check up

And checking in.  The days sure do get away from me.

Yesterday, Malaikah visited the doctor.  Usually we are in and out easy peasy.  Yesterday was crazy busy and we waited over an hour.  I'm thankful that I have such an easy-going baby who didn't fuss one bit.  Also, it helps that she sits on her own now so I didn't have to hold her the entire time!

A few pictures from the last couple of weeks...

Wearing a onesie made by my friend Takisha in NJ.  You can't really tell, but that's a hippo (or, a rhino. I can't remember.)

17 pounds 5 ounce // 25 1/4 inches

15th percentile

It is really no surprise that Malaikah is going to be short.  Still, I wish she had hope of being taller.  I always thought my 5'4" frame was too short.  I'm already setting her up to hate her body. Must work on that!!

hanging with big brother one morning

The doctor was very pleased with how she is doing - she is growing, she's sitting well, has good eye contact, and a contagious smile.  She asked me if Maliakah is speaking any sounds yet and I said we get a lot of 'dadadadadadadada dada dada' (and yes, I try to work on "Mama").  The doc said this is a 9 month trick, so already, M is a prodigy and great things will come to her.  :)

playing with a little giraffe from a friend. This stays in her crib and she's often holding it when I get her in the morning.

There are still no signs of teeth coming, although she is drooling non-stop.  

all smiles for church on Sunday, March 29. The cute dress is from a woman who works for my dad.  

We are moving slowly in the food realm.  So far it seems she might like strawberries, broccoli, and oatmeal.  I was so glad that the doctor wasn't that concerned about just how slowly I'm going down that road.  We are still happily -- and easily -- breastfeeding. So why stop a good thing?  I can't say enough how much I like this doctor. Even though she was running an hour behind she took plenty of time with me to chat and answer my questions, and really took time with Malaikah, too.  So, so different from my experience in NJ with Kyalo.

Kyalo turns four on Friday (!!!!!!!) and we go for his first visit to a doctor in Maine at the end of April.  Is it weird how excited I am to take my children to the doctor?

six months

Well, last week our baby girl turned six months, and as is required, I sigh, 'where has the time gone?'  But really, how is it that she is already six months?  That the newborn stage is a distant memory?  That she's already so aware of the world around her?  A better question might be, when did I become so sentimental about it all?  I spend my time looking at her sweet face and want to memorize it, her toothless smile, her (mostly) hairless head, and then I look at Kyalo as he nears four and think, 'I can not remember him ever being this small!'  It is almost more than my heart can bear right now.

This has been a big month for Malaikah.  A week or so after turning five months she started sitting up:

She started out pretty shaking doing this, but by six months, she was a sitting up superstar:

She has rolled over, though only a couple of times so far.  Maybe she'll just skip rolling over and move right on to crawling or walking?  This is my favorite stage right now - when I can plop her down with a smattering of toys around her and she stays put.  Kyalo started crawling around 8 months, I think, so I have a few more weeks of this bliss.  Then it is on to baby proofing!  and shadowing her all the day long!

She LOVES Kyalo.  He makes her laugh like no one else.  Here's a video I tried to post last month, of him making her laugh hysterically.  Please note, that Kyalo has a 103* F in this video.  I wish I had this much energy every day. I'd get so much done!

Malaikah continues to be happy, content, easy going.  She will happily go to any one I hand her to, can be left alone with her toys for extended periods of time, and has the biggest, brightest smile you ever did see.

I think I'm going to be a little sad when her teeth start coming in

She drools non-stop, but there are no sign of teeth yet.  Since Kyalo didn't get his first two teeth until about 11 months, I am not expecting to see hers pop out until then. Fine by me!

more laughs

We have slowly ventured into food - and it is not going well.  I've given her avocado and banana and she just spits them out.  She was especially not pleased with banana.  I'm sorry we're not in Kenya right now - I'd be filling her up with fresh mango!  I'm not really in any rush for her to get into food, so we will take it slow and steady.  I'm going to try for Baby Led Weaning again, but mostly I just want to give her whole foods.  We will see how it goes.

And now, on to the six month photos.  I think she might be scared of the big camera because it is so hard to get her to flash her smile for me when I pull it out.  Still, I like these serious photos of her.  It is not uncommon to have her giving a stare-down.  

 a little smirk! swoon

And a couple of happy ones from the iPhone:

Kyalo loves her, too. He loves to make her laugh, and he loves to hold and hug her.  He'll often say, "I need to say good morning to Malaikah" and run to give her a kiss.  It hasn't always been easy or perfect, but I'd say things are going as well as they can.

 This picture looks like she's telling him a secret, and he's listening intently.  My biggest hope/prayer for them is that they be friends for life

possibly my favorite picture of them - look at the happiness and adoration she has because he's around

Well, she's stirring in her crib (too soon! what's that about?) so I better wrap this up.  Here's hoping I'm back with some more posts before seven months.

five months

Yesterday our sweet girl hit five months.

that raised eyebrow!  

and the chin

I am quite shocked by how quickly time has gone, and just how much she has grown already.  A friend had a baby a couple of weeks ago, and it already seems eons ago since Malaikah was so tiny and precious.  I miss those newborn days!  

Malaikah continues to be a happy, sweet, easy going baby.  Point in case:  On Sunday we went to a little gathering to meet our friends' new baby.  I woke her up from her nap, changed her diaper, bundled her up to head out in the snow, and then promptly handed her off to someone else 'for a minute' when we got to the gathering - and then forgot I'd done that.  There was not a peep of protest or fuss.  I bet we were there an hour before she cried. I fed her and she was happy again.

As you can see here, she has a serious stare-down.  Sometimes she will look at Dexter like this, and no matter what he does, she will not crack a smile.  Which is funny because she does have a wonderful smile.

thinking about a smile

That little smirk, plus the raised eyebrow, makes me think she's up to no good.  

Here is some proof she smiles.

 

I could look at that toothless smile all day!

She also continues to be a great sleeper.  It is 8 PM and she's already been asleep an hour and a half. I will feed her when I go to bed, and maybe she'll wake one more time.  At this point, I know she *can* sleep the whole night through, but waking once seems like no big deal to me, and I don't mind it.  They make me tired, but they are still sweet, precious, fleeting moments.

I'm not really sure what she is *supposed* to have done by 5 months since I've stopped looking at any of those things.  She hasn't rolled over yet, but her doctor kind of helped her along with that at her appointment last month, and knows she can do it.  Just a matter of time, I guess.  I'm in no hurry for that as it means life gets harder. 

This month, instead of getting pictures of her with Kyalo (who was at school) I got pictures with Dexter and with me.  I don't have nearly enough with us, so it was time.

 love

I think most days I still can't believe that she is here, and that I'm loving having a girl so much.  Let's see what happens when she's older!  

Now, who wants to come decorate our poor, bare walls?

non stop snow

So, we have a little snow, perhaps you've heard?  And, I've just heard there are TWO more storms in the pipeline for this week and weekend.  I think Boston is getting hit the hardest, but am sure we'll get some of it.  I take back all my 'if only we would get a little snow' comments from December.

These days have been good, even if we've been home-bound more than any of us like.  At the end of January we went down to Essex because Dexter had a dental conference in Boston.  Worked out perfectly as my parents had just returned from their week-long trip to Kenya so we were able to get the full scoop.  And all the goodies they brought us from there!  No mangos, though.  Shame.

While in MA Kyalo and I met a friend and her daughter for a time running around at the local YMCA.  Running around like crazy and burning energy while I chat?  Yes, please.  Kyalo spent 99% of his time running down a little track and jumping into a pit of foam blocks.  It was really fun to watch him get bolder and more confident as the day wore on.  I really wish there was a YMCA closer to us because something like this in these long winter months would be fab.

After the YMCA, we headed to Nick's, naturally.  I hadn't been there in a while and now I wonder why?  Hot roast beef sandwiches, fries, etc.  Nothing better!

now, I wish this was my lunch!

Other than that trip to the Y we didn't do too much.  Malaikah spent her time looking cute (and serious)

The most exciting thing to me, though, was when Kyalo asked me "How do you spell Mom?"  and then handed me this:

I had no idea he was able to write anything, and the fact that this is basically the first thing he's written warms my heart.

We also spent time looking at all the snow.

This picnic tableis now completely covered - and with a foot or so more of snow on the horizon, I don't think they'll be seeing it for a while

One more picture of Grandma and Malaikah:

Back in Maine, we dug out the Johnny Jump Up for Malaikah.  I don't think she loves it yet the way Kyalo did, but I'm holding out hope!

This is the most common view these days...

I think we'll still see snow on the ground in June at this rate!

blizzard 2015

So we had a little blizzard come our way.  Forecasters were calling it 'the storm of the century' and talking about how we were going to get slammed with snow Monday into Wednesday.  I will admit that when I went to bed at 10 pm or so on Monday and the snow hadn't even started yet, I was a little skeptical.  But still, I ran out and bought milk and diapers (the essentials) so I wouldn't have to go out at all.  Most of Dexter's patients canceled for Tuesday, but he did have one strong woman show up at 8, so he drove to work in a couple inches of snow.

And then it started coming fast and furious.  Kyalo and I went out at 9 to do some shoveling, but the wind was so bitter, and his precious cheeks looked a little too rosy, that after 15 minutes I ushered us back in for hot chocolate. That was better anyway.  Still, I got maybe a quarter of the drive way shoveled in that time.  By the time Dexter got home at 11 there was no evidence of all my hard work. Next time, I'll just stay inside!

After lunch, Dexter and Kyalo headed back outside to attack the driveway again.  It was not a pretty sight.

It was hard work, but they really got it cleared up, more or less.  But the snow just kept coming and coming, so when we woke up this morning, the driveway was completely covered.  Our friend Matthew came for dinner last night, and there was so much snow he had to break out the snow shoes. He was here a couple hours and in that time his tracks disappeared.  It was intense!

I sent most of the above pictures to my family, including Adam and Noelle in Southern California.  They were feeling 'solidarity' because of the 'light rain' in their forecast.  And to add insult to injury, Noelle sent us this picture:

I mean, COME ON.

Here's what we woke up to:

yep, that's the driveway Dexter worked hard to clear yesterday

So, it was a family affair to get it cleaned up (though I didn't do too much since I was inside with Malaikah for a good part of the morning).  Thankfully the wind had gone, and the sun was trying hard to come out, so it was a nice way to spend the morning.  Also, we are SO thankful for this snowblower, which was a gift and a huge blessing!  

 backyard

 entry way steps - that had been cleared multiple times yesterday

Kyalo had a great time 'helping' with his little shovel.  Though really he spent a lot of time digging up the snow and dumping it in his little truck.

 well covered

 at least he wasn't doing this in a blinding storm this morning!

It took a while, but winter has finally arrived in Maine.  And more snow is expected both on Friday & Monday, I think.  If the sun shines, and the skies are blue it will be hard to complain too much.

Although, if it is still snowing in April, then I will complain!