Miss Independent Goes to the Beach

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posting this month. Things have been busy around here. We had a visit from cousin Jamie which was wonderful. I'm realizing what the power of a baby will do to get your northern relatives to visit! Whatever works!

Last week we were at Myrtle Beach with my parents and grandparents. It was so great. We had wonderful weather for the most part, a great view, and just had an all around great time. We were so sad to come home.

In the past few weeks Mia has become quite curious and independent. Anything within her reach she will grab and put in her mouth. She is not discriminatory in any way....remotes, my hair, daddy's glasses, cups, spoons, anything we happen to be eating, kitchen towels, formula cans, it doesn't matter....she wants to hold it and try to put it in her mouth. As a parent, it's great to watch. All of the sudden she is so interactive, so smiley, so much fun. You just want to indulge every curiosity she has...within reason of course!

Mia has become so independent in an 5 month old kind of way. She definitely has an opinion about everything these days, what toy she wants to play with, when she wants to eat, when she wants to sleep (she just is put down in her crib these days after 2 hours of awake time and falls asleep on her own), she wants to do everything she can on her own. It's really amazing to watch. Grandma and grandpa bought Mia her first sippy cup and she just stuck it right in her mouth as if she had been using it forever.

We had so much fun in the water while at the beach. Mia took to the pool like a fish. We went every day and every day she perfected the art of splashing even more. This has now made bath time very messy! We are definitely signing up for the pool next year in the neighborhood and we are looking into joining the YMCA soon because they start baby swimming classes at 6 months.

Overall Sam and I were very relieved that the vacation went so well given that the last trip away was so stressful. But she napped like a champ and after a day or so got over her "stranger" anxiety and loved hanging out with everyone.

Other updates: Mia is now up to 12 pounds 5 ounces (as of a week and a half ago) so she is probably more than that now. We have finally broken into the 3-6 month clothes...yes I know she is about to turn 6 months! Also, we are up to a little more than half a bottle of formula and the rest breast milk. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will be fully on formula and I can finally eat something and Mia will have a happy tummy.

There are so many new pictures so make sure to check out the link and we have tons of vacation videos to upload so look for that in the next couple of days too.