5 months old

Baby Ash is 5 months old today! She is growing so much and is so precious I can hardly stand it!! She has been sleeping in her crib for several weeks now and is doing great. She goes to bed at 10 and is up at 8. She takes a long nap before lunch (2 hours) and another small one in the afternoon (1 hour). My goal in the next two weeks is to get her to bed at 9 and up at 7. We wrap her in her swaddle blanket every night but that will probably end tonight. She manages to work her arms out of her blanket and she ends up in all sorts of disarray. One morning, we found the blanket at waist level. She looked so funny! When we went to get her out of bed that morning, the look on her face was priceless. When I first saw her I said, "Oh my goodness, what have you done to your blanket?" And this is what the look on her face said, "Mommy, this is how all of the cool kids are wearing it!" She was so proud of her accomplishment and I will never forget the cute look on her face. Speaking of accomplishments, she rolls all over the place. We have nicknamed her "Roly Poly." She also holds her head up very well and she sits in her high chair without a problem. She loves to hang out in her high chair and play with her toys whenever we eat as a family. She loves sitting next to her big sister because "Big Sis" is so funny and she makes her laugh. Baby Ash is very vocal. She says "Mama" but is still too young to know its significance. She loves to make raspberry noises and is very good at grunting. She loves to look at herself in the mirror. When she is in front of the mirror, she smiles, laughs and squeals. She must like what she sees, but who wouldn't? Grabbing my hair (or Big Sister's) is one of her favorite things to do. And, she does not let go. We have to physically take her hand and remove the hair ourselves. I better watch out for my earrings! She also loves to stick out her tongue - Daddy is great at getting her to do this. I have not started her on rice cereal yet -- will probably start in about two weeks. Since she does not go to see the Dr. this month, I don't know how much she weighs, but I am going to assume about 15-16 pounds (since she weighed 14 lbs. at 4 months). I love her chunky thighs (she must get them from Mommy) and her feet are targets for Mommy's kisses. I can kiss her all day long. She still has a small amount of hair and it looks like it is getting lighter. She has a bald spot in the back of her head but I am sure it will grow hair with time.

As for KB, she is doing great. She is so beautiful and smart. She is sometimes "too smart" for her own good. Unfortunately, she has spent plenty of time in "time-out" the last couple of months as she has tried very hard to push every button and get on every last nerve. She has developed quite the little attitude. However, we are working with her and hopefully our punishments are making a lasting impression. I can't believe that she will be 5-years old in less than a month. She will be starting private school kindergarten in two weeks and she is so excited. We have had a blast shopping for school clothes. We even bought her a backpack to keep all of her school papers organized. I will definitely cry as I leave her classroom that first day. We plan to take pictures and record the exciting moment. KB and I went to the circus last week. It was really cool and she enjoyed seeing the elephants, tigers, dog, horses, and clowns. Because the tickets were $50 a person, parking $10, and cotton candy $12, Daddy decided to stay home with Baby Ash. I can't believe that circus tickets are so expensive. The most expensive tickets were $120/person. Gosh, that is outrageous. Needless to say, spending quality time with KB was worth every penny.