Willa {6 months}

weight: 16 pounds, 11 ounces

length: 25.75 inches

likes: being held, her mama, playing with toys, food

dislikes: her mama walking out of the room, being hungry

accomplishments: eating solids, moving ALL OVER, grabs at everything

Willa keeps growing and changing. On the one hand, I love it. On the other, I feel a bit sad. But that's ok, her smile always cheers me up. She is such a social little girl and waits for people to look at her so she can interact with them. 

This past month was a big one. Willa started solids, took a bottle for the first time and started sitting in a high chair. She just about has sitting up down, but still falls over after a few seconds when something distracts her. I just clap really loud and say "yay!" and she smiles instead of crying from face planting it into the floor. She started putting her hands out to people she wants to go to or when she wants to be picked up. And I think is attempting to wave, but isn't really doing it at the same time. 

Willa really enjoys playing with toys. She seems to especially like playing with Callum's cars. Even if she is in a bad mood, she will perk up in order to play with his cars. She also loves to chew on anything she can get her hands on. If outside, that includes leaves. But I also found a discarded cough drop wrapper in her mouth one day and told the kids they need to be careful about stuff on the ground...as I am sure they were the ones that discarded it on the ground. Willa also likes being out at about. Being in her stroller, watching everything going on makes her happy. 

I thought I birthed a unicorn in the sleep department, alas I did not. Though Willa used to sleep amazingly, she no longer does. If she at least stays asleep from bedtime until midnight or later, I am happy, as it allows me to get things done - like the dinner dishes, making the kids school lunches, etc. But more and more she isn't lasting that long. And she seems to be taking longer to get to sleep at night. But, all my kids have been like this, so I sort of expected it and know that one day it will change. 

Willa eats like a champ. She so har has not refused any of the foods we have given her. I have given her big chunks of things like avocado, banana, bell pepper, watermelon, cheese, rice, etc. But I have also fed her traditional baby food as well. And she loves baby mum-mums. She has gotten way better with her hand eye coordination and hand control since she started eating. I am sure it is completely motivated by food! 

Size wise, Willa is in 3-6 month clothing and size 2 diapers, though getting ready to size up to 3. Her little sandals from the beginning of the summer, a size 0, are just about outgrown. She weighed in a pound heaver than Connor at 6 months, and a bit less than what Isla and Callum were. I have put her in a couple 6-12 months outfits and they seem to work on her, just are long. In fact, one of the pants her little thunder thighs completely filled up and I could barely get them on...haha! 

I really can't believe that half a year has gone by in what feels like the blink of an eye. Then again, it really does feel like a while ago that I was holding that tiny little squish of a human in my arms. Oh time, you double edged sword. 

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Willa's First Soilds

I'm pretty sure I thought long and hard about starting Connor on solids. I got one of those baby food makers and took my job of making him nutritious and delicious combinations very seriously. By the time we got to Callum, I threw table scraps at him and called it good. Then there's Willa. I always aim to start my kids on solids around six months old. And I don't do baby cereal, as research says it's unnecessary and unfortunately full of arsenic. I hadn't thought much about exactly when I would start Willa and what her first food would be. But the other night, sitting at the dinner table, half of an avocado was left and I just decided to go for it. 

Clearly she didn't like it ;) She had a hard time picking it up, so I handed it to her instead. Even then, it kept flying out of her hand. In her mouth, she managed to get a couple big bites, but I think most of it ended up coming back out. Overall, she seemed extremely satisfied with her first experience. Now for the fun to begin! Well, not too much fun until she gets some teeth in. No pizza for this girl yet! 

Willa's first solid food - August 11, 2019

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest

First day of school for Connor & Isla

I'm pretty sure the summer went by at warp speed this year. Or maybe it just went by fast because I didn't blog it? Perhaps because I have four children to keep me busy? Or even perhaps because it is FAR TOO SHORT? Anyway, somehow it happened. And here we find ourselves at August 12th, the first day of school. 

Connor started fourth grade. His teacher was Isla's first grade teacher. Good thing I liked her! It feels a bit like when he started first grade and went from half day to full day. Fourth grade loses a recess and the other one is shorter. They also have a bigger class sizes. Big changes, I guess. And Connor came home telling of how fourth graders are now the little kids at recess, whereas last year, they were the big kids at recess. A whole new world, I tell you. But at least Connor is setting his sights above working at the local diner. He settled on saying surgeon, but he is also considering astronaut, lawyer and train conductor. He's keeping his options open at the ripe ole age of nine ;)

Isla, on the other hand, has been sticking with wanting to be an artist for a while now. She got the teacher she was hoping for. And ironically, both Connor and Isla's teachers have the same last name. However, Isla's bestie isn't in her class, so there were some bummed feelings about that. But, they are sitting in groups of four in her new class, and she is friends with everyone in her group. So all is not bad in the world. Of course, with Isla it never is. 

Then there is Callum. Poor guy was fully convinced he was headed to school today. He grabbed his backpack and wore it to the kids school. He even set it down outside Isla's class like all the other kids. Saying he was disappointed to not be staying is an understatement. But he gets to start preschool in a couple weeks and I know he is going to love it...as long as he doesn't hit his new preschool friends with sticks and throw sand in their faces. 

I swear, time just keeps going faster and faster the older they get and I'm really not liking it. I am loving the people they are becoming and the relationship I am developing with them, but the thought of them leaving already gives my heart palpitations and that is years off still.

But first day of school went great!

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Willa {5 months}

likes: being worn, nursing, playing with toys - especially ones that make a crunchy noise, her siblings, people giving her attention

dislikes: being hungry, needing to burp

accomplishments: goes up on her hands and toes, crawls/pushes around backwards

Willa just keeps growing and changing. With all the movement she is doing these days, she really enjoys being on the ground. She can manage to inch herself backwards and roll to get around. Her latest thing is going up on her hands and toes at the same time, almost like she is going to do a push up, haha! She does not like it when she works her way under furniture and gets stuck. She is still such a smily baby and smiles at strangers in public all the time. It's fun to watch her keep smiling at someone until they will acknowledge her.

Sizewise, Willa is in 3-6 month clothing, with some larger sizes working too. Though I have bought a couple things in the next size up and just let her wear them oversized so she can wear them longer. Her size 0 saltwater sandals we got at the beginning of summer still work on her. She is solidly in a size 2 diaper. 

Willa hasn't been doing so hot in the sleeping department lately. She seems to be waking more frequently at night just to nurse. She is no longer sleeping swaddled. This just sort of happened. She was crying at bedtime sometimes and I thought maybe it was because she was hot, so I stopped swaddling her. It didn't really affect her going to sleep at night. And I think her not sleeping as well is more just her enjoyment of nursing!

Just in last week before turning five months, Willa had the opportunity to stay in a hotel for the first time, see the Hollywood sign and go to the beach. In fact, she turned five months old while we were staying in Solana Beach near San Diego.

Now that Willa is on the move a bit, she seems to enjoy being on the ground exploring. Especially if there are toys nearby that she can put in her mouth. Or paper. She really likes sucking on paper. She also really enjoys being in her activity center thing. But not much else, as she doesn't like being trapped...she wants to be free to roam.

And just like that, five months with the smiliest, easiest going baby around. It sure is going fast.

For funsies, each of the other kids at five months - Connor, Isla and Callum. Connor and Isla had a lot more hair than Willa at this point and Callum had a bit more. Her hair will grow eventually though, right?

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest