Burgess Central: May 2011

I can't believe that Doug and I celebrated our five year anniversary. To celebrate, we went out on a date night to dinner in Charleston then took Jordan and spent the weekend in Savannah. We really enjoyed getting away and exploring such a fun city. We were blessed with great weather and a happy baby - perfect weekend. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the trip.

Fountain at Forsyth Park - one of the many parks we explored

Riverfront at night

Relaxing near one of the fountains

Jordan's standing was just getting really good at this point (April 9 and she had taken a few steps)

With dad

So much has happened in the past five years! I look back on the day of our wedding and I can honestly say that I would not have done one thing differently. It was a wonderful day, surrounded by our friends and family - and a great way to begin our lives together.

Two weeks before our wedding we found out that Doug matched for residency at Duke - so we were moving to North Carolina. A few weeks later we flew to North Carolina to purchase our first home. And now - five years later - we look to make some more big changes in our lives. But although I sometimes get nervous about the future - I know one thing is unequivocally true. I chose the absolute, perfect partner for this amazing journey.

When I first started writing Jordan's monthly blog, I remember thinking - will there ever be a month where I don't have a big event to talk about? I have finally figured out that the answer to that question is a resounding "No!" Our little baby is changing every day - in fact, sometimes we struggle to keep up. And she looks back with her sweet (sometimes ornery) face seeming to say, "Come on guys- keep up!!"

She is so interactive - her new favorite thing is laughing when anybody else laughs. It is so funny. Jordan finished up her music class this month - which was such a great experience for both of us. Now we are enjoying library story hour and looking forward to starting swim lessons next month.

Jordan's separation anxiety seems to have reached it's peak this month - with crying during our weekly visits to the gym nursery. We are trying shorter and more visits to combat this going forward. As tough as it is for me to leave her knowing she is sad, I know that it's a very important step for her to learn to live without me.

We had a fun weekend getaway this month to celebrate Doug's and my 5 year wedding anniversary. We went to Savannah and loved our time away and exploring this beautiful city. But we'll cover that in a separate post.

Teeth!
Jordan finally cut her first tooth - or should we say teeth? Her two bottom teeth broke through early this month. She was a bit clingy and drooled a bit, but overall she stayed true to her sweet baby self.

First steps
Jordan took her first step for Dad on April 6. This month she slowly progressed to taking up to 4-5 steps - usually back and forth between Mom and Dad. It's so fun to see her gain confidence and she looks so proud of herself when she takes steps. She has also gotten so much better at standing without holding on. Kinda scary...

Walking with cart
We have progressed from short walks inside with Jordan's cart to long walks outside. She loves to walk with the assistance that the cart gives her. She looks so tiny walking around outside in the big world.

Down the stairs
At the beginning of the month, Jordan learned how to go down the stairs backwards. Seems like a simple concept, but she kept trying to go headfirst, so this was a very important step. Her favorite thing is to crawl up the stairs, stand at the top and play with the gate, and then crawl back down. We are still right with her, afraid of falls - but she is getting stronger every day.

Foot tapping
It started during mealtimes, but Jordan has started tapping her foot on the table or floor. Usually it is accompanied by the head bop dance that J started a few months ago. She absolutely loves music and we have enjoyed our music classes all month.

Head tilting
On her own, Jordan started tilting her head side to side - very slowly. She absolutely loves when somebody "mirrors" her. We started noticing that she would do this to new people, or visitors. It was her way of checking people out.

Lip smacking
Lip smacking was a short phase this month that she loved to do over and over again. I think it may have had something to do with her teething that happened around the same time.