7 Months!

I'm a little late writing this one... we've been a little busy around here, in the best way :)

Peyton turned 7 months old! Her personality is getting bigger every day, and this month especially she's really turned into such a happy baby. We can't get enough of her and love to play with her!

This month she:
-- has mastered sitting up (although we still put a pillow behind her because she hasn't figured out how to lay down gently)
-- is exploring lots of finger foods
-- is being really stubborn about not trying crawling, instead she rolls from her back to her stomach and back again over and over until she gets close enough to grab the toy she wants
-- does much better in the car, she loves to babble to herself in the mirror behind her carseat
-- has gotten a little bit of stranger danger, she doesn't love to be handed off to people she doesn't know
-- sometimes shows a strong preference for mom and will lean out of people's arms if I'm standing too close
-- still loves to watch older babies
-- loves to read books, especially ones where she gets to lift the flaps
-- has started to turn into a real chatterbox, but mostly when she's playing by herself
-- still loves to see herself in the mirror
-- has started grabbing onto mom at random times, and usually ends up grabbing a (tiny) fistful that results in a very hard pinch (unfortunately she usually gets the backs of my arms or my neck - ouch)
-- loves, loves, loves playing in the water. She seems to be much less scared of it, and kicks and splashes all the way through bath time
-- her favorite part of her bedtime routine is saying goodnight to dad - she gets a HUGE smile on her face and does a kind of wave to him as he shuts the door and turns off the light. It's adorable.
-- has started shaking her head (also usually just with dad)
--still loves playing with her toes
-- has mastered the pincer grasp and grabs onto anything and everything she can
-- does a great job shopping with mom (riding in the grocery cart on a regular basis), and smiles at lots of people - she always gets comments and people making faces at her
-- pretty consistently is napping 3 times a day (I think this is the biggest contributor to her happy moods) - we couldn't be happier to have figured out this sleeping schedule (at least for now)
-- is getting better and better at playing by herself, as long as mom or dad is still in sight
-- is finally losing the bald spot on the back of her head!
-- loves to jump up and down in her bouncer
-- has discovered a love of blowing spit bubbles

(There were too many good ones to narrow it down, so hopefully you don't mind some extra pictures this month!)

6 Months!

It's hard to believe that we've had Peyton as part of our family for a half of a year already!!! It has really flown by. We're loving (almost) every minute of it and love her more every day.

This month our sweet girl:
-- is rolling both ways - it's pretty funny to watch her end up on the other side of the room
-- has explored making new sounds with her mouth (still no words yet)
-- loves peek-a-boo, especially when we pop out behind furniture or stacks of pillows
-- hates how cold the pool is at first but loves to kick and play in the water
-- still hates being left alone in a room
-- is sitting up on her own for more and more time (usually around 30 seconds these days unless she gets distracted by a toy)
-- has discovered how funny she is - LOVES to watch videos of herself on our phones
-- is getting more and more social, she could spend hours watching older babies (especially her friend Preston who lives two apartments over)
-- is eating like a champ and made it to the next level of baby food
-- has started picking up puffs to eat - they make it to her mouth about half of the time
-- made her first road trip! (to Dallas to see her baby-friend Mary get blessed)
-- naps in her crib well, though the frequency and length of her naps changes every day
-- is sleeping much better at night (mom couldn't be happier about this)
-- LOVES when dad comes home from school and saves her biggest smiles for him
-- just barely got a little ticklish, mostly her feet, neck, and armpits
-- loves going to the child watch room at the YMCA while mom works out
-- has started to figure out her bouncer seat and gets really excited when she finds a rhythm
-- still has crazy hair that goes into the cutest pigtails
-- sits up in the grocery cart while mom does shopping, but only if the buckle is holding her up
-- enjoys people watching
-- has the cutest laugh that we can't get enough of


**I have a feeling these photoshoots are just going to get more difficult from here on out...

5 Month Update!

Our Peyton girl just turned 5 months old! She is growing, growing, growing, and learning so many new things. We are loving seeing so much more of her personality!

This month she:
-- got not one, but TWO teeth! - she likes to feel them with her thumb
-- has started not hating tummy time
-- now rolls from her back to her stomach all by herself
-- has rolled stomach to back, but usually only when she's really mad
-- squeals when she gets really excited
-- started eating solids, and eats like champ (we still can't quite figure out which ones she likes because she makes a grossed out face every time something new goes in her mouth)
-- learned how to lock her knees and can now stand with help
-- has gotten so good at holding her own head up while trying to sit up
-- has started hating being left alone in a room, she loves to be able to see mom or dad all the time
-- went for lots of stroller rides and trips to new parks
-- figured out she loves the swing
-- sleeps more consistently, and we're starting to try naps in her crib
-- is liking her carseat more
-- decided that her giraffe toy (attached to her carseat) is her best friend/favorite toy (she will babble to it when she thinks we can't see her)
-- is loving her touchy feely books for bedtime stories
-- found mom's hair and likes to pull on it
-- loves to stare at and reach for lotion bottles in the bathroom
-- has started exploring our faces with her hands (she loves to find and pull on our lower lips)

This is the face she makes when she's squealing/babbling

You can almost see her tiny teeth in this one!

