Holland: 5 Months Old

This grinning little girl is now five months old.  Five months!  We are so incredibly grateful to have her in our family. 

 Holland is SUCH A GOOD BABY.  She is patient and happy and rarely squawks or screams.  So much of our time goes to Reed – who is just at a busy toddler age! – and Holland is almost always content to sit by and watch, taking it all in.

She inherited gorgeous blue eyes from her dad.  They are deep blue – less gray than Reed’s – and so hard to capture.  I love looking into those gorgeous pools of blue.  Her hair is still blonde as can be, even after the three or four haircuts she's had.

Over the past month or so she’s started doing the funniest thing when she’s eating: she’ll be nursing and I’ll feel her lose her latch.  When I look down I find that she's slid one of her little fingers into her mouth.  Ha!  It happens almost every feeding, often several times, and it makes me laugh.  She just really needs to suck on her finger right then!

A few weeks ago she rolled over for the first time – we were even all there!  I had TJ keep the camera on for about an hour trying to catch it again.  Good thing we gave that up, as she hasn’t rolled over since.  

She really loves to be UP - she does "hollow holds" a dozen or more times a day, where she lifts both her head and her feet while lying on the ground and just holds that position.  She also loves to stand and is strong enough now that we can just hold her hands and she can stay up. 

Reed pointing to a worker wearing orange; Holland trying to figure out how to suck on the book.

When I put Holland to sleep I often swaddle her, then hold her up on my shoulder (she FAR prefers being up than being cradled), and sway back and forth while I stand in her room.  When she falls asleep on her own it is almost always with her hands right in front of her face, usually holding something (her binky clip if that’s all she has) until she falls asleep.

She loves having her eyes covered when she sleeps.  I would never have figured this out, but both TJ and his mom figured it out independently (how?).  She also pulls her arms out of her swaddle as quick as she can.

She is quite a good little kicker and I can’t help but laugh when I praise her for kicking (“Oh, Holland, that’s great kicking!”) and Reed lays next to her and says “Reed kicker.”

We’ve let her lick/suck on a few foods and she just plain loves them: grapes, strawberries, and peaches (pictured here) so far.

She’s not the world’s biggest spitter, for sure, but Holland does spit up enough that we go through all our burp cloths every few days.  I didn’t realize until I was just digging through pictures that I even caught her actually spitting in this one.  Because of spitting up she usually changes 3-4 times a day (and I usually change a couple times too, after she nails me). 

Reed noticing the spit up before I do...

Holland is so patient with Reed.  Over the weekend we went up the canyon for dinner with TJ’s family.  I thought it would be cute to get some pictures with Reed holding Holland.  You can see from the shot below that Reed had had enough after about 30 shots and he just threw her on the ground.  Oh my.  [Note: I would say we were being responsible and had TJ right there to catch her, but he didn’t even move as she went down so that disclaimer isn’t valid.]  Holland landed in the dirt but didn’t even cry.

This is how Reed asks to hold "Hanuh."

Holland loves to be outside.  When she is so fussy I can’t calm her (not often-she’s just such a great baby) it almost always works to take her outside and just enjoy the fresh air.

With TJ's mom, Holland's middle namesake (Eileen)

Holland is a fantastic sleeper.  I keep thinking maybe one day it’s going to end but at this point I HOPE NOT.  At about six weeks she was sleeping 7 hours at night (I have no idea how this happened).  At this point she usually gets up around 4 or 5 AM to eat and then goes back to sleep until about 8.  It’s pretty dreamy and magical and all the best adjectives.  We are so grateful for the sleep.

Right near her five month mark she moved into her own room, across the hallway.  After a couple pretty sleepless nights for me we seem to be in the groove now.

She isn’t really a fan of the green chair that we sit her in (her bouncer seat, though the bouncer doesn’t work) while we’re in the kitchen.  She also doesn’t love the swing.  She does like sitting in the corner of the couch (where there’s enough space for her to tip without falling off) and she really loves kicking in her crib (I think the mattress “echoing” is fun for her – Reed loved it too).

Reed unknowingly gave Holland her nickname - "Hanuh" (not sure how better to spell it) which sometimes gets shortened to "Hahn".  When we first brought her home and he learned her name that was how he pronounced it.  Well, just about two weeks ago he said to me, clear as day, "Holland sleep," which did make me sad because I loved how he said "Hanuh!"  That said, we still - including Reed - call her Hanuh most the time.

We love, love, love our Holland girl.  We can't believe how quickly she's growing.  We're so glad she's ours.

Newborn

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Reed Napping

How sweet a sleeping baby is.

