I always wondered why parents said, “time went too fast” or “that their kids were growing up too fast.” I think it was because I always thought that time just went too fast for everyone but here I am, saying it myself.  Our dear little Annabelle is growing up so fast.  She turned 5-months old (and well on her way to six)!  I think parents say it so often because you have this little human that’s growing in front of your eyes and you see how things change so fast.  When it’s only yourself, you don’t stop to look in the mirror everyday and notice the changes.

Annabelle has the grip of an arm wrestling champion.  She’s man-handling her toys (and my hair) and not afraid to grab anything and everyone.  It’s so amazing to see how just in the past couple of weeks we’re no longer putting things in her hands so she can gingerly let them lay there while she investigates what it is but she’s going after things on her own.  I love putting a couple of her favorite toys near her and then watch her roll over, grab for them, and then shove them into her mouth.

How are our nights going you might ask?  I’d say the same except that Friday night she slept five hours straight!!!  She slept from 7:30pm to 12:30am and then got up at 3:30am and 6:30am.  What’s even more surprising is that she stayed in her crib until almost 10am on Saturday.  It was the most amazing night and morning ever!  And naps are great too.  This is Annabelle’s third week at daycare and she’s adjusting well to her schedule.  She takes a short morning nap and then a longer afternoon nap.

Annabelle’s almost able to sit on her own* (*her form is still lacking just a bit but she has the general idea).  Her sitting position resembles a hunch back leaning tripod.  I’ve been sitting on the floor with my legs stretched out and having Annabelle sit between my legs so she can practice her new found skill.  We’re also having her sit in a clothes basket with a blanket in front of her to practice her balance (an idea we got from daycare).  It’s so much fun to watch her in her tripod-seated position and then slowly lean forward or to the side and then, plop, she’s laying on the floor.

This week was full of sickness in the Davidson household.  I always heard that daycare is a great way to build up your child’s immune system but really, is this what they meant.  This weekend we got together with both Dusty’s family and mine.  Friday we went to visit Dusty’s mom and then on Saturday we had my family over to celebrate family birthdays.  Late Saturday night I made a comment to Dusty that I just wasn’t feeling right and that my stomach was a little achy.  Long story short, I ended up with a stomach bug late Saturday leading into Sunday and then Dusty got it Sunday leading into Monday.  In the end six of us got the stomach flu.  Annabelle was saved from the disaster but we have a feeling she was “patient zero” as Dusty likes to say.  Dusty and I were so very grateful that our sickness was staggered and that Dusty started getting sick just as I was starting to feel better.  Our house would have fallen completely apart otherwise.

As Dusty was still recovering from the stomach bug on Monday, I got a call from daycare letting me know that Annabelle had a nasty bout of pink eye and I needed to pick her up (and she couldn’t come back until 24 hours after it was treated).  And here was another learning moment for a new mommy.  I actually didn’t know exactly what pink eye looked like or how to treat it.  I’ve heard of it and get that a person has a pink eye(s) when they get it but had no idea what it really looked like.  It’s not just red eyes but there’s gooey, crusty stuff that also collects around the eye (and the way doctors really detect pink eye in my opinion).  Another learning moment, it’s very contagious and you must take your baby to the doctor’s to get it diagnosed and then treated (prescription eye drops will do it).  So, after one week at daycare Annabelle brought two illnesses home, went to the doctor, and had to stay home an extra day until the medication kicked in, and we learned what it really means to be parents.

On the brighter side, Annabelle does love daycare and I can tell she’s soaking so much in, interacting with all of the other kids and with her teachers.  This week we also attended a daycare infant and toddler parent meeting.  I heard they have meetings once a month.  I was a little skeptical on what I might learn that would require having meetings monthly but I was so surprised and am excited for the next meeting.  It was an awesome learning opportunity and so glad I went.  Dusty was able to go too and he thought it was really helpful as well.  They talked a lot about the Montessori philosophy and what they’re teaching our little infants and toddlers everyday.  They gave me so many great ideas of things we can do at home with Annabelle.  And yes, we’ve been doing lots of learning activities at home with Annabelle but as a teacher myself, and Dusty and I wanting to do as much as we can to help Annabelle grow intellectually, I’m always excited to hear more ideas.

Sleep is still not improving.  I’ll leave it at that.  We’re waking up every three hours.

She’s rolling over like crazy and we’re spending a lot of our time helping her get to her back once she’s rolled to her stomach.  Every once in a while she’ll roll to her back by herself but most of the time she wants help.

Annabelle’s so well tempered.  Even with her pink eye and a bit of a runny nose she’s in good spirits.  She’s always smiling and loves talking to anyone who will listen.  She’s in love with mirrors.  We have a huge mirror in our bedroom that’s at least 6 feet tall and she loves laying on the floor just looking into it, smiling and trying to figure out who that adorable little lady is looking back at her.

Love catching all kinds of faces when we take our weekly pictures.  This was a really good one.  I think she was telling us it was time for the photo shoot to be over.