5 Months ~Amelia~

It was pretty tough getting this little girl to sit still for pictures this month!  Can't imagine what the months ahead have in store. 

This month ended with a vacation trip to Georgia for my mom’s 60^th birthday and a beach trip to Amelia Island, Florida.  It was an amazing trip and a very fast month.  If you didn't see my vacation post you can see it here. 

Growth:
Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz (75th percentile-Doctor’s measurement from appointment on Wednesday)
Height: 26" ish would be my best guess.  We don’t have an official stat from this month.

She is wearing mainly 6, 6-9, and 9 month clothing and sadly I have packed up most of her cute dresses and tank tops (I am on a mission for leggings this weekend to extend the life of some of them).  She is in size 3 diapers (except for the size 2's that are floating around still but she usually ends up blowing those out rather easily).      

Mobility/Coordination:  Amelia is pretty close to sitting up on her own and can sit in front of a musical mirror that we have for extended periods of time because she uses it to balance herself.  She is a pro at rolling back to tummy and in the last couple days she has really gotten the hang of rolling tummy to back.  She is still a thumb sucker and loves reaching for everything (food, toys, hair, necklace, watches, anything in her sight).

Language/Communication:  I would no longer say Amelia is a quiet little girl.  She still isn’t fussy and very rarely cries but she has found her voice and it comes out more like a squeal or squawk when she gets excited.  It happened right about the time we were on vacation on the beach and we were joking that she learned to squawk like the sea gulls.

 

 

She also will laugh and/or giggle without being tickled.  She has picked up on some ya and hi sounds. 

 

Personality/Amelia-isms:  Amelia is still our happy, silly little girl.  She beams and smiles and is absolutely lovable.  I will say she isn't much of a cuddler normally but absolutely adores Grant and thinks he is so funny.  You can already tell she wants so badly to play with him and do all the stuff he does.  

Sleep:  Sleep schedule hasn't changed much.  She likes to sneak in 3-4 naps with her early afternoon nap usually being the longest at 2-3 hours (sometimes even 4 hours!).  She still has yet to wake up at night crying or fussing.  We have also found that she now tends to sleep on her tummy.     

Feeding:  Amelia eats 4-5 times per day and still stretches some feedings as much as 4+ hours.  When taking a bottle, she normally drinks about 5-6 oz.  She has gotten over her pickiness for a bottle but it took some experimenting to do so (breast milk mixtures and bottle brands).  Turns out she doesn't like the playtex drop-ins we had for Grant and opts for the Nuk bottles with the funky nipple.  So much for re-using all of our bottles. 

 

 

We are still holding off with solids and are going to be starting a baby led weaning method towards the end of this month or beginning of her 6th month.  We are still reading alot about it and deciding when the time is right and Amelia is ready.

Illnesses:  Amelia ended up with a pretty bad cold (very loose cough and very snotty nose toward the end of this month).  It actually marked our first sick visit to the doctor because I would've bet money that she had an ear infection.  There were two days where she was very fussy and tugging at her left ear but both ears were clear.  We visited to the chiropractor and have been doing some ear exercises she told us about.  I have also been using some of my essential oils so maybe that has helped keep an infection away!
 

Teeth:  No teeth yet although it looks to me like she may have one close on bottom.  Amelia has been a droolin’ fool combined with her cough and runny nose I don't think the teething phase is far off.  I had heard about the use of baltic amber teething necklaces (read more here... and yes I felt the same way as the author of this article did about it being a silly hippie trend) to help with tooth and jaw pain (even headaches and migraines) and we have purchased one for her.  I figure it can't hurt anything and I have heard numerous 1st hand accounts of how much they have helped others yound and older alike.   

Firsts: Airplane ride, trip to the river in GA, trip to the beach in FL and pretty much everything we did while we were in GA/FL were all firsts. 

Likes:  Sleeping on her side/tummy, sitting in front of her musical mirror, being carried by mommy in the k’tan, blankets, being tickled, watching Grant,

Dislikes:  Nose suctioning and there has been lots of it lately!

