5 Months

Keziah is 5 months old today! She is a very active little baby who is just getting into everything now. She grabs anything that is within reach and chews on everything! She is about over the pacifier and spends most of the time holding it and chewing on the side of it rather than sucking it. I bought all these nice BPA-free teething toys which she is not interested in. She even got a nice wood teether from her cousin Charlotte. But her favorite thing to chew on is plastic cords (which thanks to Michael Paul's guitar playing, there are a plethora of them around and always one within her reach)

Statistics:

Weight: 15 lbs, 4 oz (50th %ile) (She has doubled her birth weight exactly)

Height: 26 inches (75th %ile)

Head: 40 cm (5th %ile)

So our very average baby has a very small head! Michael Paul is always saying that other people's babies look like bobble heads but Keziah just looks like a little adult. He is of course just a proud Daddy who thinks his baby is prettier than everyone else's baby. But the small head did not surprise me.

My favorite 5th month accomplishment:

Keziah can take naps by herself now! Finally! Which means I can get things done and have me-time! I was beginning to think this child was never going to learn to sleep alone. I prayed for a cuddle baby and boy did I get one! If it weren't for co-sleeping I would never get any sleep at night. Up until recently she would only take naps in my arms or right next to me. Five minutes after I snuck out of the room she would wake up and scream. So the fact that I can put her in the bed and she stays asleep for 45 minutes is a huge accomplishment for her!

Happy 5 months, Keziah!

Sidebar Update

So in case you haven't noticed, I've updated the pics on my sidebar and added a photo to my title. I tried to find an updated photo of just me. In the 500 pics we've taken in 2010, not a single one was of just me. Every time I have my picture taken, Keziah is in the shot as well. Not that I mind. Anyway, so the new title pic is of Keziah playing in a tree at the homebirth picnic a few weeks ago. Michael Paul is out of the shot but he's actually holding her up in the tree. My new pic was taken when we went rock climbing. Keziah's new sidebar pic is of her rolling and being so proud of herself.

My new profile pic was taken on Mother's day and is one of my new favorites. We look so coordinated, but it was a complete accident. Mother's Day turned out to be unusually cold and I hate freezing in church, so at the last minute I changed into jeans in a sweater and grabbed a jacket for Keziah not realizing my green sweater and pink tank were a perfect match to her green dress and pink jacket. At church they gave all the moms a pink rose. I had several people tell me that we looked like we both dressed to match our rose. Here is a bigger shot of it:

The new Michael Paul pic definitely needs an explanation. It started with us listening to the new Josh Ritter CD, which led to us talking about Josh Ritter lyrics, which led to the line 'stain of the sepia' in one of the songs, which led to a discussion of old sepia photographs, which led to me telling Michael Paul that iPhoto has a sepia setting, which led to him having all sorts of fun at 3AM after baby and I had gone to bed. Michael Paul loves antiques and old things. Our house is full of Art Deco clocks, Bakelite phones, 78 records, old fans, and vintage guitars. So it wasn't hard for him to stage these fun photos. It was a good way for him to get a pic of his latest vintage archtop guitar, a 1938 Epiphone DeLuxe. Wanting to be authentic, he made sure everything in the photos, from the phone, to the radio, the lamp, to the hat is from the 30's. Yes even our house was built in 1939. He's a little unsure of the antique table since we don't know its history, technically it could be 40's or 50's, but it's close enough. So anyway, here are some more shots from his sepia fun:

Fun with Diapers

This is what Michael Paul did with Keziah this morning. I'm starting to think he likes our cloth diapers even more than me. He would like me to caption this photo, "Too bad I only have one booty"

Having Fun at the Dinner Table

When we eat dinner Keziah sits on the table in her bumbo. We figure, even if she can't eat, she shouldn't be left out of family time. First we had fun tugging on Daddy's beard. She does this all the time now.

She's gotten really curious about all things food. I'm betting I'm not going to get to delay solids as long as I want because pretty soon she is going to get her hands on my plate and start stuffing her mouth. Well, last night she was very interested in the water in Michael Paul's glass so he decided to let her experience water. She thought this was grand fun.

