She's 5 Months Old

and I just tucked her sweet little self snugly into her bed. Her absolute favorite thing right now is me. I love this stage! She lights up whenever I talk to her or even look at her. I can remember Audrey being this way- being so attached to me that she wouldn't let me leave her sight. They grow so quickly! It makes my heart break but at the same time I feel a calmness about it. I remind myself that they are not mine. Just entrusted to me for a short time to love them, care for them and most importantly teach them about their true Father. It's so hard. It gives me peace at the same time though.

I've been away from blogging for a bit. Life has gotten in the way. I love to blog- mainly as a record of the tiny events in our lives that are meaningless to others but mean the world to me. Now that I have Shelby Claire, I love to look back at my posts of Audrey and remember her at the same stages Shelby Claire is in. They are so different but alike in many ways too. I'm working on trying to figure out how I can work blogging into our routine so I don't forget the tiny things with Shelby Claire. For years I did it while Audrey napped. Well, now that I have two, they are never napping at the same time so I don't have that computer time anymore. Right now I am doing it because Clay is running and I am waiting for him to be done so I can go to sleep. That is working tonight but most nights I am so tired all I want to do is look at other people's blogs mindlessly so I don't have to think.

Anyway, sweet Shelby Claire is five months old and turned 5 months about 2 weeks ago. She is growing so quickly and weighs 16.5 pounds by our scales here at home. She's quite the chunky little baby! I love the rolls on her thighs and her arms. Audrey's MDO teacher commented that she had "muscles" and she's right! Chunky, chubby, squeezable, lovable baby muscles. I have a hard time not just kissing all over her all the time. She has very little hair. We are not used to that with a baby! I love that I can see her perfectly round little head and every little spot on her body. She's not covered by anything and I know every inch of that pink squishiness.

Shelby Claire loves to be held facing forward so she can see what's going on in the world. Audrey can make her laugh the most precious laugh that comes from deeeeep down in her little body. She will laugh so hard at her sister that her whole body shakes and quivers. She will start bucking her body and squirming all over the place. Audrey doesn't really have to do anything in particular to make her laugh either. She was just walking up the stairs in front of Shelby Claire and me the other day and SC laughed at her all the way up the stairs. She just loves her!

Speaking of Audrey, she is the most precious sister to Shelby Claire. SC is at the stage where she grabs and pulls at anything that comes within her reach. Well, with Audrey and all that hair she has, she often falls victim to the clutches of SC's baby fists. Audrey has never- not one time- fussed or cried when SC pulls her hair. She'll just gently pull her hair out of SC's hands and say, "no, sister, not my hair". Just typing this about Audrey makes me want to run up the stairs and climb in her bed with her and kiss her to pieces. I don't think she could be any better of a sister. Another thing she does pretty consistently is that she tries to console Shelby Claire when she cries. Shelby Claire doesn't like her car seat these days and cries every time she is put in it. Audrey always stops what she is doing and will go to Shelby Claire and say, "It's okay, Sister, I right here...right here" in the most soothing little voice. It almost always calms SC but if it doesn't, Audrey will call for me and tell SC "don't worry-- Mommy's coming, Mommy's coming" as she's kissing and rubbing all over her. That's precious, you know?!?!

Shelby Claire has been eating rice cereal and oatmeal since she turned 5 months old. She doesn't really care for either but slightly prefers oatmeal to rice cereal. I bought her some squash, carrots, bananas (these were Audrey's favorite), and pears today. I'm going to start with the carrots tomorrow and see if she likes them. They tend to lean more to a sweet taste than the squash so maybe she will just love them.

We've started bathing the girls together and it has cut down on our bath time tremendously. Shelby Claire sits in her bumbo chair and tries to grab toys as they float by. Audrey uses every ounce of restraint she can muster up to not splash her sister or dump water on her head. They are pretty much on the same bedtime routine now and that makes life so much easier. Around 5:30 every night we eat supper and then we have baths around 6:30. By 7:00ish we are done and go downstairs for cuddle/comb hair/brush teeth time. At 7:30, either I or Clay (we switch out every other night) will go upstairs and read with Audrey while the other takes care of Shelby Claire. Most nights both girls are in bed by 8:00 and sleep until around 7:30 or 8:00 (unless it's the weekend and then they both get up before 7:00). Shelby Claire is usually up earlier than her sister but who knows if that will last. This routine works for us and Shelby Claire has fit so well into it.

Shelby Claire is not yet sitting up on her own but I see it in her future sooner rather than later. She can sit up if I hold her hands pretty easily. She's found her chunky little feet and plays with them often. She hasn't yet put them in her mouth but I know that once she does, there will be no turning back! Ha!! No teeth yet either but she's gnawing and chewing on everything so I expect them soon as well.

Overall, we are a pretty happy bunch around here. Our day-to-day life is consumed with taking care of these two girls and is probably not very exciting to most people. To us, it's perfect- just like our girls.