A Month of Many Firsts

Hi little one,
Things went from zero to 60 this past month! So many FIRSTS!! Allow me to catch you up...

First ER Visit:: Okay, maybe, maybe I freaked out and took you in at 3:15am for what turned out to be an non-emergency (upper respiratory infection and left ear infection). But to be fair, I freak out over practically nothing anyways! You sounded really congested, and you kept waking up so I started worrying and eventually woke up your Daddy to tell him your fever wouldn't go down, and that I was taking you in to see a doctor. Glad I did, because we never would have known that you had an ear infection since you weren't pulling on your ears or crying. 10 days of amoxicillin later, you felt much better. Here's your sweet, exhausted, sickyface at the ER.

Gigi and Pa G:: Your grandparents came to stay with us for a few days. It was awesome to see them!! Aunt Darcy, Uncle Scott, and your cousins Evan and Ryan came for a few days, too, so they could do some house hunting before their big move in July. We all got together Saturday and Sunday, and somehow managed to snap this picture with all of the grandkids. Pretty good, considering that about five seconds after it was taken, Griffin was looking through his binoculars, Reagan was almost buried in the couch cushions, Ryan quit gazing at the fan, Evan decided he would rather watch the Lion King instead of say cheese, and you wanted to suck on your fingers! I'm sure this was the first of many, many more shitshows of us trying our hardest to get you all to pose and smile at the same time :)

First words:: You're officially not just babbling anymore! I was so sure your first words would be either "I love cats" or "mama", but no. Wrong! You said "Dada" one night when we were all in the living room. Daddy got the BIGGEST smile on his face, so as sad as I am that you really are a daddy's girl at heart, I can't be upset. I love watching your Daddy's face light up when you say his name. You have him wrapped around your little finger, Pemberley!

First night sleeping on your belly:: You're officially a tummy sleeper! It was about 6am one morning when I went to pick you up out of the crib, and I noticed that you weren't on your back where I put you. You were belly down, just snoozing away! Once you mastered rolling in your sleep, you weren't afraid to finally show off during the day too. You roll all the time now! (But not tummy to back...it's the weirdest thing! Now when you roll onto your tummy, you're pretty content to hang out like that for awhile, doing what appears to the untrained eye to be baby pushups.) You also sleep for really good stretches through the night now that you sleep on your tummy. (Except for the occasional night like this one...I believe Daddy called you 'Paranormal Activity baby' when we saw you staring at the camera like this.)

First dance:: Little Miss Twinkletoes! We got all dressed up and took you to your first real dance! It was the annual 8th grade spring fling at mommy's work, and I must say, your slick dance moves impressed everyone!

Okay, maybe you didn't get much dancing in, but we still had a good time :)

Ooookay, maybe you just sucked on your fingers and fell asleep an hour after we got there, but I'm just positive you would have been a little ballerina on the gym floor! Here you are, hanging with some of my students. I can't wait to take you in a big fancy dress next year and watch you have your first daddy/daughter dance...my heart is melting already!

First foods:: Daddy and I took a CPR class in preparation for feeding you solid foods. We decided to skip baby food in a jar and go straight to finger foods, using a method called Baby Led Weaning. Up first? Bananas! Your expression is priceless!! 

::lessons learned from feeding you solids::

1) Strip you down. Cleaning banana stains out of your onesie was so not fun.

2) Your poop changes when your diet changes. I don't want to get into it too much, but it's safe to say that you did your Daddy proud in that department.

3) You don't need a vacuum when you have two dogs.

4) Even after researching the difference between choking and gagging AND taking the CPR class, it's still a little scary to see you shovel in food. But damn, girl. You love to eat!

First Mother's Day:: This was the first Mother's Day that we spent together as a family, and let me tell you, it was the BEST! We woke up and Daddy took us to First Watch for some delicious pancakes. We spent the rest of the morning taking naps during the thunderstorms. When they cleared up, you and I went over to see your Grannie and Grandma Joanne while Daddy worked on his class final. You weren't shy to show off your new talents of rolling over and sitting up unassisted, and you were the center of attention the whole afternoon. We printed and framed the picture below, and your grandmas just loved it! But seriously, though, who wouldn't?

I also have to give a huge shout out to your Daddy for getting me this beautiful ring for Mother's Day. It's your birthstone, opal, and it's now officially my second favorite piece of jewelry. Isn't it gorgeous? Daddy did good!!!

First teeth:: Yep. I found them when I picked you up from daycare one day, and it took everything I had not to burst into tears right there. You now have two bottom teeth! I of course called your Daddy to let him know. The conversation went something like this::

-Honey, our baby girl has two teeth!!!

-You're shitting me.

-No babe, I'm serious! I can't believe this. *crying sniffles*

-Does this mean we have to buy her a toothbrush?

-OMG.

I think that's all for now, as if it wasn't enough! I can't wait to see what happens when you're 8 months old! I love you more and more every passing day, big girl.