6-Months Old

At 6-months, Dakota Kate...

...is a WIGGLE WORM! Look at these photo outtakes for example:

...is still only taking milk "from the tap", but she is very interested in her brother's sippy cup so here's hoping!

...had her first little "cold" which I now think is attributed to her cutting FOUR teeth at a time, so it's not technically a sickness. {Mason had this exact teething symptom immediately prior to cutting his first 2 teeth} Poor baby!

{my vampire baby's top 2 bicuspids cut through, but the bottom 2 bicuspids are next and the gums are just so swollen!}

...gives me pensive stares, and sticks out her tongue.

...despite that is turning out to be just as photogenic as her older brother!

...isn't crawling yet, but will get on all fours and when she rocks to move just falls flat on her tummy to roll. She's really good at maneuvering to all fours from the sitting position, but doesn't spend much time trying to crawl other than that-I'm fine with her waiting!

...is pulling up to standing on her own. Oh yeah, did I mention that yet? Because really. She's not crawling, not really even interested in it but definitely wants to stand. So she rolls to pull up, or if I place her anywhere near something she pulls to standing.

Happy Over-the Hill of Infancy Dakota Kate!

5-Months Old

At 5-months, Dakota Kate...

...is, well see the problem with waiting months afterwards to record her milestones, behaviours, preferences, and activities is that I have Mommy brain and forget exactly what she did at specific dates. Mostly since big brother Mason has started his school, we've had much more alert one-on-one time together. I've also been able to take several more photos of her, thus the barrage of photos between her 4th and 5th month.

She sits well on her own.

She loves to stretch her legs straight whenever picked up. I'm fairly certain it's not just the reflex anymore; she actually wants to stand on her own.

And she's smiley and silly with family members. Mason can make her giggle in no time.

What a happy baby!

And now Fall has begun. We'll have some special family celebrations coming up as we enter into Holiday season. So I'll leave her 5th month post with this Happy Fall pose:

Happy 5 Months Dakota Kate!

4-Months Old

At 4-months, Dakota Kate...

...discovered splashing in the tub! She loves to soak her Mommy while lounging in the tub. And look at my chub-a-wub! Her naked bath photo is so funny because her rolls cover everything necessary.

...will temporarily let me put her down. We tried out the fancy MamaRoo bouncer and it didn't work, but Scott suggested that we try a swing to see if the swifter movements might lull her to sleep. It worked for about a week. And then our sweet friends Leah, Todd & Carson lent us their Jumperoo and it's been working like a charm. This little girl just wants to "stand" and keep busy!

...changes every day. Her eyes are still a steel grey but some days I think she looks so much like me and then others she looks like Mason's clone, and then she'll give me a look and I think she's her Daddy in an Asian-girl form.

...is still rolling everywhere!

Between months 3-4, Dakota Kate...

*went to work with Daddy. I think she was a hit!

*received her 2nd round of shots. FOUR pricks in her legs! She had a fever and was fussy for a while afterwards. I'm not looking forward to the next vaccinations.

*visited her cousin in Madison, AL. We had a great time playing, but the ride back home was another story. We're going to have a wait a while for road trips longer than 45 minutes again!

*traveled to Cleveland to see Maw and Nana at Nana's home.

Oh this little girl has been very busy!

At our 4-Month well visit: She's 24.75" in length, 13 lbs, 6 oz in weight, and 16.25" head circumference. Steadily 50th percentile across the board. A stark difference from her brother. And she's well into 6-month clothes too so it boggles my mind!

School Days

Mason's starting a Mother's Day Out Program and it's bittersweet. I'm so thankful that he's going because it'll give him a steady social outlet in addition to our storytimes and playdates, but going to "school" at the age of 2 years just seems like it's accelerating his childhood a little and there's a tiny part that tugs this mother's heartstrings.

But check out this keepsake photo I caught of Daddy walking hand-in-hand with Mason on Orientation Day!

For weeks prior, I'd pointed out his "School" everytime we drove by so he knew the building was something special.

Here he is first walking in to meet his teacher Mrs K. She was quite the understanding teacher as I explained this was the first scheduled time away from home {no daycare, preschool or steady time away from Mommy prior to MDO} and she was very kind and welcoming to Mason.

And so we got home and the next morning practiced getting his school gear together for the first day of school that week!

We decided it was best for Daddy to take him to his first school day. It was more likely that he'd be brave with him. No tears!

Here he is carrying his new dog lunchbox to match his backpack.

He had a his special hook and nook for his things:

And then of course after the short school day was over {it's only 4.5 hours}, he was all grins when I came to pick him up!

Now, he's like "I'm too cool to stay home with Mommy"

And in the first full week of school, Mrs K awarded him with a "Leader" position because he was the only child who consistently helped clean up without anyone asking!

So he got a monster cookie as a reward...it was the size of his head.

And as for me now? I really look forward to his School Days! Mason has been thriving in this setting and it gives Dakota Kate and me some rare one-on-one time. All is well!