Brandon's First Father's Day

Breakfast at Nikko's - a little Greek place down the street from our house. 

Taking the bronco for a long ride down the coast. 

The Del Mar fair. 

Donuts.

Hot Dogs.

Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting.

This was the 7th year in a row that Brandon and I have gone to the fair together. Each year we take a picture in the photobooth. We've captured our dating years, being engaged, being married, being pregnant, and NOW we have another miniature human being in the booth with us. 

Brandon, I always knew you'd make an amazing father, but I had no idea just how gentle and patient you would be. The love you show our daughter comes so naturally to you. From the first hour she was in this world, it was you who was swaddling her, changing her, and waking up throughout those first few nights in the hospital when she cried. I cannot wait to see you two together over the next 5, 10, 25 years.

You truly light up our lives.

Five Months

You turned five months old yesterday and we're having more fun than ever!

Sleep: The last month has been heavenly. You go to bed pretty consistently between 6:30 and 7:30 pm and don't wake up until 5:30 am. Then you will go down for your morning nap at 7:30 am and sleep another hour. You have been a great sleeper since you were born, but it just keeps getting better and better. I have read that another growth spurt can be expected around 6 months, so I'm anticipating you getting up during the night. I'm trying to enjoy the full nights rest while I can :-)
Food: You are still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day. We've also started giving you some avocado. You LOVE it!! You will sit and watch us eat and open and close your mouth and stick out your tongue and stare at me with your laser beam eyes until we give you another little taste. Your primary diet will still be breast milk, we'd just like to introduce you to solids so you can experience different tastes and textures.

Social: This last month you've been going to car shows, restaurants, the beach, the pool. You've been having a lot of fun and it is getting easier to take you places. It's still a nightmare driving with you though. You will cry and scream until we take you out...and then you are instantly happy again. Sigh.

Milestones: After you rolled over from tummy to back those few times for us last month, you didn't really do it very often. But I have found you a couple of times in your crib on your back looking very proud of yourself. 

You fell asleep in your stroller for the first time! I was stunned to find you sleeping when I got back home. I was able to move you into your crib where you continued to sleep for two hours. We now do this every morning! You also LOVE your dad's bronco, and will fall asleep in that carseat every time.

Exercise: One of your favorite things in the world is your exersaucer! Your eyes light up the instant we lower you into it. You will bang on all of your toys, gnaw on them, screech and laugh. I could watch you sit in it all day. It's also nice because you will entertain yourself for quite awhile while mommy eats lunch or cooks dinner. And when you get tired in it, you just sit and suck on your finger.

Stats: I won't know your exact weight/height until we go for your 6 month dr. appointment next month, but I would guess that you are maybe 16 pounds? You are still wearing size 2 diapers and 6 month clothes.

Adventures with food!

I plan to exclusively breastfeed Avery for one year. However, we wanted to introduce food, not as a replacement, but just for fun :-) As the months go on, I'm sure she'll be eating more and more food. But as of 5 months, she is just "tasting". I wanted to wait until six months but she has been soooo interested in what we eat. The first time we gave her some mashed up bites of avocado, she couldn't eat it fast enough! She opens her mouth, and goes "oooooh" between tastes. Sometimes she's so frantic, she almost starts crying until I give her another little bit. I just bought the Beaba baby food maker, and can't wait to start trying different recipes. We set up her high chair last night, and I scored some plates and bowls in the dollar section at Target this afternoon.

She loves it!

Four Months

Stats: At your 4 month appointment you were 15.2 pounds (67th percentile), 25.75 inches long (92nd percentile!) and your head was 43 cm (also the 92nd percentile!) You were kind of a shorty when you were born (20.5 inches) so this surprised me!

Sleep: Well, the last four weeks have shown me that just when I think you have a schedule - you'll change it on me! We have been experiencing the 4 month sleep regression. You started waking up at 1 am and 4 am again. Those were a tough few weeks! In the last few days, you have started sleeping from 7:30 pm - 5:30 am. 10 hours all in your crib! It's been a dream, but I know that at anytime you can switch it up on me. I never know what kind of night we'll have when I lay down to go to sleep at night. You definitely keep me on my toes. 

Food: We're still exclusively breastfeeding. It blows me away that you can get so fat on just a liquid diet. You are definitely showing signs of being interested in what we are eating, but we are trying to wait until you are 6 months old to introduce you to solid food. I just think your little digestive system could benefit from waiting a little longer. I'm so excited about it though that I've already bought your baby food maker, and your highchair!

Milestones: You rolled over for the first time at 15 weeks. It was so exciting. All day long I had been videotaping you laying on your belly and almost turning over. When your dad got home from work we were all laying on the floor in your room, and I was showing him the videos and telling him it would be any day now. Well the timer dinged in the kitchen, so I left the room for ONE minute to take dinner out of the oven and daddy yells, "Amira, she just rolled over!!!!!" Sure enough you had turned over on to your back! I was sad to miss it, but glad that daddy got to see :-) You rolled over for me the next day. And haven't really done it since.

Exercise: We also pulled out the excersaucer because all you want to do is stand up!! As long as someone is holding you so you can stand, you are a happy camper. However, you get so mesmerized by all the toys in the exersaucer that you let your legs go right away. I think soon you'll understand that you can stand in it all by yourself! You are getting a little closer to sitting up too.

Fun: You still love books so much and we continue to have story time a few times a day. We also take a long morning walk in the neighborhood. You are the most content in the morning so we can actually walk for longer than 20 minutes without you getting fussy. Tummy time is also one of your favorite things. You kick your feet so hard, and it looks like you're swimming. You want to be on the go, and I think sometimes you get frustrated that you can't really get anywhere yet. A few times you've been able to get traction with your knee and push an inch or so. I think this is the precursor to crawling which probably won't be for awhile.

Hair: You are definitely losing your hair! It's so funny to see how mangy it's starting to look. You still have really long pieces, and then sections where there is just peach fuzz. I can only imagine how funny it will look in another month. Poor little baldy.

Clothes: You are wearing six month clothes and size 2 diapers.

You have really started to reach out and grab objects now! It's been a lot of fun to see how satisfied you look when you can reach for a toy and actually get it. You also like to pull on your feet when you lay on your back. And you stretch your hands up and look at them like they're toys. You also like to reach out and touch my face. My nose, my lips. It's all so intriguing to you.

Your little voice is so sweet! You make the funniest noises trying to talk and blow bubbles. I can't wait until you can say "mama".

You love to go outside with your dad to check on the strawberries, get the mail, enjoy the sunshine. etc.

Avery Monroe-
Watching you grow has been such a privilege.
We love you beyond words.

My first Mother's Day

Our first Mother's Day was perfect! 

Daddy let mommy sleep in for an extra hour, and you both woke me up with a delicious breakfast on the table. 

Daddy gave mommy the cutest initial necklace. 

Last minute we had my parents, brother and grandma over. 

They brought delicious Mediterranean food and we ate outside and enjoyed the sunny afternoon.

She's mesmerized by her doggy

This munchkin loves her "gwandpa" so much

Four generations :-)

And of course we had to share "the lip"

There isn't a day that goes by that I am not overwhelmed by how lucky and blessed I am to be your mama. Sometimes I look at you and my heart could just burst. I couldn't imagine a job more fulfilling or exhausting. 

Thank you, baby girl.