Five (and a half) Months: Break Through!

I'm a little behind but didn't want to miss an update on Eva's fifth month. Things have been very busy; Miss Eva is growing up so fast that it's hard to keep up! We've made some big breakthroughs this month!!

For the first big breakthrough...let's get back on the subject of sleep. I never imagined I'd be so obsessed with sleep in my life. Until recently, sleep has been a devious little monster and a sore subject in the Barrett house. We've been talking with other parents for advice (and hated those who told us their babies slept through the night since the first week), read multiple books on different sleep training methods and techniques and done a lot of trial and error. Turns out that every baby is different and we have figured out our own routine. And finally, (knock on wood), we have a sleeper!!
We start our bedtime routine about 6pm and Eva goes down around 6:30. We've cut out the night-time feeding and are working on letting her self-soothe so if she fusses during the night, she can get herself back down. I'm up about once a night to help soothe her, but it only takes her pacifier, a pat on the butt and she's sleeping again. She sleeps until 6am, which I'm up for work anyways...other than on the weekends when I'd do anything to sleep in. But now that we have a routine down, we won't complain about being up early and definitely won't be deviating from the plan anytime soon!
The only thing we have left to master is The Nap. She naps great at daycare but is still only taking a couple of half-hour naps when home with us on the weekends. As much as I love to get all the Eva time possible on the weekends, the sight of a peaceful, napping baby warms my heart....and let's me get some much needed laundry and cleaning done!

As much as sleeping is a HUGE step for us, the biggest breakthrough (literally!) this month are these...

TEETH! We have teeth! (also referred to as "toofs" and "chicken chewers")
I've been watching and feeling for these pearlies for weeks now but never saw or felt anything. Then one night during bathtime when I wipe her gums (never too early to start dental hygiene), I noticed one of the bottom teeth poking through. It was like it came out of nowhere! And sure enough, a few days later we had another one!
And with teething comes chewing...chewing on anything she can get her hands (and mouth) on. And lately, that seems to be her socks. She pulls them off her feet and shoves them into her mouth. Yum.

Per the advice of many in my mom group, a lot of them swear by these, Eva is now styling her own amber teething necklace. However I'm much too paranoid to have anything around her neck, so she wears it on her ankle. Check out those thighs!

The idea is that when the amber warms against your skin, it acts as a natural pain reliever. Worth a try! And to be honest, she's barely been drooling and doesn't seem to be as cranky....maybe it's working! I ordered it from Hazelaid and they also sell them for adults...check it out!

I could write a lot more on all that's been happening, but these were the biggest this month. I can only imagine what big changes will be coming...

A New Year Begins!

What a year it's been!  I could write a very lengthy post reflecting on the past year and thanking everyone in our lives, but I feel like I've done that continuously throughout the year with this blog and I hope everyone knows how lucky and appreciative we truly are. So instead of spending too much time reflecting, it's time to look forward! A new year begins!

We spent most of 2012 watching my belly grow, with anticipation and excitement for Baby Barrett to arrive.
I would've thought there was no way to top last year, but I think I could be wrong. We are very much looking forward to 2013 and instead of watching my belly, we will be watching Miss Eva grow and thrive. It's going to be a fun and crazy year; hopefully we'll get more sleep soon so we can keep up!

I've never been one to make New Years resolutions as I believe we should be trying to better ourselves and our lives year round. But since life is now much too busy to continually worry about bettering myself, I need to do something more feasible. Of course I want to do what everyone else does....exercise more, eat healthier, save more money, be more green....but we all know how successful those resolutions are. Instead, I plan on making a small goal each month and if successful, adding another goal the next month and so on. And since it's a goal (definition: the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end), I'm hoping it's less pressure in case I fail. My first goal will be included in a new post shortly!

Eva has also set her own New Years goal...though I've already told her that thunder thighs are acceptable (and cute!), at least until she's mommy's age.

1st Annual Barrett Family Christmas

We love the holidays here at the Barrett home and this year we were even more excited for it all to begin. We now have a special person in our life to celebrate with!
Once Thanksgiving is over, we don't hesitate to start making our home feel like Christmas. We always go and get our tree within the days following Thanksgiving; nothing better than the smell of fresh pine to get the holidays started! And getting all the decorations out is the best way to get you into the holiday spirit. We didn't decorate as much as we typically do; we figured it was good practice in preparing our home for a mobile baby. We decorated the tree with Jason's grandmother's glass balls, knowing the next few years we'll have a toddler running around and kid-friendly decorations. It was a lot of fun to see Eva stare at the tree and smile. She loved the lights and how they made the glass balls sparkle. I look forward to decorating the tree with her in the coming years!

