5 Months - Milayla

Has another month already come and gone? We keep trying to hold on to all these moments, but Milayla is growing and learning so quickly that we may not keep up if we hold on too long. 

We are always so impressed with how patient and determined she is. No matter how many times she flops over while trying to sit up, she keeps at it. She is making progress in her pursuit of crawling and now looks like a cute little inchworm as she tucks her knees under her and pushes off. The face still slides across the floor...she'll coordinate the upper body one day and in the mean time she still has a pretty sunny disposition about the whole thing. 

Her laugh is becoming more distinct and reactive. She is incredibly ticklish. She laughs when she hears others laughing. Both her laugh and smile are completely contagious. 

Her personality is so much fun to watch develop. When we tuck her in for naps or bed time she will use one hand to grab tightly to our fingers and rest her other hand on the side of our faces while she 'coo's her little heart out with her eyes open as wide as they'll go. It is amazing to see the conversationalist that she turns into when bedtime is looming. Not surprisingly, we frequently give in and soak up any extra cuddles we can get. We will need to learn to say 'no' to her one day...

In the mean time we'll enjoy those precious moments while we have them. She is still so tiny.

Don't let those gorgeous blue eyes fool you though. This girl is a strategist and a good one at that. When we place toys just out of her reach to encourage her to get moving she plans her route/movements first and then with rolling and forward inching she has those toys in seconds. 

Her and Atticus are becoming quite the dou and get so excited for play time together. As Milayla becomes more interactive, Atticus is trying to include her in more of his activities like puzzles, books and building blocks and she loves it. They manage to get some good laughs out of each other by making faces - the faces are so simple but they just love to laugh.

There are so many things that I wish I could capture on film/picture but have failed to do so (the magical moment seems to slip away whenever I pull the camera out). I wish I could capture Atticus trying to explain to Milayla that you are supposed to sit still when you cuddle as he tries to "read" her a book. I wish I could capture her single eyelash on her left eye that is nearly twice the length of her other, already very long, eye lashes. I wish I could capture her complete intrigue as she sits on Daddy's lap at dinner time watching every bite that goes into his mouth; all the while smiling because it's the greatest entertainment ever. I wish I  could capture the way she lunges for things with all of her might with her mouth, especially fingers. I wish I could capture the softness of her cuddles that make her 3 am feeds worth every minute of lost sleep...

Of course, Milayla isn't always smiles, laughs, and happy moments. When Mommy tries to take one too many pictures we do get quite the pout.

Smiles or frowns though, we love her and she has very intricately woven herself into our hearts.