The guilt is setting in once again. That 'second child' guilt that has plagued me since learning I was pregnant is hounding me. Every, ok, so maybe not every...but most significant and even insignificant events of the first year of Luke's life were recorded, pictures and video taken, and posted to the blog. And here we are in October, Elin is 5 months old, and very few of her significant milestones have been mentioned. She is right on track developmentally and continues in the 90th percentile across the board (height, weight, head circumference). We have been blessed with one healthy, happy baby!
Onto the milestones: (please forgive the terrible quality of our pictures - our digital camera officially broke and we haven't had the time, or funds, to buy a new one so some of the pictures were taken with the I-pad - thus they are pretty grainy and blurry, sorry.)
Milestone #1: Rolling over!
Elin has been rolling over, back to front, for awhile now. At first it was almost involuntary. She'd flip herself over quickly and then get mad because she was stuck on her stomach. She has since learned how to keep herself on her back and roll over only when she wants to. Just yesterday she started flipping over from her stomach to her back too. She's quite the mover and shaker, no doubt about it.
About to flip
On the belly and not too happy about it.
Milestone #2: Baptism
We had Elin baptized on September 11th. We were very blessed to have all the grandparents in town for the event. Even my godparents (Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Mark) and cousin Kristen were able to be here. It was awesome to be surrounded by so much family! Elin wore my great-grandma's baptism dress which is over 100 years old! She is the 5th generation that has worn this dress for a baptism. I think that is incredible. It means so much to me that my daughter wore the same dress I wore as a baby, my sister wore, my cousins, my grandmother and great grandmother wore. I was pretty nervous that she'd have a total blow out or puke all over it or I'd rip it somehow but all those fears were unfounded. And apart from Luke wanting to explore the 'stage' and nearly knocking down one of the displays during the service, the baptism itself was perfect. Elin barely flinched as the water was poured on her head. :)
Elin in my great-grandma's baptism dress.
Since I was slightly paranoid about ruining the dress I made another pillowcase dress for Elin to wear after being baptized. It turned out pretty cute, if I don't say so myself. :)
Milestone #3: the exersaucer
Ok, so it really isn't a milestone to speak of, but she does enjoy being on her feet vs. laying down. She spends many a happy moment in there!
And, of course, so does Luke. :)
Milestone #4: Solids
At Elin's 4 month well-baby check up we were given the green light to go ahead and start her on solids - beginning with rice cereal and moving up to fruits and veggies. We weren't super committed to feeding her solids, at least not at first. But then realized that she slept MUCH better after eating cereal and that was all the convincing we needed to go full-steam ahead. Currently, she's eating solids twice a day - usually oatmeal and a fruit around lunch and rice cereal and a veggie at dinner. She certainly enjoys eating (maybe you can tell by all her rolls and chub). Some of the favorites include peaches, sweet potatoes, pears, and peas - apparently foods that start with 'P' are high on her list. :)
Mmmm. Rice Cereal
Don't mind my ridiculous face in this picture. I have to consciously tell myself not to try and 'swallow' for Elin while feeding her. Even when I remind myself, I still end up making these faces and opening my mouth when I want her to open hers... can't help it.
And, of course, when we made a big deal out of Elin getting her first rice cereal, Luke needed to get in on the cereal action too.
Elin isn't the only one reaching major milestones in the DeBoer household. Luke is also growing up way too fast. He is now sleeping in a 'big boy bed'. He has been in his new bed since we got home from the wedding circuit this summer. The first night he fell out once. The second night Matt went in to check on him around 11pm and couldn't find him! (a little freaky actually). We're not sure if he fell out of bed or if he crawled out on purpose but either way we found him asleep on the floor under the bed! After the third night he got the hang of it and has been sleeping well ever since.
Luke slept on a mattress on the floor of our room while family was in town for Elin's baptism. All sprawled out.
We are also in the throes of potty-training. We haven't been super serious about it but he is getting the hang of it. At this point it is 'hit or miss', depending on the day. Some days Luke will be very excited about going on his potty and wearing underpants. Other days, he throws a fit and cries for a diaper. I am not pushing it right now - I figure that he'll get it when he gets it. I try to encourage him to use the potty but I'm not willing to battle him about it, at least for now. :)
Luke and his potty
(yes, there is poop in the potty, it just isn't visible in the picture - probably a good thing)
Elin is up from her nap and letting me know that she's not happy to be left in her crib any longer, so that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get back on the blogging bandwagon and post more often than once a month, or longer. And since I feel weird about a picture of a pant-less Luke next to a poopy potty being the last image you see, here's a much nicer picture...
my little cuddle bug!