Standing with some help from daddy :)

Still has some crazy hair going on...

Tummy time is hard work

A Week of Firsts

Normally I would wait until the month update to share all of these exciting things, but too many of them happened at once for me to not share :)

Last Monday Peyton's first tooth showed up! After a couple of fussy days and fussy nights it finally cut through her gums. Dentist dad is pretty happy about it.

Tuesday she finally figured out that she could use her arms to help hold herself up during tummy time. She still wasn't too happy about being left on her stomach. It resulted in these faces:






Wednesday she went from using her arms to hold herself up to rolling over! It was a total accident and hasn't happened again since, but she flailed enough to get her legs turned over. Mom was too excited to remember to take a picture haha.

We've gradually been trying new foods with her, but this week she got to try 2 new ones! Squash was a big hit, the verdict is still out on peas.

Saturday we went for our first real outing with her in the stroller. We decided to go see our local farmer's market. Everyone who saw her commented on how cute she looked and that she looked small enough to be a doll haha. She seemed really mellow the whole time, so we're taking that as a good sign :)

We love watching her grow and learn new things. Can't wait to see what's next (although I'm hoping teething slows down a little bit)...

"Because I am His Daughter"

This past Sunday we had testimony meeting during church. Anyone from the congregation is invited to get up and share their testimony or beliefs with everyone. An 8 or 9 year old girl that Chase and I used to teach in Primary (classes for the kids) got up to bear her testimony and I paid a little more attention, excited to hear what she had to say. It was short and sweet, and simple, but so powerful.

She said, "I know that God loves me because I am His daughter."

That's it.

That was what she felt like she needed to share. And I'm so glad she did, because I needed to hear it.

It hit me hard that God doesn't need lots of reasons to love us. He simply loves us because we are His children. I've been trying for a while to think of a way to articulate how much I've learned about His love by becoming a mother and I think this finally did it. I love Peyton, because she is my daughter. It's that simple. It's so amazing how much I love her and how much my love for her continues to grow. I want her to know that I love her already. I want that to be something she feels from the time we spend together. I want her to know that I will always love her.

And maybe, if I can help her know how much I love her she can start to understand how much God loves her. Because even though I feel like she has taken over my whole heart, I don't think we can begin to comprehend how much God loves each of us. He has an infinite capacity for love, and sees all of our divine potential. It's given me a lot to think about this week and I hope that it's already making me a better mom.

I'm so grateful for little girls that listen to the Spirit and say what they know. They sure have a lot to teach me. And I'm so grateful to have my own little girl that I'm sure will teach me all sorts of these kinds of lessons. She is already making me a better person.

4 Month Update

We're a few days late but Peyton is 4 months old! She is growing just like she should - 50th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. The doctor said she's making her own curve to follow which sounds about right for her. Doesn't quite do things the way any of us expect haha. 

This month she:

-- has found her thumb! We're excited that she's found a small way to soothe herself since she's still refusing the binky

-- is sitting up in the Bumbo regularly

-- has started being really stubborn about tummy time. She can be really good about it when she wants to be, but if she's not liking it that day then she is sure to let us know

-- loves to show off her big gummy smile, especially after sleeping well

-- is the most unpredictable sleeper (she went a little while sleeping about 7 hours straight, but has also had nights of getting up every 2 hours, sometimes every 3 hours, sometimes she'll sleep for a while and then not want to go back to bed... mom and dad are hoping that adding solids to her diet will help regulate this a little more)

-- has turned into quite the chatterbox. She loves to talk to herself and blow spit bubbles, especially in the car when she can see herself in the mirror

-- wore her hair in a ponytail for the first time! Mom is obsessed with it

-- has started fitting into 3-6 month clothes, but must have short legs because she still fits into 0-3 month bottoms

-- loves to look around and see new things

-- still loves bath time and kicking in the tub

-- loves to be outside, even if the sun makes her sneeze the cutest little sneezes

-- is getting so much better at using her hands - grabs onto anything and everything she can, even if she can't hold onto it very long

-- loves to suck on blankets and her mittens and her shirt

-- realized she hates the blowdryer and the vacuum

-- likes looking at the pictures in books

-- arches her back and twists around but has shown no interest in rolling over

-- likes to scratch herself all over (we just found out she has eczema and are hoping that will stop soon)

-- has figured out how to pull off her "no-scratch" mittens - especially from her right hand

-- went for her first stroller ride around the duck pond and loved it

-- still isn't loving her carseat, but is doing much better

-- loves to play peek-a-boo with her blanket

-- occasionally giggles, but they are hard to come by, and don't normally come with a smile

-- loves coming to primary with mom and dad and getting extra attention from the sunbeams

Love Our Little Girl

I have no idea how I made this... but it showed up in my pictures so I thought I'd share it... even though it's from her 3 month photoshoot.

I love this little girl! She laughed for me/because of me for the first time yesterday and my heart melted after a hard day with her. Funny how a good smile or a little giggle can turn my whole day around :)