5 Months

Things have been crazy around here, so this post is a couple days late. Natalie actually turned five months old on Sunday, but Chris has assured me that a two-day-late blog post isn't a sign of child neglect.

Natalie has grown up so much in the last month, and as she grows, so does her personality. She is such a sweet, giggly, playful little girl. She is so curious about her world that she cannot stay still for even a second. That's why this photo shoot took three tries. She was just too busy and kept rolling away!

At five months old, Natalie:

• weighs about 16 and a half pounds. 
• sits without support for a minute or so before she topples over. 
• has zero teeth to show for all of her drooling and chewing.
• pushes herself up on all fours and rocks back and forth. She really really wants to crawl, but she can't quite figure it out yet. She'll be there soon though. Time to baby-proof the house!
• chatters and growls all the time. Especially in church.
• is my little side kick. She loves to be doing whatever I'm doing.
• sleeps in her crib and only wakes up a couple times a night! This is huge! We had been waking up so many times at night that I had just accepted the facts that the bags under my eyes were here to stay and that we just didn't have a good sleeper. But now I'm waking up feeling rested for the first time in five months. Don't get me wrong, she isn't sleeping through the night. She's just sleeping like babies are supposed to, and for that I am eternally grateful!
• loves her baths.
• is really ticklish especially under her chin.
• bites her bottom lip:

It's safe to say that these have been the best five months of my life.

Cell Phone Updates

I've been picking up some extra days at work this week, so my mom has been watching Natalie. She has been sending me pictures on my cell phone to make the long hours in the office a little sweeter. Here are some of my favorites:

Sleeping Beauty. Natalie has just recently started to sleep a lot better. I really hope I'm not jinxing us by blogging about it!

She showed my mom all around town in the stroller earlier this week.

She has really been scooting around a lot more lately. My mom said that she started out on the blanket headed the other direction!

Grass

Natalie tried her first green beans last night. Aunt Erica is right - green beans do taste like grass.

Big Helper

We recently got new light fixtures for the living room, kitchen, and bathrooms. It took a little brainstorming to figure out how to hang the one on the vaulted ceiling over the stairs. Natalie was quite the helper.

Spring Fever

I'm going to try to come up with more material so that this is the first and the last time I blog about the weather, but I'm not making any promises.

I've always been excited for Spring and Summer to roll around after those long, bleak Winter months, but now that Natalie is here I'm more excited than ever. Natalie has never really experienced nice weather. She has spent her life up to this point inside and bundled up. I'm so excited to introduce her to a life full of open windows, bare legs, parks, swimming pools, blankets on the lawn, and stroller rides.

We've taken a handful of stroller rides lately, and except for the time that I had to carry her home while pushing the stroller, she seems to like the change in scenery.

Natalie's Feast

No doubt about it - this girl is ours. She loves to eat just as much as her parents do. She gets so excited that she lunges for the spoon and kicks her little feet like crazy. So far she has tried bananas, apples, and sweet potatoes. She has loved them all, but I think sweet potatoes are her current favorite.

Like Father Like Daughter

You can't live in Hesston with the last name O'Halloran and not own at least one piece of Agco apparel.

Jordan's Birthday Party

Natalie's cousin Jordan turned three last Friday, and we went to his party in Wamego on Saturday. Natalie had fun playing with the other babies at the party - Cousin Alex (7 months) and Jordan and Alex's cousin Cora (6 months).

Once we got home, we realized that we didn't even get a picture with the birthday boy. This one from the week before will have to suffice. Happy birthday, Jordan!