Jayne - 7 months

Our 7 month old cutie!

Jayne's 7 month stats

• Weight: 18lbs 5oz. She's still chunky but is thinning out a bit-meaning I can pull her out of the bumbo without her thighs getting a little stuck :) This is probably because she's such a mover these days. She can get around great on the wood floor by rolling or rotating and pulling herself around while on her belly. She'll push off her toes and pull with her arms which looks like she may be getting close to crawling.
• Eats her solid foods like a champ (cereal, pureed veggies and fruits, pears, bananas & crackers). She loves just about anything we give her. She has gotten much better at chomping lately because....
• Jayne has 2 teeth! They're the bottom, middle teeth. When she smiles and I get a glimpse of them, I seriously can't believe our baby has teeth. 
• Her personality is showing more and more. She'll often play the game of "avoid looking at mom/dad when they're trying to get my attention". Even when we move into her line of vision she'll shift and look another way. She's very aware of what she's doing! The other day I was playing this "game" with her and after a bit of playing she just turned and looked at me and gave me a big, cheeky grin. That girl!
• Sitting up very well on her own. She loves being in high chairs when we're out, and will play with her toys sitting up...until she decides to lunge for something out of her reach-sometimes gracefully, other times, not so much
• Loves to have her tongue hang out, puppy style. All the time, anytime. We joke that she's learned this from Koda. 
• Chuckles to herself when we give her a toy. She's a happy camper.

Loves Tim Tams-like a true Aussie!

 My baby is growing up...

I laid her down right by my feet, did something for a couple minutes and looked back and there she was...

...halfway under the couch. Seriously, this girl has got some maneuvering skills!

"Enough with the pictures already mom!"

That's our girl this month. Seriously, what did I do every day without my little mini around? We love our Miss J!

Like parent, like child

Who does she look like? I feel like that's the question parents get asked a lot during the first months of their child's life. With Jayne there hasn't been a clear winner for the answer to that question. We get different opinions from different people. I was curious so I dug out some baby photos of Phil & I. Here are some comparisons...

Blessing Day

Their expression (eyes and smile)...and their cheeks!

I am 1yr old in this photo....maybe Jayne will grow more hair by then? :)

So who is it?

I'd say a mix...a perfect mix :)

Jayne - 6 months

How did this happen? We have a 6 month old!

For some reason, 6 months just seems so...old (but still young, but not newborn...well you know what I mean)

Honestly, to say that I have changed since welcoming Jayne into our family would be an understatement. She's not only changed me, but has changed the whole world around me. I love her more and more everyday and I'm still not quite sure how I'm ever going to let her grow up and go...anywhere...without me. People tried to describe motherhood to me prior to birth but I don't think its something you can put into words. Because there aren't words to describe how much I love, admire, and just adore our Jayne.

Now on to the update...

Jayne's 6 month stats

• Miss Roly-poly here! She's rolling everywhere and anywhere these days. If we put a toy on the ground, she'll find a way roll her way to it, even if is not in her direct rolling line. Meaning, I have to be careful where I put her down because one second she's laying vertically with her feet toward the TV, and the next she's laying on the other side of the rug with her head toward the TV. She's movin'!
• Dances up a storm. I shared her dancing movie in her 5 month post and she's still got the groove. Especially when music comes on. She loves music.
• Loving her toes! They're in her mouth a lot. At least its a toy that's always around :)
• Eating cereal and rice crackers. She does ok at the beginning of cereal time but eventually we have to try hard to keep her occupied while eating, but last night she loved her cracker!
• Happy as can be. She's found out how to give us a "half" giggle. I just take that to mean "try harder mom" :) She does a little fake cough too and just grins afterward.
• Still grabbing everything, and she's quick! We're on guard all the time. When she sees something she wants, she gets excited, puts her arms out and kind of shakes them (like she's flexing all her arm/hand muscles). Its cute!
• Sitting pretty much on her own these days but topples over when she's reaching for something she wants, or her toes.
• Loves her bouncer and will grin away while bouncing happily. (see video here)

The other day I was having Koda chase a laser which I was pointing at the floor. When I first started, Jayne gave a tiny chuckle so I turned on the camera hoping she'd keep laughing, and boy did she...

Oh she is just so happy! And we are so happy to have her in our family.


Happy 6 months baby girl!

Great Grandma & Grandpa Grover

We're lucky to be close to some of our family here in Utah. Last week Jayne, my mom & I visited my grandparents (Jayne's great grandparents). It was sweet to see them interact with her. 

Good family times!

Bouncy Bouncy

I realize many (if not all) of my posts have become about Jayne...Jayne this n' Jayne that...but that's our life over here at the Bennallacks. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. Not one .single. thing! She's our little sunshine and keeps us happy over here. Her latest love is her bouncer. She happily bounces, one foot at a time, like she's out on a jog or something. Bounce on 2 feet? Nope, she'd rather jog instead. She gets an intense face (I'll need to get a better video of her face) and then just has at it. You'll see that she even mixes in her "dancing" sometimes to get the full workout. Her favorite song to work out to is clearly The William Tell Overture (which I am now humming all the day long). That one gets her blood a pumpin'!

So without further ado, bouncing, jogging, happy Jayne.

(humming the overture yet? You will be!)

Giggles

This girl is the best. Those cheeks and her giggle are the best combination. At 40 seconds she gets hearty and melts my heart :)

Jayne - 5 months

So she's put another month down in the books. 5 months today. Miss Jayne is so much fun, so cute, patient, interactive and did I mention cute!? I melt every time her sweet eyes meet mine and she gives me her little chubby cheeked grin.  

It is so fun to see her growing right before our eyes...but then I want to just stop time and spend every minute with my little buddy. We hang out every day together. Me and my girl. Jeez, she just melts my heart.

Jayne's 5 month stats

• Jayne can roll from her stomach to her back. She's almost got the back-to-stomach move down but not yet!
• She loves to "dance". She often is rocking herself back and forth while we hold her. People ask us if we're doing it, but its all her! We can get her to do it by saying "dancing, dancing, dancing". (in movie)
• Still sleeping like a champ. She loves her sleep so much and has become very efficient in telling us she wants to go to sleep. She'll continually rub her eyes and nuzzle into her blanket or mom's hair. She knows what she wants!
• She loves to snuggle her face right into her blanket while sleeping. We put her in bed, give her her binky and she immediately turns her head the the side and snuggles right in.
• Jayne loves to grab things...anything! She loves hands/fingers, mommy's hair, iPods, her blanket and well just about anything we're holding.
• She's a growing girl! This is bittersweet for mom and dad ;). She weighed 15.6 lbs last month at her appointment and was 25.25 in long. That keeps her in the 79% for weight and 83% for height. She's getting big!
• She is very vocal. She loves to squeal and giggle. She has a little chuckle that she'll often give us but when she really giggles it always results in hiccups. Haha. Poor girl got the hiccup gene from momma!

Here's a bit of her dancing...

Happy 5 months baby girl! We love you more than you'll ever know.