Bathtime Baby

This trip down memory lane was brought to you by the Apple Store, where I finally figured out how to post videos on my new computer. New videos coming soon.

Wasn't she the cutest baby ever?

Since Amelia is shocking the nation by sleeping past 5 am, here are some pictures and a quick update.



This is her adorable strawberry/watermelon dress (I say watermelon; everyone else seems to think it's a strawberry). She loves breakfast and is learning to eat with a fork and spoon. Sometimes she delicately puts the fork or spoon near her eye and says, as a joke, "Eye?" Then I say "Not your eye, your mouth!" and she grins and puts the utinsel in her mouth. It is scary game for mommy, who does not want her child to blind herself, so I am hoping she gets tired of it soon.

Speaking of saying things, Amelia is talking more and more. Too many new words to remember or list, but she repeats so many things now! Here are a few:

Both
Silly
Suki (no more Gee; we are sad)
Back! (As in, when Suki tries to slip out of the door to the yard, "Suki, back!")
Work ("Daddy work")
Silly

And she likes to play repetition games with words. If I say "You're silly!" She says, "Momma?" and I have to say "Momma's silly!" Then, "Daddy?" and I say "Daddy's silly! Then Suki, Nanny, Poppa, Guru, Ew, Heather, Micah...



Playing in the tub



I couldn't resist this...



or this.

Early to bed...

late to rise!

Amelia has been waking up at 5 or 5:30 am more often than not these days. This weekend, we kept her up till the ungodly hour of 7 pm on Saturday and Sunday nights. Both nights we had something we wanted to do outside of the house (Saturday we went out to dinner; Sunday we saw Christmas lights at the Botanic Gardens). She was literally in bed asleep at 7 so this was only 15 minutes to half an hour later than usual. (I don't think she ever really adjusted to the end of daylight savings time.)

Yesterday she was up and wide awake again at 5 am and a mess by 9:30, so she took a very early, and shorter than usual, nap. She was yawny by 4:45 pm, so I decided we should put her in bed by 6:30. We gave her an early dinner, and she ate well, but as soon as we took her out of the high chair she had a meltdown. She cried while we filled the tub and when we put her in the tub. Se we got her right out and took her upstairs and she was in her crib asleep by 6:20.

After one wake up at 3:00 (I went in at 3:30), she is STILL SLEEPING--and it's 6:55!!!

What's Amelia doing?

That's the question I often find myself asking Amelia, and then answering it for her. I guess this is how babies learn to talk. I also ask her "Where's Amelia going?" when I put her into the stroller or in the car seat, as a way of distracting her. She generally doesn't like to be put into things.

Anyway, I thought Amelia's fans might like to know what she's been up to these days. She is currently taking a late and, I hope, long nap after an exciting trip to the DMV. We have already taken two trips to the emissions testing station (the second not because we failed the test but because we had to get the "VIN" verified, something I didn't know and thus didn't have enough money to pay for the first time). She did well on all three trips, demonstrating yet again both her portability and her agreeableness. She actually seems to have a good time on these errands, because there are a lot of other people around with little to do except watch her play and coo and drool and smile and attempt to crawl, and Amelia loves an audience.

It's kind of astounding to both Dean and me how social Amelia is. When you point a camera at her, she gets all Vogue and drops her chin and smiles prettily. When she sees strangers, she stares at them till they look at her, then starts to flirt. If someone does not pay attention to her she is confused and slightly upset. She is a social bee. She did not get this from me or from Dean.

Here she is posing with some trail mix.



The nap turned out to be very short so I will give a summary of a few more Amelia facts. Her top front teeth are S-L-O-W-L-Y coming in. She is not crawling but has pulled herself up to a standing position by gripping a chair or something similar (such as the large stuffed elephant I bought at Goodwill for $5) several times. She very much likes to play with balls. She squeals and kicks her legs when you roll one to her. I think she understands "Hi!" and "Bye!" and waving to signal these things. She has been pitching huge crying fits at bathtime recently; we think it is because she is so tired by bathtime that she just can't go on. But she has been going to sleep at 6:30 and waking up at 5:15. (At 5:15, I shut her door, and we sort of ignore her cooing till it turns to a loud fuss around 5:45.) She will still spend a relatively long time pulling toys and items out of baskets, which is what she is doing now.

And yawning. Because of the short nap.

Suds and Smiles

A-mel-i-a! A-mel-i-a!

A-mel-i-a! A-mel-i-a!
A, M, E,
L, I, A
A-mel-i-a! A-mel-i-a!
A, M, E,
L, I, A!

That's a song I made up to sing to Amelia. In the song, Amelia has 4 syllable, like Olivia. (Dean and I have often discussed the proper pronunciation of her name.)

Dean has also made up a song for Amelia:

Amelia the baby,
she's such a sweet baby,
such a good baby,
Amelia!

I'm sorry I can't write out the melodies. But rest assured they are both excellent songs.

I wanted to write a good, old-fashioned post about Amelia in celebration of her forth month birthday tomorrow! Here are some things I absolutely love about my baby:

-When she has had enough sleep, she wakes up smiling. When you go in to get her in the morning or after a long nap, she just grins and grins.

-I love her long, soft baby hair. All of the other babies are jealous of her hair. It is already growing down into her eyes. (Just don't tell her she has a bald spot. Luckily she can't see the back of her head.)

-Although I hate waking up in the middle of the night, I love cuddling with Amelia to feed her in the dark and quiet.

-I am a fan of breastfeeding, in general. Sometimes it is the only thing that makes me stop and rest. Besides all the fun of cuddling and looking at Amelia's beautiful eyelashes, it's a great excuse to sit still (and maybe watch Teen Mom).

-I love washing A's face in the morning. I sing, "This is the way we wash our face!" She opens her mouth and smiles when I rub the washcloth over her nose.

-I love reading to Amelia. It'll be even more fun when she can understand more of the stories.

-I love her long, plump toes.

-I love watching her take a bath. When Dean puts her in the water, she gets a very serious expression on her face and begins to kick her legs and wave her arms. Bathing is serious business.

-I love watching Dean love Amelia. I love the triangle of our family.

-I love watching A change and grow. Just this last week she has really started to look at things with interest, reaching out and grasping. She likes to sit in my lap and gnaw on my fingers.

Yea Amelia! These last four months have definitely been the most challenging months of my life. They have contained the most overwhelming moments I have ever lived through, but they have also contained moments of the greatest joy I have ever felt.

Happy Forth Month to you.

Bed, Bath and Baby