Jordan is 5 months!

Ah! Time really does fly when you are having fun. And that is definitely how we would describe our time with Jordan. She is at such a fun age - happy, smiley, social, exploring, curious. And do I need to mention adorable? We did suffer through our first cold with our little one, which was tough for mom but not too traumatic. We had a few nights of bad sleeping and a few days in our PJs. Once we got over the cold, we had such a great month exploring Charleston. Doing something new every weekend, we are enjoying being a tourist in our own town. The weather has been absolutely beautiful and Jordan loves being outside.

Fun things going on this month with our big girl:

Practicing sitting up
Whether it's in the bumbo, on the floor with pillows or in her stroller - Jordan is very excited to be sitting up. She got so much better over the course of the month. Now she can sit for 10 seconds or so before she starts to get a little "top heavy" and topple over. So not technically sitting up yet, but we are super close.

The Scoot and Roll
Jordan is on the move - rolling and scooting all over the floor and her crib. We're thinking that crawling might be starting in the near future and baby proofing might need to happen soon. She looks so ornery in this photo - after she rolled way off of her play mat.

New Sleep Routine
After our trip to Missouri, Jordan was needing a new sleep routine, so we started doing "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child". Now we take 2-3 longer naps/day (instead of lots of short naps) and we have a bath every night before bedtime at 7:30 PM. This has been a great change for all of us - Jordan wakes up from every nap and each morning with a huge smile on her face, which helps us know we are on the right track. And now that she can roll, many days I find her on her tummy - sleeping with her bottom up in the air.

Chatty Kathy
Jordan was so "chatty" around 3 months and then got a bit quiet during her fourth month. We noticed the change and thought it was because she was more aware of her surroundings and grabbing toys, etc. Sure enough, this month - she found her voice again. Keeping us entertained with her "talking". Here she is during a pensive moment - these don't happen very often.

A bit more hair
Jordan was born with dark blond hair that promptly fell out. Except the little bit of hair at the nape of her neck - which was really long. Now Jordan's hair is starting to regrow very light blond fuzz - but I want to always remember her little duck tail that was so cute for the past few months.

Coordination
It's been so amazing to see Jordan's hand-eye coordination develop and improve over the past month. Last month she started reaching and grabbing - so this month has been fun to see her build on that. She even recently has started using her feet to pull toys to her that are in the bathtub. So amazing to see these milestones happen as she grows up before our eyes. Playtime is so much more fun these days.

Belly Laughs

Fast Walking - with Dad. Really funny for some reason.

Willie - Jordan's new best friend.

KC Fun

The second half of our trip was in Kansas City. We took it a bit easy - we were all worn out. My mom babysat one night so Doug & I could go out to dinner, and we made ourselves at home in her new house. On Friday night, family came over to meet Jordan and say hello. It was so great to see everyone and the highlight was getting all of the cousins together. You might remember this post, where three of us cousins were due to have babies within a few weeks of each other. So fun to get the kiddos together! On Saturday, we had a great day at the Mizzou tailgate and game with my girlfriends and their families. Very successful trip back home - can't wait till the next time.

Jordan's first Missouri game. She loves the Tigers -but could do without the cannon.

With all the girls and kiddos - what a fantastic day!

With Grandma Ceil Four Generations Cousins with baby cousins. They are going to be best friends :) Meeting J for the first time. My sweetums on the plane ride home. People couldn't believe how good she was on the flight!

Sweet

Grandpa

The Autumn months bring a bittersweet holiday for my family. My father's birthday has become a way for us to honor his life, which he lost four years ago to cancer. His birthday for the past three years has bookmarked the beginning of a tough holiday season, one that I have struggled through with the help of amazing friends and family. Although I haven't ever wrote about it on this blog - many of you know that I lost my father but also my stepfather in the winter of 2007. Within three weeks, I lost two important men in my life and frankly the holidays have never quite looked the same. Last year, as I remembered them during this time - I carried a secret. A little baby. Along with my supreme happiness, I wondered how hard it would be to bring my sweet baby into the world without these two people who had meant so much to me.

I miss them everyday and I wish that they could share in the happiness of our sweet little girl. I wish they could teach her things and tell her stories. But every now and then, when I look at Jordan - I see a hint of my dad. It might be her smile or her laugh but it's there. And I realize that these two men who made such an impact on me, will have a presence in Jordan's life. Only time will tell if she inherits my dad's sweet heart or red hair. Something tells me she might be a great listener & be a bit ornery like Don. In any case, I will continue to tell her stories about both of them. And I realize how lucky she is to have three other grandfathers (two of them Great Grandfathers), three uncles and one amazing dad.

In our tradition, we eat ice cream cones to celebrate my dad's birthday. The holidays don't seem quite as sad this year. Not with this little present under my tree.

St. Louis Fun

We had a great time on our trip to Missouri - it seems easiest to break the time up between St. Louis and Kansas City. We flew into Kansas City and spent the night with Grandma Ceil. She let us borrow a car & we got on the road early the next morning to go to St. Louis. Jordan got reacquainted with Grandma & Grandpa Burgess when they babysat her that night. Doug & I went to our friends Sarah & Jon's wedding. My longest time away from Jordan yet - and it went very well, since we had such excellent babysitters.

We were in St. Louis through Wednesday and got to see so many friends and family. Jordan had lots of people to hold and squeeze her. We had four solid days of activities and Jordan handled it like a champ. Some pictures of the festivities below, it would be impossible to include it all!

WeddingBrunch with babies - the following day

Lunch with Brig - just the girls

Bathtime with Grandma Connie

Naptime with Grandpa Steve

With Great-Grandma Marie - we're both wearing hoodies!

With Megan