This year also meant our first family Christmas card! A friend of ours offered to take some photos of Miss Eva so we had to get one of her in the Christmas dress that was given to her at her baptism by her great aunt and uncle from Chicago. It's gorgeous and she definitely looks like the princess that she is!

Our Christmas card included pictures from my other post, Full Circle, but it was fun to get some family photos done as well.

Christmas was pretty busy this year making sure we were able to see family and share Miss Eva with everyone. (she was popular this year!) We spent Christmas Day at home, which was really nice. Although Eva didn't quite get Santa this year, pretty sure she loved her first Christmas just as much as we did. She thoroughly enjoyed opening her presents...okay, she just liked to chew on the ribbons and bows :)

She got a lot of adorable outfits which will come in handy since she is quickly outgrowing her wardrobe. She also got some really great toys and a lot of them that she can grow with!

Our first annual family Christmas was awesome. We're so blessed this year and look forward to man more family Christmases to come! Although J and I always loved Christmas, it's amazing how much more fulfilled we feel this year being able to celebrate with our own child...our own little family. We can't wait to start our own family traditions; so many memories to make and cherish!

Full Circle

Last Christmas we made the announcement that we were pregnant by sending out our annual Christmas card with this picture:

That was the first outfit we bought for our miracle baby and I'm so glad we bought it in a 6 month size as it fit Eva perfectly this year!

It was only fitting to include the outfit in our Christmas card this year. Amazing how we've come full circle.

Playing Hard!

Playtime is a fun time at the Barrett house. Eva is so much fun to play with and loves to reach and grab, roll over, giggle and chatter! (playtime is also quite noisy these days)

We recently put together Eva's jumperoo and although she's still a bit too small for it, she loves to be upright and grab all the toys. In fact, she plays so hard, she falls asleep! We've caught her twice now!

Look at that face! Mouth wide open!

She's still holding on!

Four Months - Yum!

Now that Eva's getting better and better with her motor skills and eye hand (and mouth!) coordination, everything goes to the mouth. Even her toes!

She's also shown a lot of interest in food. Every time J and I sit down to eat, she just stares at us as though she is thinking "Hey! What about me?!". We read a lot about introducing solids and realized that although we're first time parents, we felt we knew what was best for Miss Eva. Time for food!
We skipped rice cereal since there are no real nutrients in it and went straight to oatmeal. She loves it! (and looks pretty cute eating it too) We also put some mashed banana in it a few times which she likes even more. We're looking forward introducing more food soon and can't wait to see how she reacts! Here's her oatmeal face...

Eva also had her four month check up last week. She is now a whopping 15lbs 12oz which is in the 88th percentile. She has definitely slimmed down a bit and isn't the chubby baby we once had. I think part of that is because she is 26 1/2 inches tall! That's in the 98th percentile so she's definitely growing! The only part that is small is her little peanut head which measured in the 38th percentile at 16 in. I guess better than a big head :)

Just Roll With It

Eva is great with tummy time. Due to mommy's paranoia about getting a flat head, we were vigilant with it from the beginning, so she is really used to it. We also have a lot of playtime on the floor and I've been trying to get her to move around a little. I'll place toys just out of reach so she has to stretch for them or roll onto her side to grab them.
I was warned not to encourage too hard; one day I'll regret her growing up so fast and more importantly....I'll regret the times when she wasn't mobile. But it's just so great to see her figure things out!

After much encouragement over the last few weeks, she finally did it! She ROLLED OVER! It actually happened twice last week during her Christmas photo session, but I kind of assumed it was a fluke since I couldn't get her to do it again. But then tonight when we were playing on the floor, she rolled over on her own! I didn't do a thing!!
And leave it to Miss Eva to already not conform to the norm. She rolled from back to belly rather than belly to back! Not only were we screaming with excitement and so proud of her, she was smiling ear to ear. I'm sure she'll soon be rolling both ways and then the fun really begins....


And speaking of rolls...check out the view from behind after bath time. The only time it's adorable to have all those rolls :)