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 :)

3 Months!

Our little girl is 3 months old and is starting to show so much more of her personality! We are loving it!

This past month she:

-- has started holding her head up while sitting if mom or dad are holding onto her torso or her hands
-- loves to smile, sometimes when she smiles too big she can't maintain eye contact
-- kicks and wiggles around much more than normal
-- is moving in her sleep some more (lots of mornings or night-time feedings we'll find her completely sideways from the way we put her in her crib)
-- still calms down the fastest with bath time or laying on top of the dryer
-- hates to not be able to see whether it's because her headband/bow has fallen over her eyes, it's dark out, or the wrap covers her eyes
-- loves to look around and take in her surroundings, especially at the grocery store (until she falls asleep)
-- still has the craziest hair that we can't figure out what to do with - it's almost long enough for a little ponytail so hopefully that will come soon!
-- is finding her voice more and more, she loves when mom and dad coo back to her or repeat the noises she's making
-- likes to listen to dad beatbox and try to figure out where the sounds are coming from
-- seems to be getting into more of a regular schedule with her days, we're hoping this will help her sleep more consistently at night!
-- loves to have mom and dad blow or whistle into her hair
-- is figuring out how to use her hands
-- just in the past day or two has started grabbing onto toys that are put on her chest or hanging in front of her (we're not quite sure how intentional it is yet)
-- loves when her daddy comes home and plays with her
-- is fascinating to all of the older babies we hang out with, they want to touch her and seem excited to find something/someone smaller than them - she doesn't seem to mind for the most part
-- has started drooling everywhere
-- is liking tummy time more than before, but still won't pick her head up off the floor for more than a second at a time

Sometimes pictures don't quite go as planned haha

2 Months!

Our little Miss Peyton is 2 months old! We love her more than ever and are loving seeing the new things she is learning and doing.

This month she:

-- Consistently slept 4-6 hour stretches during the night (sometimes even up to 8!)
-- Learned how to smile
-- Loves her daddy
-- Smiles big when daddy whistles into her hair
-- Speaking of her hair... It goes straight into an afro after bath time but we love it.
-- It's also the first thing everyone notices about her
-- Has big beautiful, blue eyes
-- Has started to find her voice and occasionally coos
-- Loves to be put in the swing and sleeps well there
-- Loves bath time more than anything else
-- Has started to discover her hands but sometimes has a hard time finding them to suck on (we feel bad, but it's very funny to watch)
-- Is much more alert and loves to look around
-- Loves being outside
-- Gets called Stinky, Stinker, Baby Girl, Peyton Lady, and Sweet Girl
-- Most of all makes mom and dad feel like the luckiest people in the world, especially when she smiles at them!