Our 5 month old little lady

Mila's best friend is Sophie the Giraffe. She loves chewing on her snout, head, and feet. Sophie squeaks and is nice and chewey for future teething episodes. Mila also loves her Bumbo. I set her in it while I cook or do chores. It's also become a centerpiece on our dining room table; while Greg and I eat dinner, Mila sits right there with us. She likes being able to sit up and look around and feel like she's a part of the action (instead of laying nearby on her activity mat)

Speaking of her activity mat (which used to be Olivia's!) Mila has spent many many moments laying on it and grabbing at the toys that hang down, or more recently, rolling over on it. Recently, Greg had her on it and went to do something in another room and by the time he returned, she had rolled off of it and was halfway under the couch! Silly gir.

Here's a photo of Mila as a sleepy girl, patiently leaning on me while I ate my pizza. Wanting to be right by my side.

Mila has become a thumb-sucker since she was about 4 months old. It's not too frequent, and is mostly when she's tired. I love that yellow onesie on her.

Here's Mila in her crib (she's been sleeping in it every night with great success since June 30th!!!) and I was able to get her to sit up, for a moment. The 'tripod' sit, as I call it, as she had all her weight on her hands. This keeps her from falling forward...but she inevitably does fall to her side! We'll continue to practice.

Mila loves to visit her dad at work. Sometimes he takes her around and lets all his coworkers oogle over her. Other times he's busy, or I ask to leave her put since clearly I end up burying her between all the food. Here's her 'get me out of here!!' photo. I look forward to her being big enough to sit in the designated kid spot up top. Until then, I'll likely continue to try and do the shopping when Greg can stay home with her. It's simply easier for everyone.

And lastly here's a photo of Greg and Mila visiting me at work! She was a bit too distracted for the camera, but certainly looked cute in her polka-dot pants.

Girl, Interuppted

Mila has 3 boyfriends. Don't tell Greg. 

Beau is the oldest. He'll be 1 year old in August, which is soooo hard to believe(!) He loves to reach out for her, grab her hand, and poke her face. She shared her Sophie giraffe with him on the 4th of July. Caroline and I can't wait until they're a bit older and their age difference won't mean a thing. 

Then today, Lucian and Elliot came over to play. I met their moms at prenatal yoga in South Pasadena last Fall. Cassandra and I stayed in touch; Amy stopped going to the class. In March, I started going to the breastfeeding support group at Huntington Hospital. Surprise, Amy & Elliot were there! So happy to see them. I told Cassandra about the class and she started going with Lucian. All 3 of us stopped eventually, and instead Cassandra and I started mommy & me yoga. Surprise again, Amy & Elliot were there! So it seems meant to be that the three of us moms maintain our friendship, especially because our babes are only weeks apart. Mila is the oldest, Elliot is 10ish days younger, followed by Lucian with another 10ish days. They were all born in February! It's been a lot of fun staying in touch. Cassandra and I have bonded over mastitis woes, and today Amy and I bonded over moving our babes to cribs and dealing with suddenly frequent night-wakings. The three of them were very cute on the activity mat. Lucian didn't last long because it was time for his bottle, but Mila and Elliot shared play rings for quite awhile. 

happy baby, sleepy mommy

Here are some recent happy baby photos. The top two are from the 4th of July; a bbq at Ericka's house. I didn't own anything red for Mila or myself to add to our blue and white. 

This last photo was taken today. Last night, Greg put the pink fitted sheet on her crib. I've decided it's finally time to move her to her own room. We'll see if it works out tonight; she's currently sleeping on our bed so I'll need to move her while not waking her. 

I figure it's about time, and there are multiple reasons. First is safety. She can now spin around on her back, so for example she'll start off with her head in one spot and after awhile her head will be where her feet were. No rolling over yet, but tons of turning onto her side. I can't share our bed with her anymore because she'd easily fall off. Next, I figure it's only going to get harder (for her and me) the longer I wait, so I need to bite the bullet and move her now.  Her room is so close yet is going to feel so far!! I told Greg that I'm going to need a sleeping bag for in her room. 

I'm probably trying to do too much at once (I've decided to stop swaddling her, I've let her 'cry it out' a couple times-only for 10 minutes-and I'm trying to soothe her without nursing her (by singing to her and patting her back). This is all in the same week that she's suddenly waking up more often at night, and taking shorter naps. So she's clearly going through a phase (of insomnia if you will) at the same time that I'm trying to perfect everything. They say that at 4 months, their level of alertness has skyrocketed so their ability to sleep suffers; plus they say that as milestones occur, such as rolling over, it affects their sleep too. 