Treasured blankets surround him.
Books and trucks within reach.
His music is playing.
He's home.

All is right in his world.

Weekly Family Photo

This is just real life: Reed, Holland, and Rachel all sick.  Thankfully TJ is taking good care of us!

Weekly Family Photo

The Kids Are Talking -1-

As Reed's vocabulary expands (and we understand him more and more), we smile pretty often at the things he comes up with.  Here are a few things he's said lately:

(This one was at the end of May) While on a drive, looking out the window: "Tiny diggers, I love you."

Last week, also while on a drive, over a particularly rough section of the road.  When we hit bumps I often say, "Oh, that was bumpy," which he's started mimicking.  He loves the bumps so after the road had smoothed out he said, "Me mo bumpies.  Hana want bumpies."  :)

He's got an impressive grasp on vehicles and will call out a number of things as we pass them (his current favorite being cherry pickers, which he yells out with such enthusiasm it sometimes makes Holland cry).  I've pointed out semis and box trucks to him for some time but he's never caught on.  One day last week it clicked and he happily called out "Semi!" over and over while we drove.  And then we came to a stop light and he clearly hollered - accurately, and for the first time - "Box truck!"

Rachel: Okay, Reed, when we get home I need to change and feed Holland, so I'm going to turn on a show for you to watch.
Reed: Me mo music.  Me mo Mack [Mack Wilberg, director of The Tabernacle Choir].  Arms.  Red dress.  [This is Reed requesting watching "Come Thou Fount" by The Tabernacle Choir].

Rachel: Reed, who's your mom?
Reed: Minnie.
Rachel: Mary?
Reed: Yep.

Reed: Mommy, kiss Reed.  Lips.

The Ball Doesn't Matter

Before we had kids TJ and I loved going on late night walks in the summer.  It's so pleasant to be out in the cool air, watching the sun set, holding hands, and talking.  With temperatures around 97 during the day, it's just a treat to be out when it's not so hot.  We rarely get out for those late walks anymore: Reed typically goes to bed around 7:30 and we'd rather have him get his sleep and be cheerful the next day than watch the sun set.  So we skip the walks for now.  (I love to remember that life is long - those walks will be back before we know it). 

On an atypically mild evening a few weeks ago we loaded Holland into the stroller and let Reed bring his new orange scooter for a walk.  We're practicing teaching Reed about sidewalks and the road and not crossing without one of us, so we go way out of our way to stop at every street crossing (even in the neighborhoods) look for moving cars (had to add moving in there because that boy sees every vehicle, stationary or not), and then hold one of our hands to cross.  All that to say, it's pretty slow going when Reed isn't in the stroller.  :) 

About halfway through the walk we turned onto a long street where two kids were playing on the sidewalk: they had two tennis rackets out and were hitting a ball back and forth.  Since we were moving slowly we had time to watch them and figure out they were brother and sister, the boy a little bit older, probably around 8 or 9 years old.  We passed them on the sidewalk and after we got about fifteen feet away heard the boy yell to his sister, "Stop!  The ball doesn't matter!"  I turned around to see that the boy - who had been facing his sister - had seen a car coming that his sister was blind to.  When the ball had gone into the street she went to run for it and he yelled his warning (which she thankfully heeded).  It hit me pretty immediately what a wise brother he was and what a profound statement he made.

I've thought about those words dozens of times since.  TJ and I mulled them over the rest of the walk and he actually used that story in church the following Sunday. 

So much to ponder: an older brother who sees things we don't see and warns us - sometimes urgently - "Stop!  That doesn't matter."  Maybe something we're worrying about is simply not significant in the big picture.  Maybe we're spending time on things that are damaging our spirits.  Maybe we aren't looking our kids in the eyes - truly looking at them, devices far away - and giving them our full attention.  Maybe the things we read or watch are pulling us down instead of lifting us up.  Maybe it doesn't really matter the last time the floor was mopped or the baseboards scrubbed or the flower beds weeded. 

Are we taking time to think about what really does matter?  Are we spending time on the things that are consequential?  Don't get me wrong - I don't think the goal is to be going and accomplishing and doing the most possible each day.  But I think it's good to pause every once in a while, reflect, and consider whether we are getting nudges about things that simply don't matter so we can adjust our course.

A few minutes after Holland was born - I love this picture that captures one of those moments when time stands still.  Right here Holland is all that matters.

Weekly Family Photo

Reed's jacket is from the Petersons and I tricked Reed into wearing it.  He loathes new clothes so - after a whole lot of screaming - I told him if he'd just wear it for a picture so my sister and her son could see it, he could take the jacket off.  What a great smile he did to get it off, right?