A letter to my 5 year old

Dear Emmy,

There is nothing eloquent about my writing (that's what you get when your mom has a math degree), but I wanted to write down a few things to let you know how much I love some of the seemingly mundane things that happen in our day to day:

·       You love to sing: real songs, made up songs or just gibberish.  I see lots of choir concerts in our future.

·       You are so confident in your decisions…NEVER lose that quality

·       You color the most beautiful pictures, I can tell that you take your time and work VERY hard

·       You love having your nails and toes painted in fun colors with lots of glitter….just like me!

·       At dance and at gymnastics, you give 100%.  Your teachers always tell me that you are a very hard worker!

·       Your kind heart shows me that you think about others

·       You have the best memory, how do you do that?  I cannot remember anything anymore!

·       You have joy in your heart.

·       Even though it’s really hard being a big sister sometimes, you try your best to be a good example and a first time listener so that Nora will do the same thing.

I love you sweet girl.  Always stay strong.  Always remember that I love you and only want you to be the best person that you can be.

Love,

Mommy

Evelyn {5 months}

Evelyn just turned 5 months old, seriously???? We are almost to a 1/2 of a year and that gives me anxiety.  So I will try not to think about it just yet.

Now onto the real reason of this post, updates on Evelyn.

Eat: Every day is a bit different at school, but we nurse in the morning and then she takes around 15-20 ounces at school.  If it's a low volume day at school then we give a small bottle at home at dinner time and then we nurse at night.
Sleep: Hmm, again- you never know with this girl.  She's almost always asleep by 7pm and wakes by 630-645.  Most nights we have a night time "all you can eat" party sometime between 2 and 5.

Naps: Most days she has about four 30-45 minute naps.

Shoes: Haven't even tried.

Clothes: Mostly 6-9 month clothes if it's a dress or 2 pieces.  The 6 month sleepers are starting to get too small though.
Diapers: Size 3 but I think we need to move up soon, they are getting a bit small.
Trips: Fayetteville on 11/22 for our annual dinner w/ Chris' grad school advisor.  We also went up to TFL for Thanksgiving.  Evelyn did GREAT with all the craziness...much better than Nora at Colorado (close to the same age)
Likes: bath time, trying to do situps from a laying position, sticking her tongue out, blowing out her diapers, being tickled on the ribs, pulling her sisters' hair, eating, smiling so sweetly and innocently at me in the middle of the night, the johnny jump up, reading Llama Llama Red Pajama at night time
Dislikes: a good long nap, when Nora kicks her or stands over her like an alpha dog, showing off her skills for the camera.  There's really not much else.  Evelyn is such a content little baby.
Milestones: Bringing all toys to mouth, trying to sit up all the time, a few displays of stranger anxiety, if we have eye contact with her and then disappear from sight- she will keep looking in our direction until we come back in sight, rolls from belly to back when she wants but is REALLY trying to get from back to belly (she's oh so close)

Health: Reflux is being managed well and we are still going to OMT appointments.  I took Nora and Evelyn in right before Thanksgiving and Evelyn had a lingering ear infection and Nora had a sinus infection.  Other than that, we are well.  Evelyn weighed in at 18.5# at that appointment.

Other: Life is moving too fast.  Dinners are still a crapshoot.  I stay up too late and wake up too early.  Every night Chris and I spend at least 30 minutes getting our house back in order- I need a daily maid.  The girls are enjoying this season of Advent and we are doing our best to instill in them the true meaning of the season (with a side of Santa and Elf on the Shelf mixed in).  Life is crazy but life is good.  I'm lucky to have Chris by my side for every bit of it.

I posted this on FB...but here is a ~5 months comparison shot.   Not identical at this point, but you can definitely tell that these girls are sisters!

And here's our 5 month collage.  So in love with this chill baby.