Beulah, 3-5 months!!

My baby girl is five months old! I can't believe it!! The biggest privilege and greatest joy in my life right now is to watch her interact with and respond to the world around her. I love to see her reactions to each new sight, sound or sensation. I knew all these milestones were coming, but I never anticipated how much joy each one would bring me.

Beulah is super alert and always afraid she's going to miss something. She has a big personality and a big smile to match it (as you can see in the pictures)! My new favorite sound is the sound of her laughter (see video), which is more frequent every day, especially since we've discovered that she's ticklish! One thing that will make her laugh every time (even if she's fussy) is Pedro. She squeals and giggles at him every time she sees him. He is so good with her, and they "play" together all the time. She also enjoys seeing herself in the mirror. Put her in front of one, and you're guaranteed at least a smile.

We've recently discovered that Beulah LOVES books. She gets a free book each month from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and we try to read to her each night before bed. Last month she received a sweet cardboard book called Peekaboo Morning. Its illustrations are colorful and its language is simplistic. We read it to her one night, and she seemed to get really excited, squealing and kicking her feet. So, we decided to read it to her again the next night. When we pulled it out and she saw it, she got so excited, she started moving her whole body! The third night, when Andy showed it to her, she gasped and looked at him in the eyes as if to say, "Are you serious?! Thanks, dad!" Yay, books!

Beulah's favorite toys are hands and feet. Whether hers or someone else's, she loves to play with them. She especially loves looking at painted toe nails. I was SO excited when she started sucking her toes. Precious! She seems bored with all the real toys we have, and would much rather play with a cup, water bottle, or Tupperware lid. She prefers toys that hang so she can grab and bat at them. Be sure to check out the picture of her nursing the elephant's trunk. Hilarious! And, what a joy it was to watch her roll over for the first time! It's so amazing to watch a tiny, helpless human become more independent and mobile every day! We love it when she joins us for dinner, sitting in her Bumbo seat (which she loves!) on the table top. Cuteness!

It appears that Beulah will have quite a sense of humor. For about a week, she started talking in a funny voice that we labeled the "man voice". She would tuck her chin, looking at you out of the tops of her eyes, and talk in this deep, throaty voice. So funny! And, at night, when she's tired, she either gets really silly or really grumpy. If she's grumpy, WATCH-OUT! Especially if we're trying to put her in her car seat; she will stiffen her body so tight that we can't bend her to sit her down!

Beulah visited my parents' house for the first time in July, and Andy's parents' in August. She met her great-grandmother on her visit to FL. It was such a blessing to see her interact with that great woman, and get some pictures of them together. Beulah also got to go swimming for the first time in her Nana & Pop Pop's pool! She LOVED it, which was no surprise since she loves baths so much.

Last month, it was a big deal for baby AND mama when Beulah went to the church nursery for the first time! That morning, I felt very strongly that I needed to put her in the nursery. When I got there and saw that there were nursery workers who I loved and trusted and who knew Beulah, I felt comfortable leaving her with them. Sure, I had so many butterflies in my stomach that I could have thrown-up, but I didn't even check on her one time during service! And, when I went to pick her up, my sweet friend Kylie was holding Beulah the same way I hold her when she's in pain. I didn't even tell her! God orchestrated that for sure! It was very healing for me to be in worship again. I am so thankful that we have a safe place for our babies while we focus on the LORD.

We finally took the changing pad out of Beulah's crib! Sometimes, she would wake up and start playing with the mobile; batting at the animals. As she reached up, she pushed with her feet and would end up with her head off the end of the changing pad. So, we took it away to see what would happen. And, lo and behold, the child flipped over onto her belly and went to sleep! We put her down on her back, and every single time, she flips to her stomach to go to sleep. As you can imagine, this helps with the legs flying up in the air. :) So, she is now a stomach sleeper who only wakes up twice a night and takes hour and a half naps! Praise the LORD!!!

Life is good. :)

Beulah & Pedro Playing from Michelle Crissinger on Vimeo.