed back and I hurried over to the table and cleaned up my sweet little Kate and her soggy cereal mess.
I was reminded of an impression I had one day as I was putting my little Kate to bed. It was during one of our bedtime battles in the early days after the switch from crib to bed and I was exhausted. I felt bad that it was so hard to put her to sleep some days. I wondered how long it would be difficult and wondered what I was doing wrong that would set her up for sleep problems for life. Overcome with the feeling that I just couldn't be the perfect mom I wanted to be, I prayed for help. But in that moment, I was filled with a feeling of peace and love.
I knew and know that although I can't rescue my children from every mess, I can lead them to one who can. Even though I can't be the perfect mother to my sweet daughters, no matter how badly I want and try to be, I can lead them to one who is perfect: I am humbled and grateful to know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, can make up the difference for all my imperfections. He can help my children through the messes I cannot clean up and the challenges I cannot prevent.
But then I heard my sweet Maggie say to little Kate, "Don't worry, Kate! Mom will rescue you."
And I did. All my patience rushed back and I hurried over to the table and cleaned up my sweet little Kate and her soggy cereal mess.
I was reminded of an impression I had one day as I was putting my little Kate to bed. It was during one of our bedtime battles in the early days after the switch from crib to bed and I was exhausted. I felt bad that it was so hard to put her to sleep some days. I wondered how long it would be difficult and wondered what I was doing wrong that would set her up for sleep problems for life. Overcome with the feeling that I just couldn't be the perfect mom I wanted to be, I prayed for help. But in that moment, I was filled with a feeling of peace and love.
I knew and know that although I can't rescue my children from every mess, I can lead them to one who can. Even though I can't be the perfect mother to my sweet daughters, no matter how badly I want and try to be, I can lead them to one who is perfect: I am humbled and grateful to know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, can make up the difference for all my imperfections. He can help my children through the messes I cannot clean up and the challenges I cannot prevent.
I love this quote given in this wonderful talk by a church leader, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
"One young mother wrote to me recently that she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like “goo goo.” She worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be able to be equal to the task, the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.
"But one thing, she said, keeps her going. I quote: 'Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with Him.'..."
This mother's thoughts capture many of my own. So much of my life is spent doing things that will be immediately undone or need to be redone. But, in spite of that, I want to somehow be a perfect wife and mother, an expert housekeeper, home decorator, chef, nurse, photographer, record keeper, lawn and pest control professional. I want to be in good shape spiritually, mentally and physically. And I want everyone in my sphere, including myself, to feel connected, happy and cared for. I know in my head I can't do it all. But that doesn't stop me from wishing I could.
On my down days, I am grateful for this encouragement from Elder Holland:
"May I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well...Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And 'press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.'
"You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master’s garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and sometimes weep over their responsibility as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And it will make your children whole as well."
One last inspiring quote, this one from Christian blogger Rachel Jankovic:
“[Growing] up in [our] culture, it is very hard to get a biblical
perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below
world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your
leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have
or hope to get.”
She goes on: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”
I am grateful for now. I am grateful to have time to be a mother. I am grateful for my three sweet girls. And I am grateful I have help and encouragement. From my amazing husband, Mike. From my own mother. From my terrific family and extended family. From my fabulous friends. From my church leaders. And most importantly, from my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ, who can rescue not just my children, but me too. I am grateful.
And yes, I was spoiled on Sunday. (Except for the fact that I had to give a talk at church...) I didn't have to make a meal or do dishes (yay for whipped cream and berries on pancakes and salmon with squash!); I've been experimenting with the new portrait lens Mike surprised me with for a while now; and Mike and the girls have taken full responsibility for the planting and care service on the purple flowers they gave me (probably because of my black thumb).
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Becca Boop
I feel so lucky that my little sister Rebecca got to come visit me last week. I dropped her off for a tearful airport goodbye a week ago already and I want to jot a bit about her visit before the memories totally fade.
My sweet sis came to visit as a last hurrah with us before she begins an eighteen month mission for our church a month from tomorrow, serving the Salt Lake and Park City areas of Utah in the Spanish language. I am so glad for the extra time I got to spend with her here. She is such a wonderful sister and always makes me feel like the best sister in the world, which I know I am not.
Pretty much we kept Aunt Becca hopping her whole visit. We went to the Kansas City Temple open house. I got to introduce her to a few of my friends at church and in town. We went to a fun (and free!) children's museum. We enjoyed multiple playground trips. We went on walks, set up the kiddie pool, danced and did sidewalk chalk. We went running together like old times. We stayed up late and talked. We played games with the kids. We cooked and did dishes. We did errands and finally got the wood for the children's chairs I want to build (more about all the crazy projects I have lined up later). Becca randomly caught a few fish. But most of all, we just enjoyed time together.
Maggie, Kate and Emily were thrilled to have Aunt Becca at their beck-and-call and I was thrilled to have my little sis around. Mike has been incredibly busy lately, so it was especially nice to have the extra help and company. And I have missed one-on-one time with my Becca Boop these years we've lived far apart. It was so nice to have that again.