That said, if she ends up in her bassinet tonight instead of her crib, at least I can say that I tried. (Especially because as I'm typing this the cats are playing in her closet and making a ton of noise; how I'm going to deal with that door open at night and her in there asleep while they explore is beyond me)

LACMA

Last Saturday, 6/30, the three of us went down to LACMA to see an exhibit that Greg was interested in. Little did we know that we'd qualify for a 'Next Gen' membership which means that since we had a baby with us, one adult gets in for free. The membership card is geared towards her (we'll get notices on upcoming kid events) and even has her name on it :) Plus, it didn't cost us anything and it's good until she's 18! Pretty rad, LACMA. Now if only we find the time to take advantage of it.

4 months old!!! (well, 4.5 at this point)

What a wiggle worm she was during this session! So fun to realize how she's changing as I try and pose her. I had to post a bunch from this series especially because I love how it ends ;)  All of a sudden she's just like, 'alright, I've had enough, I'm laying down'

Toooooo cute if I may say so myself ;) And it's always a huge success when I capture a smile in the mix. 

4 months is truly like waking up to a different baby every day! I read that they're that much more alert by the time that they've hit this age, and it affects their sleep because they simply don't want to sleep, they want to stay up and witness all the action. And I can definitely see that in her.  And when she's fussy, she definitely doesn't want me out of her sight. And boy, does she want my iphone. The days of holding her while texting are certainly numbered. And this morning she almost grabbed my placemat which would have sent my cereal and coffee flying. I can imagine that once she can sit up and play with toys, that will help her to be more independent so I can, say, eat said cereal and coffee w/out her on my lap. So that'll be nice. But having her more active in my arms is going to change everything!!

At 4 months she's much better in the car, meaning she doesn't scream at every red light. And, especially after a nice nap, she's perfectly content laying in bed and talking to herself and eating her hands. She also loves to be held upright, even facing backward (her chest to my shoulder). I can get by with holding her on my hip but will wait until she's a bit more steady/solid. She's not as good about being laid down at night while awake. I'm having to nurse her to sleep more often. I need to not spoil her in that area, to avoid a dramatic 'sleep training' process eventually. 

I love my girl!!

Series with Sophie

I just love these photos with Sophie the Giraffe, and her little 'bloomers'

Here's Mila hanging out in my old bedroom at my parent's house. She gets to go over there at least twice a week. On Mondays & Fridays, my mom is kind enough to scoop Mila up at our house around 1pm, drop Greg off at work up the street, and take her back to her house. It's beyond helpful to us, and fun for Mila! 

I love how chubby her thighs look in these photos. Also, right around the time that she turned 4 months, she really 'discovered' her hands. For a week or so after her discovery, she'd just hold up her hands in front of her face and turn them around and wiggle her fingers and stare in amazement, as if she were trying to comprehend the fact that they were attached to her. And then-pop, she'd shove them in her mouth as usual. Babies are such creatures of habit, it's very sweet. 

Hi, my name's Mila, and as anyone who knows me has witnessed, my tongue is sticking out about 90% of the time.

Can you spot the baby??

This is one of my new favorite photos of all time. My parents picked Mila & I up a couple weeks ago and the four of us drove down to Menifee, where my uncle Scott lives w/his family (it's between Riverside and Temecula). This was Mila's longest stint in a car (1.5 hours each way). She did really really well both ways! We got to hang out with family which of course is always fun, and my cousins Samantha and Faith are so cute w/her. Mila even took a nap in Faith's Paris-themed pink & black room. I took this photo while I was getting myself a plate of food. I could die, I think it's so funny. Can you spot Mila?? Propped up between pillows, hanging with my dad. That's, from left, my cousin Greg, my cousin Noah, my Uncle Jim, Miss Mila, my dad, and my Uncle Scott. Classic.

sleepy baby

happy baby

Happy 1st Father's Day

Happy belated Father's Day to Greg. The sweetest papa and the most supportive husband. Greg inspires me every single day, to be optimistic and light-hearted and caring. He has this zest for life that allows him to wake up singing and dancing. He's going to be one of those dads that makes Mila laugh constantly and gets her to do spontaneous, super fun things. And he's an incredibly helpful partner and loving husband. He deserves a Father's Day celebration every day. Unfortunately last week we weren't able to celebrate much, as I was fighting mastitis. He worked 6am-2pm that day, and patiently spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Mila quietly around the house, napping, and eating Island's take-out. I can't wait for all the Father's Days in our future. We'll make sure they're a ton of fun! In many ways, Greg is like my own dad. I'm very lucky. And so is Mila.