5 Months!

Dear Siler,

WOW!  Today you are five months old.  I can't believe it.  You are currently in the ergo carrier on my chest fussing on and off because you are tired but fighting sleep.  That is about the only time you fuss.  Sometimes when the dogs bark and scare you, but mostly, when you are tired.  Once you find your thumb or finger you will stop crying until you jerk it out of your mouth.  This will go on for a few minutes then you are out.....why don't you just keep sucking your thumb?  Most days I have been putting you in the crib and you cry for a minute or two then fall asleep but today I have you in the ergo carrier because we have to go hang out laundry in just a minute and then walk the dogs.

You are still a smiley, happy baby.  You smile at everyone who talks to you and you smile with your whole body!  In the morning we will hear you "talking" and playing with rattles in your crib.  You often do that for 30 minutes or so.  I used to get you up as soon as I heard you but now I wait until you fuss a little then either you dad or I will come to your bed to get you.  If you are awake when we get up we have to  tiptoe around so you don't see us.  Sometimes I can get a shower in before you get up!  You smile as soon as you see us and wiggle and it's the best way to start a day.  It's amazing to have someone so happy to see you first thing in the morning, I love it!

We lay you down on blankets on the floor a lot now.  You love to play with toys on the floor and you are pretty content on your back or your belly.  If Calvin or Jahnimous comes into the room you love to watch them.  And even though we fuss when they lick you too much, you don't seem to mind.  You are so strong now.  When you play on your belly you can reach toys and put them in your mouth and when you are in your play gym you reach for and pull the toys that hang.  The goal is always to get the toy in your mouth.  Or your toes, or your fingers.....

You can roll from your belly to you back and you are really working on rolling from your back to your belly.  The other day you tried so hard.  You got the idea of using the momentum of your leg and would get almost over.....it will be soon.

I feel like the luckiest mama in the world.  You are so sweet and loving and happy.  You have made this not so hard for us and you make us laugh every day.  We are so lucky that you chose us to be your parents.  We joke that your serious, contemplative face is me and your smiley laid-back face is your dad.  We love you so much and love having you on all of our adventures now.  You make them so much more fun!

Love you so much, 

Mama

Last leg.....

of the trip we took a few weeks ago....After Kat and Chris' wedding in Heber, Utah we drove to Moab, Utah where our friends Mat and Mel live.  We met them in Green River, on the Green River because they had been at a hippie festival there all weekend and didn't want to leave - I don't blame them.  They gave us directions back into this canyon - driving around this area of Utah is always mind-blowing ....the photos never do it justice, but we try.....

 

In Moab we spent the two days there going to National Parks (Arches and Canyonlands) so we could get Siler's National Park passport stamped and so we could see some beautiful scenery with her before she is old enough to complain about how boring it is......We did not do a whole lot of walking, more viewing from the car - the sun in the desert is intense folks.....I was also still a little sick and we kept waking Siler up to wander around and after a little while she got annoyed with that.  It was still so fun to go to the parks.  I don't think I had ever been to Canyonlands and it had been a long time since either Parrish or I had been to Arches so that was really cool. Mat and Mel both had to work during the day so we'd catch up with them at night.  Wish that happened more often.

We have really got to work on our family portraits, so far most of them look like they should be on the bad family photos website......they mostly just make me laugh and then I laugh harder when I think of Siler looking back on these one day.

View of the La Sals in Arches National Park

Balance Rock!

If you look closely you can see Parrish and Siler being risky and standing under balance rock.

How to walk in the desert with a baby....

Double arch

On to Canyonlands National Park

We only went to the "Island in the Sky" section of Canyonlands but its like a mini Grand Canyon.  Who knew? Amazing.

Just hanging out in a tree - she's already a climber!

Getting better....

You can see a dirt road that goes about 100 miles.  It's a two day trip through the desert in a jeep.  Sounds pretty cool.  We didn't see any jeeps on the road while we were there....

 This is where I start getting tired of photos.....

"Woman, beer and a baby by the Green River at sunset"

 Siler and Finnegan, Mel and Mats dog.

 Got to the airport in plenty of time to make the flight home....it was a little nerve racking since we left from Moab at 7 am, returned the car in Salt Lake City then went to the airport, but we did it!

Blue!

I did not enhance these photos on photoshop (or the mac equivalent of that), her eyes are just that blue.

I'll finish the out west trip soon.  Stay tuned......