I was thinking a lot about Becca tonight, and my sister Catherine too, as I watched a youth celebration for the Kansas City Temple being dedicated tomorrow. I feel so lucky that my sisters and I were able to participate in the Manhattan Temple Jubilee together. Good times...(Great oldies! B103, Long Island!...Remember how we'd always sing that girls?)
I was also thinking about Becca because tomorrow morning she's running her first official marathon (though I'm convinced she has done one at least once or twice before without measuring it). So, gooooo Becca!! Run, run, run!! Good luck! We are rooting for you.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Em at Six Months
Already? I know. :(
My sweet little Emily is going all too quickly from infant-in-arms to alert and active baby. She is still calm and sweet as ever, but is definitely taking more interest in her environment every day. Sunday, she hit the six month mark.
She is still ahhing and cooing, now squeals in excitement and came up with a little whimper this weekend to show discontent. She is beginning to really react to Kate. And Maggie too. She loves the attention they give her. I mentioned Kate first because it really is cute how a two-year-old who has just learned to speak well can still move seamlessly between baby and big girl talk. I remember watching this in the interactions between two-year-old Maggie and baby Kate. It's like toddlers are bilingual in cooing and English.
The girls love to make Emily giggle, which she is doing even more now. Emily really gets chortling at bedtime when she is a little slap-happy. Most recently, the girls found that pieces of noisy bubble-wrap were a great way to entertain their little sister. (I thought so too, until they began hitting each other and Emily with it...Unfortunately, Emily was encouraging the situation by continuing to giggle even as things digressed, so the older girls were convinced she liked it.) Emily also likes to show interest and excitement by kicking her feet, much like her cousin Ivy did. It's pretty darn cute.
Emily's starting to fill out a little and is getting some cute little cheeks. She also has a really cute tucked-bottom-lip face and lately likes to stick out her pointy little tongue. Her hair is starting to really come in and I think it might be the lightest of my three girls. She still is jealous of all her tiny guy friends with their full heads of hair. (Why is it that the baby boys get all the hair? Right of the top of my head, I can think of four boys her age, all with tons of hair. Luckily, as my mother always says, babies in our family always have pretty heads.)
I forgot to mention in her three/four month post that her umbilical hernia slowly rectified itself sometime that month, so that was nice. I don't think I ever even mentioned it: Umbilical hernia is just a fancy way of saying her belly button was protruding for the first couple months, which apparently is common and usually resolves itself, as it did for Em. On the subject of appearance, Em's little birthmark on the right corner of her forehead is my favorite spot to kiss her head.
Around four months, Emily began a little habit of sucking the first two fingers of her right hand. It looks pretty cute, but I do tend to pull her hand out of her mouth if I see her do it, as it doesn't upset her and it's usually just when she is a) hungry, b) bored, or c)tired and am nervous it might be more difficult to break that habit when she is two or three. She doesn't usually seem to take a pacifier for long, so I've pretty much given up on offering that. I'm not huge on those either because it's hard for me to keep track of them and keep them clean.
Emily loves rattles and toys now. She likes to shake them, study them deeply and transfer them hand-to-hand. She also is beginning to understand how they react to her and likes to hit them and pull on them. Like her sisters before her, she enjoys paper now and her favorite part of the Kansas City Temple open house (more on that later) was crumpling the handout and knawing on it, leaving some blue bits on her face that I helped her wipe away in the celestial room.
Em enjoys floor-flying or belly-surfing and has started to rotate to get to things. She clasps her hands and grabs her feet a lot. She rolls over intermittently, but hasn't really taken off with it the way I expected when she did it the first time about two months ago. She is somewhere in between Kate, who once she rolled over did it frequently, and Maggie, who at six months showed no signs of wanting to roll over and still disliked tummy time. I'm not too anxious for her to move, as I'm never in a hurry for my babies to grow up; I know once she can get around more we'll be in trouble.
The girls already get into more than I can keep picked up, especially now that they can pull chairs around and climb on counters. Talks about how climbing on the counters is dangerous and how important it is to ask have curbed that some, but not enough, especially where gum is involved. (It is Maggie's obsession since she and her Dad bought a big container of Eclipse. She likes to try to get herself a piece of gum and Kate a tic-tac at her convenience.) I know once Emily can get around and into things too, I will be no match for my little ladies.
In trying to get over my dislike of the baby food stage, I started Em on rice cereal at five months, a month earlier than I started the others, hoping that she would master it quicker and enjoy it more. The older girls mostly just liked pears and applesauce and it always seems like they dribbled more of it out than went down, especially at first. I always had to trick them into eating baby cereal. Em seemed to like bananas and applesauce okay and took the rice cereal a little better than the others. But I already have gotten tired of it haven't given her any the past week. I know: I'm horrible. I'll get back on it in the morning. It's just that it's such a pain and it mostly dribbles out and fruit usually results in a bit of redness in the diaper area. I really do a lot better when they get to the stage where they are picking up little pieces of food. Luckily, my older two have mostly graduated to normal food diced small by nine months or so, aren't too picky and don't have known allergies, even with my half-hearted attempts when we are at the super-fine baby food stage. I think I will just keep mashing up bits of stuff we are having when I feel like it, trying for some baby cereal or applesauce or something a couple times a day, and look forward to the day she can pick up cheerios. Luckily, Maggie and Kate are more than willing to help out.