Georgia Vacation 2013

To say this was an amazing vacation would be an understatement. Matt and I agree it is by far the best vacation we have taken to date. We have many beautiful memories and tons of great pictures... some of which I have shared here and others I will share on facebook.

By far my favortie picture from the trip

The trip began with a hotel stay the night before we left.  Our flight left at 5 am and we arrived in Jacksonville by 10 am.  It was a short, smooth travel day.  Grant was relatively unimpressed by the airplane on the way down.  When we took off, it was dark and he was so exhausted by the connecting flight in Atlanta that he was asleep before we even took off.  Amelia never made a peep.  She ate and napped and barely stayed awake at all on the way down.

 

 

Friday afternoon was filled with some family time and preparation for my mom’s birthday party the following day. 

Saturday morning was a mini high school reunion of sorts with some of my friends from high school and their children (for those that have them already).  I am still kicking myself for not taking an updated picture from the last time we all got together when we were down!  Saturday evening we had a birthday party for my mom filled with family, friends, music and delicious food.

 

 

Sunday was a lazy day followed by a tourist extravaganza at the Okefenokee Swamp Park.  We saw all the expected critters complete with gators (both wild and caged), snakes, otters, bears, etc.  We rode the train around the park and attended the wild life show where Grant got to pet snakes and a couple small gators.  He LOVED it!

 

Tuesday we took a short trip down to the hunting club to do some swimming and just a little fishing. We also had to get packed up for our trip to the beach.
 

On Wednesday, we left for Amelia Island to spend the remainder of our trip at the beach.  We arrived to slightly overcast skies and light rain but got unpacked and waited for a college friend of mine and her family to arrive.  In the afternoon, we settled for a short trip to the pool.

Thursday and Friday were beach days. Grant begged to be in the waves and loved digging in the sand.  He had plenty of company (His cousins Aiden-4 and Able-1 as well as my friend Amanda's children Jonah-2 1/2 and Nolan 1).  The boys all played and had a blast and Amelia relaxed under the shade tent.  Friday evening we went out to dinner with my parents, step sister Brandy, her family and my step brother Paul.

 

Our day on Saturday didn't start super early because our flight home didn't leave until 10:55 am. However, we were pushing it close on the way to the airport because of an unanticipated interstate detour. We were met by a man with a luggage cart at the car rental return.  He asked if we needed help and I asked how fast he could run!  It wasn't until he loaded us up and we ran to the ticket counter that we found out our 1st flight had been slightly delayed so we ended up having plenty of time.  Again, the kids were exceptional on the plane.  Grant enjoyed looking out the window more this time but slept nearly 2 ½ hours on the connecting flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Milwaukee.
 

 

Projects: Corn hole toss

We decided to throw together a quick game of corn hole toss with mostly scrap wood and stuff we had around the house.  Matt made the game boards and I sewed the bags and painted the boards.  What turned out as the final product wasn't too shabby.  We even made a couple for family and a friend as a housewarming gift. 

 

First, I cut 6x6 squares out of duck cloth

 

 

Next, I sewed along three edges and we filled with corn.

 

 

And finally I sewed them shut

 

The "fancy" bean bags for our friend's corn hole set

We even had Packer colored paint on hand from the previous homeowners who painted a Packer theme in our basement.

 

Projects: Refinishing Furniture



We recently purchased a nice, solid wood bedroom set off of craigslist complete with a full size bed (headboard, footboard and rails), tall 5 drawer dresser, short 6 drawer dresser with mirror and nightstand for a mere $425.  Although the finish and color of the wood wasn't terrible it needed a little work so I decided to paint it. 

 

Here are a couple before shots of some of the pieces and hardware. 

 

 

And here are the pictures of the final product!  I kept the original hardware and spray painted it with a brushed nickle finish.  Otherwise, I sanded the pieces, primed, and painted with 2 coats of oil based paint.  In between coats, I lightly sanded to get rid of any rough spots or tiny air bubbles but over all I am very pleased. 

 

The white pieces are in Amelia's room and in the future we will buy her a bed to match (or I will just paint another piece).  



And these grey pieces are all in Grant's room.  He had an existing night stand that I also painted to match the rest of his pieces. 

Sorry about the lighting in some of the pictures! :)