Count it higher: up to 5

Happy Boxing Day! 

Another month has come and gone in the life of my baby girl, and she is officially 5 months old! My, how time flies. A year ago, I had barely told my parents I was pregnant, and work still didn't know. Things have definitely changed.

This month has been quite eventful, including her first international plane ride, meeting her two May family cousins, and celebrating her first Christmas (which will be its own post!). 

Sleeping in the dark. I was trying not to wake her up with the flash... I just thought her arm up by her mouth was cute.

Alligator attack!

 Who won the confrontation here? I still don't know.

And, in this one... I think the shoe might've come out on top?

After all, the shoe is still standing. Calista... is not.




Calista has been experimenting more with her vocal chords, and here is proof that they work:

SQUEAL!

We got a whole bunch of "new" hand-me-downs from my visiting teacher, including this outfit:

Cute, no? And the babe is actually smiling for the camera, not making a weird face! Yay!

Every once in a while, Calgary gets what is called a Chinook, which is a weather pattern full of wind... but it's warm wind! Brings the temperatures up, melts the snow a little, and inspires Calista and I to go for walks.

She still needs to bundle up, but that just means she looks so cute!

Looking up at me to say

a tummy time hello!

Bath time is getting more tolerable, perhaps even... fun?

Well, as long as there is a washcloth on her chest and a rubber duck to eat.

After her baths, we give her a little naked time to dry off. We generally put her on her tummy with her towel.

As you can see, she was more than ready for bed on this particular day. Does she look like a drunk movie star or something?

Calista absolutely loves to stand, although she can't do it by herself yet. 

Still, with daddy's help, life is good.

Or, perhaps, with just the ottoman's help...?

Ready to experience the world! And to fall over, very soon after this picture was taken.




When she's not standing, Calista is a little wiggle-wart.

She started out facing the opposite direction, and in the middle of the blanket. And, man, is she proud of herself!



Naptime is getting easier by far, and when she wakes up, Calista is such a happy girl.

I just love it! So much better than right before her naps when she's tired, for sure!




Calista has liked music since she was born, it seems. Sometimes, when she's getting a little fussy, we sit down with her at the keyboard and play and sing. It keeps her from crying for a while, and lately she's been trying her hand at playing herself, with our help, of course.

I think we have a child prodigy on our hands!

She's constantly discovering new things.

This, for example, is her new favorite toy to suck on. It's a cupcake holder I was given at a bridal shower, and it's soft and squishy and blue... just perfect for a baby snack!



Blankets are fun, especially if they are pulled over the face! Yay!

Not looking very happy, but she enjoys the blanket, I promise.

Five months old! What a big girl!

How did this happen again?

When did I become this girl? The girl who agrees to play her saxophone, alone, in front of people? When did that happen? It took until my senior year to occasionally play solos in jazz band, with the entire band there with me. I haven't done solo/ensemble since eighth grade. I don't enjoy standing in front of people playing, it makes me nervous. When did I become this girl?
Well, what's done is done: I played Silent Night twice within about a week, once in front of 30 or so people, the other in front of a couple hundred people. And I didn't completely stink. And... most importantly, it's over. Unless someone else asks me to play...
Well, let's add one more: Silent Night, accompanied by my husband, in front of technically no one except the camera. And everyone who reads this blog. (I'll be honest, it's not our best effort, but it's what you get when we try to do it quickly, while The Babe is sleeping!)
Enjoy!

Scandal baby

I told my sister a while back that Calista has discovered the fact that her clothes have a hem... and that it is easily pulled up to her mouth to suck on. My sister said, get me a picture of that! It sounds cute! Well, Loradona, here are a few pictures:

This shirt is the best toy ever!

Dresses are good, too.

Especially extra-poufy ones!

Lil' Wigglewart

Lately, when I put Calista down on her playmat on the floor, like this:

Nice and centered in the middle, yes? Anyway, when I put her down to play, I watch her kick her feet out over and over again, until she is more like this:

Because, who needs to be in the middle of the playmat when they can be on the edge, or possibly completely off of it?
Silly little wigglewart.

Juggling babies!

Okay, so maybe I'm not juggling babies (only one, ha!), but I am teaching a baby to juggle, and she'll be an expert in no time.

Holding the ball steady...

 And up to the mouth!

Down again...

And back to the mouth!

 Whoops, bye ball!
So, she still has a quite a way to go before she'll be wow-ing crowds, but the potential is undeniable. We have a juggling performer on our hands, people!

Time for solid food?

Namely... fish!

Calista has started grabbing at just about anything, including my hands while I'm trying to change her diaper. Changing a diaper while a baby is trying to suck on your forearm is not easy, so I gave her a fish to hold on to instead.

Yummy rainbow trout. Who wouldn't want some?

The highlights

The last month has been an eventful one for Calista, as already mentioned, and now it's official: at four months old, she can roll over, take a bath without completely melting down, smile, laugh, and make really cute/funny facial expressions! She's getting really good at going to sleep on her own, and the last couple of weeks has gone back to sleeping 6-7 hours, then 3-4 more, and then another 2-3 during the night. 

She often falls asleep on the way home from church, so we bring her in, unstrap her, and take pictures. What would you do?

Her favorite things to smile at are people. I get a lot of them, but I'm around her most. She will be amused by just about anyone, including her father (of course!), aunt Loradona and Grandma Maria via Skype, Aunt Karina and Uncle Clay, people at church, doctor's offices, grocery stores... The world is just full of funny looking people, I guess.

Laying on my bed while I get dressed.

Happy girl!

And suddenly sad?

She has really started to enjoy toys more, reaching for them and always trying to get them in her mouth.

Yes, her bum is exposed in this picture. She had a slight diaper rash, so we were airing her out. Worked well, and it makes for a cute bum in the background!

Yummy toy!

For my birthday, Kyler bought me a pair of pink Converse All Stars. Why pink, you ask?

This is why.

Calista was given a pair of pink Converse by one of my roommates, Corynne. So, obviously, I had to match!

Baby feet and adult feet! Hers are cuter, I know.

I was cleaning out the diaper bag a little while ago, trading out the backup onesies for outfits that actually fit her now that she's in 3-6 month sizes in just about everything, when I rediscovered her sunglasses, and decided to see what she'd think of them.

She wiggled until they were up out of her eyes, and then all was well.

Who needs sunglasses to actually keep the sun out of their eyes? They make a much cuter accessory.

Doing the hand jive?

In preparation for the day when Calista will start eating food, we decided to eat dinner a couple of times with her in the highchair.

The straps don't even bother me, because...

...as long as I have something to suck on, life is peachy.

Not ready to eat yet, but definitely ready to sit in the chair!

I mentioned to my mother that I didn't have mittens for Calista yet, and in the next package she sent to me, what was included but this:

It's Lampchops!

And the mittens taste good, too, apparently.

All ready to go out in the cold!

Because you can't go wrong with a baby in a towel:

I like the drool coming down from her chin. Trés Chic.

She's also getting pretty good (most of the time) at napping during the day.

 After she had been sleeping for a while, I sneaked in to check on her, make sure she was breathing, that kind of thing. She looked so cute I had to take a picture!

Which then woke her up, at least temporarily, just long enough to stretch and arch her back.

Four months old...

...today!