My sweet little Emily is going all too quickly from infant-in-arms to alert and active baby. She is still calm and sweet as ever, but is definitely taking more interest in her environment every day. Sunday, she hit the six month mark.
She is still ahhing and cooing, now squeals in excitement and came up with a little whimper this weekend to show discontent. She is beginning to really react to Kate. And Maggie too. She loves the attention they give her. I mentioned Kate first because it really is cute how a two-year-old who has just learned to speak well can still move seamlessly between baby and big girl talk. I remember watching this in the interactions between two-year-old Maggie and baby Kate. It's like toddlers are bilingual in cooing and English.
The girls love to make Emily giggle, which she is doing even more now. Emily really gets chortling at bedtime when she is a little slap-happy. Most recently, the girls found that pieces of noisy bubble-wrap were a great way to entertain their little sister. (I thought so too, until they began hitting each other and Emily with it...Unfortunately, Emily was encouraging the situation by continuing to giggle even as things digressed, so the older girls were convinced she liked it.) Emily also likes to show interest and excitement by kicking her feet, much like her cousin Ivy did. It's pretty darn cute.
Emily's starting to fill out a little and is getting some cute little cheeks. She also has a really cute tucked-bottom-lip face and lately likes to stick out her pointy little tongue. Her hair is starting to really come in and I think it might be the lightest of my three girls. She still is jealous of all her tiny guy friends with their full heads of hair. (Why is it that the baby boys get all the hair? Right of the top of my head, I can think of four boys her age, all with tons of hair. Luckily, as my mother always says, babies in our family always have pretty heads.)
I forgot to mention in her three/four month post that her umbilical hernia slowly rectified itself sometime that month, so that was nice. I don't think I ever even mentioned it: Umbilical hernia is just a fancy way of saying her belly button was protruding for the first couple months, which apparently is common and usually resolves itself, as it did for Em. On the subject of appearance, Em's little birthmark on the right corner of her forehead is my favorite spot to kiss her head.
Around four months, Emily began a little habit of sucking the first two fingers of her right hand. It looks pretty cute, but I do tend to pull her hand out of her mouth if I see her do it, as it doesn't upset her and it's usually just when she is a) hungry, b) bored, or c)tired and am nervous it might be more difficult to break that habit when she is two or three. She doesn't usually seem to take a pacifier for long, so I've pretty much given up on offering that. I'm not huge on those either because it's hard for me to keep track of them and keep them clean.
Emily loves rattles and toys now. She likes to shake them, study them deeply and transfer them hand-to-hand. She also is beginning to understand how they react to her and likes to hit them and pull on them. Like her sisters before her, she enjoys paper now and her favorite part of the Kansas City Temple open house (more on that later) was crumpling the handout and knawing on it, leaving some blue bits on her face that I helped her wipe away in the celestial room.
Em enjoys floor-flying or belly-surfing and has started to rotate to get to things. She clasps her hands and grabs her feet a lot. She rolls over intermittently, but hasn't really taken off with it the way I expected when she did it the first time about two months ago. She is somewhere in between Kate, who once she rolled over did it frequently, and Maggie, who at six months showed no signs of wanting to roll over and still disliked tummy time. I'm not too anxious for her to move, as I'm never in a hurry for my babies to grow up; I know once she can get around more we'll be in trouble.
The girls already get into more than I can keep picked up, especially now that they can pull chairs around and climb on counters. Talks about how climbing on the counters is dangerous and how important it is to ask have curbed that some, but not enough, especially where gum is involved. (It is Maggie's obsession since she and her Dad bought a big container of Eclipse. She likes to try to get herself a piece of gum and Kate a tic-tac at her convenience.) I know once Emily can get around and into things too, I will be no match for my little ladies.
In trying to get over my dislike of the baby food stage, I started Em on rice cereal at five months, a month earlier than I started the others, hoping that she would master it quicker and enjoy it more. The older girls mostly just liked pears and applesauce and it always seems like they dribbled more of it out than went down, especially at first. I always had to trick them into eating baby cereal. Em seemed to like bananas and applesauce okay and took the rice cereal a little better than the others. But I already have gotten tired of it haven't given her any the past week. I know: I'm horrible. I'll get back on it in the morning. It's just that it's such a pain and it mostly dribbles out and fruit usually results in a bit of redness in the diaper area. I really do a lot better when they get to the stage where they are picking up little pieces of food. Luckily, my older two have mostly graduated to normal food diced small by nine months or so, aren't too picky and don't have known allergies, even with my half-hearted attempts when we are at the super-fine baby food stage. I think I will just keep mashing up bits of stuff we are having when I feel like it, trying for some baby cereal or applesauce or something a couple times a day, and look forward to the day she can pick up cheerios. Luckily, Maggie and Kate are more than willing to help out.
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