Happy New Year!

New in '08:
Sweet Potatoes...

Reading by osmosis...

Sitting up like a big girl...
(and chillin' with my dolly)

Amelia is now 5 months and 1 week old. She is ever changing and constantly keeps us entertained. No, I did not create the mohawk effect in her hair, it just appeared in the last month or so. She is rolling all over the place and is trying to sit up on her own, she's still working on her balance, a bit top heavy. She has found her toes and has managed to reach them to her mouth, tasty. She has almost mastered putting her own pacifier in her mouth which is a real nice feature, and this morning she even tried to put it in MY mouth. She tried sweet potatoes tonight for the first time and seemed to enjoy them. She continues to drool like crazy but still no sign of a tooth. She is very affectionate and snuggly and seems to be growing up at an alarming rate! (Has anyone read the children's book Someday? Don't do it if you haven't, a real tear jerker. Not worth the money since you can't get through half of it and have to close it up. Ford swore he'd never read it again...)

From the previous blog you can tell she had a blast in Michigan. She was a totally different baby this trip compared to the trip home for Thanksgiving. "They say" there is a huge difference between months 3 and 4 and in Amelia's case, "they" were right. She was very social, she hardly cried and slept surprisingly well wherever we were. She was a champ in the car, she enjoyed the parties and masses of people and the visiting from house to house. Most of all she loved the kids! She's never seen so many little people!
What a different Christmas it was watching my own child experience it for the first time. Not that she knew what was going on, or that she'll remember it, but suddenly in the blink of an eye, everything is different. It's like starting all over again in a way, there is a newness to everything, and we get to sit back and watch it all through her eyes. She gives us a legitimate reason to act like big kids ourselves, which is silly and fun. It's reassuring to know that as an adult, those feelings never really go away, it just takes children to keep them at the surface. They don't even have to be your own children; nieces, nephews, grandchildren, God-children...it's just has to do with how much you love them and how much you enjoy watching them experience life.
We are so excited for the year ahead with Amelia. '07 was certainly eventful and it was the beginning of the newest chapter in our lives. It was full of new experiences and challenges, joy and happiness, as well as fear and immense stress... but ultimately it was a year of the greatest blessings and certainly one that we will never forget. Happy New Year.