Granny

As I mentioned in my Mother's Day post, my Granny died Saturday. She was a wonderful Christian woman and I am rejoicing that she has gone home to meet her Savior. I also like to think she has been reunited with my Grandaddy who died in 1994.

We are leaving this morning to go to Memphis for Granny's funeral. I am so thankful she got to meet Keziah who was her 8th great-grandchild. We have some pictures and video of them together. I am glad I will be able to show them to Keziah when she is older. This is one of my favorites: Granny and Keziah playing pattycake:

Reflections on Mother's Day

Some of my thoughts today:

I am thinking about how I thought this day would never come and how I have grieved the past 5 Mother's Days because I felt so left out. I'm thinking about how it is even better than I thought it would be.

I am thinking about my own Mom and about the best gift she ever gave me, which is the fact that she is absolutely head-over-hills in love with Jesus Christ. Being a Christian was not something she worked at. It was just like breathing to her. Scripture and prayer were never disciplines to practice, but more like the food she ate and the air she breathed. She worships God so effortlessly with every fiber of her being. It was just who she was. And I just simply knew I wanted what she had. I still do. I struggle with legalism, always wanting a new law and settling for the 'rules to obey' rather than the radical love offered to me by God. I hope I can one day accept the love and grace of God as effortlessly as my mother does. More than anything this example was (is) the best gift she ever gave me.

I am thinking about my Granny who went home to Jesus just yesterday. I'm thinking about what a wonderful grandmother she was to me and mother to my Dad. I'm thinking about how hard today must be on my Dad and his brother and sister.

I am thinking about how growing up, everyone wore a rose on Mother's Day. Every Mother's Day we would stop at my Memaw and Papa's house on the way to church because they had a rose bush. My Dad would cut 4 red roses and we would each wear one pinned to us. My mom would explain on the way to church that we wore red roses because all of us still had our mothers living and that if your mother had died you wore a white rose. I would go to church and notice who was wearing white flowers. I always felt sorry for them. I am thinking about how no one really practices this tradition any more and I miss it. I am thinking about how my Dad would wear a white rose today.

I am thinking about my friends who are still in the throws of infertility treatments and those who have accepted they will never have children. I am thinking about how hard today will be on them and praying their sorrow will soon be turned to dancing.

I am thinking about the women who are not my mother but certainly come in as very close seconds. I'm thinking about Carla Sanderson being there for me during my dark, struggling teenage years, about Karen Owens being like a mom to me while I was in college, and my Aunt Teresa with whom I felt an immediate connection as soon as Michael Paul introduced me to her and how I consider her now not just an aunt through marriage, but another mom.

I am thinking about the moms I know who have extra challenges in their motherhood. I am thinking about my friends Shan and Alison who have sons with autism, my sister-in-law and cousin who have daughters with downs, my friends Amy and Rebekah who have endured the death of a child. I envy their strength.

I am thinking about my precious Keziah, asleep in my arms as I type. I am thinking about how she is the reason I am so full of joy today.

Happy Mothers Day!

Feet ... Yummy

Keziah has discovered her feet. More specifically, her big toe, which she now sucks on all the time. I guess toe jam is an excellent side dish to mommy milk!

We've also noticed it is always her right foot. She never puts her left foot in her mouth. Michael Paul even tried to give her her left foot and she refused it and went back to her right foot. We think maybe she is showing she is right handed (or in this case, footed!)

Report Card Comments - bleh!

There are only two times a year that I hate my job. It is at the end of each semester when my boss requires that we write a paragraph about each of our students to include with their report cards. I have been working on mine all day today. As always it is incredibly slow going. The smart, good student types are easy to write about, as are the ones with fun personalities and the lazy ones who don't do anything. It's the mediocre kids that I really struggle to write about. Here is what I would like to say (but of course won't) for about 10 of my 63 students:

Johnny is all in all an average student. He's not too smart. But he's not dumb either. He's a good C student and there's nothing wrong with that. He doesn't shine as a top student, but he doesn't stand out as a problem either. He's not super outgoing with a neat personality, but then again, he's not really shy. He's mostly responsible, but does occasionally forget his homework. After a year of teaching him, I can honestly say I like him but don't really know why. The one word that sums up Johnny is mediocre.

Well, now that that is out of my system, maybe I can go back to writing my paragraphs with more efficiency.