5 Months and Counting...

Kyleigh is now 5 months old (well, and some extra days). We just can't believe how much she's growing. She now weighs 15 pounds, though mom swears its more each time she picks her up in her car seat. She still has the brightest blue eyes and her hair is really coming in, though it doesn't appear that it's going to be red. That's still up for debate since in certain light, we swear we see red undertone. We've all gotten into a routine now and each day is pleasant and predictable. We start each day around 6:30am with Kyleigh cooing in her crib. It's her way of letting us know that she's up. It starts quite and builds to a crescendo of babbles and squeals. If we ignore her too long, she does the old "fake cry". Usually, we can unwrap her (yes, sadly we're still swaddling our 5 month old) and give her a few toys. Most days, she'll happily play by herself for a half hour, giving mom and dad some time to wake up. Once she's has enough of playing alone, we will get her and bring her into bed with us. She's such a happy baby in the morning. One of our favorite parts of the day is that first foray into her room, when we peek over the rails of the crib, she slowly recognizes we're there, and then there it is...that huge "I'm so happy you're here" smile. The rest of the morning goes like this...mom and dad get ready for work, we dress Kyleigh for the day (in one of her adorable outfits, compliments of mom mom or Nana), fix bottles and food for the day and off we go to daycare. Speaking of food, Kyleigh has quite a repertoire of food now. She's eating oatmeal and rice, apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and yogurt. Mom is soooo excited that there is little evidence to date that she's going to be a picky eater like her father. She seems to love all food and eats with gusto. On to daycare. Her caregivers, Ann (who everyone calls Ma) and Miss Kathy always comment on what a happy baby Kyleigh is. Each month they send out a newsletter to the parents and in February's issue, they introduced Kyleigh as a new member. Here is what they had to say: "We would like to welcome our newest baby Kyleigh to the infant room. Kyleigh is our youngest baby and she is doing great. She loves to have everyone talk to her throughout the day, she smiles so big. She is a very social baby. Kyleigh enjoys sitting in the bumbo chair looking around at all her friends. She has adjusted well to her new teachers and friends." I happy to report that there has never been a day when Rob or I have shown up at daycare and Kyleigh has been doing anything but smiling! Evenings are predictable as well. We get home from daycare around 5:30-5:45pm and Kyleigh is hungry and tired. She eats, gets into her pj's, listens to a few stores [Good Night Moon and Goodnight Thumper - mom's personal favorite], has a bottle and drifts off to peaceful sleep in dad's arm. Yes ladies, dad puts her to bed. I know you're all jealous. For the most part, Kyleigh is a great sleeper and wakes once or twice for her paci and then once to be fed. It's hard to complain because we get plenty of alone time in the evening and a quiet dinner, but we wish we had more time with her before she goes to sleep. Daylight savings time has helped some, but 6;45pm is the latest she'll stay up. We've seen Nana and Auntie Paula lately as well as Mom mom and Pop pop. We're so lucky to have such great built in babysitters. Nana let's mom and dad go out each time she comes to town, and recently Kyleigh had her first night away from home by spending the night at Heather's parents. It ended up being quite the adventure with the power going out from a nasty storm. Well, I've been making up for lost time and think I've "typed" your ear off quite enough. Check back in a few weeks, as we're sure to have an update for St Patrick's Day (Auntie Di's FAVORITE holiday) and Easter (wait till you see her dress!). Love to all, Heather, Rob and Kyleigh (and Orion, Matchka, and Samantha)