Tummy Time & Swimming Lessons!

June and Martha Jane in the fort...luckily the boys forgot the rule of "no girls allowed"

tummy time...this is the theme of the month, you will see

She likes it but we are still working on turning on her back

She did is several times in a row last week, then forgot how she did it by the next day

Talking to her eskimo doll Mimi brought back from Alaska

Jay's face is so funny here...riding the bees at Wild Adventures

This boy was about to have a meltdown until I pulled out the gummy snacks.

Happy girl under the shade while the boys play in the water

hot and tired now

Jay showing off his binoculars, Eli wearing his new glasses...they get way to many prizes when they go to Mimi's

Trying out the sippy cup. She will drink out of it when she is hot...not much luck on the rest of the time...we will not give up though!

The boys told me to come and see the hiding place they made for June

Poor girl chewing on an airplane...3rd child for sure

Jay is really into legos right now...he built this "space ship" at Mama Ross and Papa's the other day

More smiles from sweet pea

Sitting with Uncle Oren over supper

I love this expression....she is so smiley and happy!

Studying the elephant ear. I remember Ashley telling me that Gracie loved playing with that too!

I was making her laugh over lunch

this was right after the boys came home from camp with the Ross'. She was happy to have her entertainment back

So serious at Big Mama's last Sunday night. Sitting with Aunt Sandra

Now Aunt Linda is trying to get her to smile

taking 5 month photos...this girl loves some attention!

The boys picked out her bow

She is such a little camera hog

Look at her tongue!  She sticks it out and moves it around all the time now

Being silly with me at lunch yesterday

This is at swimming lessons. Look at Eli so serious waiting on the teacher to tell him to jump

Jay swims great! He might like to start a swim team. He has become a little fish.

Brave Eli!

Learning to float

The first day I was worried. Eli ran kicking and screaming out of the pool bawling. The instructors were amazing and it did not phase them. They just picked him up and put him back in each time. I thought, there is no way he will be swimming by the week's end. But by Wednesday he couldn't wait to get there and was so proud after each turn.

Successful swim

He is so proud of himself

haha...

He kept saying, "mama, I didn't want to do it but I did it anyway and now I can swim!" I told the teachers that this was such a good life lesson. He conquered his fears and did something he really didn't want to do. I was so proud of that boy!

June really needs some girly toys! haha

She fell asleep on the floor the other day. This happens so rarely with her and the boys so I had to take a picture

Eli learning to float now

Here she is in the pool at mom's condo. This girl surprised us by how much she loved the water!

Not phased at all by the cold. She has been in Wes' parents' pool a lot too and will just sit there splashing as long as we let her!

June is 5 months and has become so fun and happy! She is easily entertained by her brothers' silly faces and rambunctious behavior 24/7. Wes said in the car the other day, "it's nice that Jay's incessant need to constantly make noise is finally paying off."  As long as he is talking to her in the car, she is happy.

Other updates on our little sweetheart:

- Eating rice cereal. Sometimes she eats it fine, others it is a total failure that ends with cereal all over her, myself, and my kitchen. I wouldn't care so much except that she STILL is not sleeping for a long stretch at night....it is about to kill me!  She wakes up one to two times each night...when it's two times I am not a very sweet mama in the morning. Eating solids is what finally got Eli to drop that night time feeding so I am hoping every day that this will work for her too. So I just keep pushing it and hopefully we are close! I need my restful nights back!

- She still is working on rolling from her tummy to her back. But rolls to her tummy immediately, all day long. She loves laying on the floor, kicking, and rolling over. She sleeps on her side and still goes to sleep watching the rainforest mobile.

- She is a chunky thing with rolls everywhere. Already in 6 months clothes and could probably get by with 9mon sizes. Her head is big too!  All of her dainty hair bands leave a mark on her head. This must be Wes' fault!

- She loves her baby toys and rattles. She plays with them all day and brings everything right to her mouth. She also likes any toy of the boy's that she can get ahold of...we are in trouble when she starts to crawl!

- Loves her hands and feet. Chews on her toes and twirls her hands around, just watching how they move.

- She loves the water! We have had her in the pool several times now and she never gets tired of it. Just kicks and splashes as the boys play. I don't think either boy liked the water this much. It is so fun!

- She likes to make noise...I guess keeping up with her brothers. She screams, coos, and moans all day. When she is excited and wants attention is has a particular scream. She coos when she is calm and talking one on one. She moans (complains) when she is tired and is trying to go to sleep. The only time she truly cries is when she is hurting or if we make her wait too long to eat.

- Still loves the swing for naps but is getting better at napping in her crib. And still likes the sleep sack at night. And only sucks her hand...no pacifiers!

- We have started trying sippy cups with her since bottles are still such a frustration. She does better with cups but it comes out too slow (the training cups must come slower than the real ones) so we are going to keep experimenting until we find one she uses the best. I swear, this child and her eating preferences are really giving me a lot of grief!

- She also likes to just sit and watch the colors on the tv. Likes the stroller and just to be in the middle of whatever is going on. We call her "nosey" already!  If she thinks she has been forgotten about she will just scream and "complain" until someone picks her up and talks to her. Then goes right back to smiling.

-She has started a really cute belly laugh...I have a short video I will get up soon. The boys make her laugh more than anyone else of course!

We are just all enjoying her and watching her show us that sweet, fun, silly personality. She is so loved and will be so spoiled by her big brothers and daddy. And I can't wait for all of our "girl" adventures to begin!