Like Mother, Like Daughter

While I was in Fort Smith a couple months ago, Mom and I went through my baby pictures because I wanted to see if Marlee resembles me as a baby.  And we couldn't believe how much her profile looks like mine!  We found this picture of me and my brother when I was four months old

And here is Marlee at four months old.  Crazy, huh? 

We also found this one of me at four months with Dad

And thought it would be fun to recreate it with Marlee (although we didn't get around to it until Marlee was six months old...oh, well)

 I plan to print these both so I can put them up in my house side by side.  I love it.  She is definitely my daughter, but she definitely has some of her Dad in her as well.  And I know for a fact she has his short attention span and his lack of patience. ;)

I love my Aunts

Aunt Jami and Maggie stopped by last weekend on their way to Branson and Marlee had such a good time with them.  Marlee was quick to show them everything she is up to these days (eating peaches, drinking milk, talking, fake coughing, playing in her exersaucer, swinging her toys around, taking baths, giggling with Dad, etc.)

 Aunt Paula (Pauby) wasn't able to come see her last weekend, but she did call and sang Marlee her song:

"I love you Mars Bars

Oh yes I do.

I don't love anyone

Like I love you.

When I'm not with you

I'm blue!

Oh, Mars Bars I love you."

 This girl hit the Aunt jackpot!

Sitting Pretty

We practice sitting up every night after work and Marlee is doing awesome.  She can sit for about a minute or two before she tumbles.

 She sure is flexible...loves to grab her feet (and most of the time put them in her mouth)

"Are you guys trying to make me smile again by lighting up my glowworm?"

 

Works every time ;)

 Sitting up can be exhausting 

 This little girl loves Frank.  And Frank is loving her now that she is starting to interact with him  

I just love this girl to pieces

Lake Baby

James and I knew we wanted to do two things after we got married (and before we had kids).  We wanted to a) backpack through Europe and b) buy a boat.  We did both, except we bought a boat four years ago and we didn't buy a boat with a baby in mind.  I think we thought it would work for us when we had a family, but we never really thought about how much crap essentials you have to bring along with you when you have a baby.  So, we bought a new boat this year.  It's a pontoon, but it still has a wakeboard tower (and James is glad because he can still wakeboard and show Marlee that he is a "cool" Dad).  I feel like trading in a ski boat for a pontoon is like trading in a sports car for a minivan.  But, with the wakeboard tower, I like to think of it as an Escalade instead of a minivan. ;)  James grew up on the lake with his family and I grew up on the lake with friends and then later family (my parents bought their lake house when I was in college).  We can't wait for the lake to be a big part of her life.

Marlee loves to splash

   Such a sweet face

"What was I doing before Mom made me look up?  Oh, yeah, I was splashing"

"Splashing is so much fun!"

 Someone sure does look sleepy.  We're going to have to figure out how to get her to take a nap on the boat.

 "Look Mom, I can sit up like a big girl!"

 "Do I have to sit up?  I would rather just lounge around" 

"Yeah, I'm just going to lay back and enjoy myself"

I swear she is my child....but I think she has her daddy's skin. :) 

First Day of School

Last Wednesday was Marlee's first day of school.  We noticed a preschool being built right by our house while I was on maternity leave.  And since the preschool we had already chosen couldn't get her in until June anyway, we decided to check this one out.  We absolutely fell in love with it.  Marlee will be attending Cedar Crest Academy Wednesday through Friday each week.  

This is us on her second day of school (since Dad was out of town on her first day).

You know how everyone tells you that the first day of school is much harder on the parents than the children?  Well, I can honestly say that it was equally hard for both of us.  In fact, it was absolutely miserable.  First of all, James was in New York so I had to do it all by myself.  Second of all, Marlee had her 6 month appointment that morning.  I was thinking it would be great because she could just go in at 10:00 and have a short first day.  I didn't realize she was getting shots...four of them.  And we were going to be showing up at school right at her time to eat.  

I dropped her off and just left (like everyone says you are supposed to do) and then had to fill out paperwork in the lobby for 36 minutes.  I know it was 36 minutes because it was the longest 36 minutes of my life.  She was SCREAMING...like the kind of screaming she did when she was 7 weeks old and we thought she had colic.  The kind of screaming that is inconsolable by anyone.  They said she even cried the whole time she was taking her bottle.  

I left and immediately starting crying as soon as I got in my car.  I wanted to walk back in there and save her, but I had to tell myself that she needs to learn.  I called James and he couldn't answer because he was in a meeting.  So, I cried the entire way to work...all 23 minutes.  And right when I got on the off-ramp in Rogers, I get a text message.  And it was this picture:

I smiled the biggest smile.  

They said she was all better and immediately I was all better.  I am so glad to know that we love her school and we know that she is in good hands.  I know that social interaction is good for her and she is going to learn so much at her new school.  I'm just glad the first day is out of the way.

A Day with Mom (and Memaw and Layla)

I went to Dallas the weekend before last (I'm a little behind on my blogging), so I took a vacation day on Monday to catch up with my little princess.  We spent the morning working on Marlee's core.  I probably should've been working on my core, too.

"Hey Mom, do you want to stay home and hang out with me today?"

"You do?! No way!"

"We can do a little stretching"

 "And chew on our feet...my personal favorite"

 Once Memaw and Layla got here, we went over to the neighborhood pool.

 Marlee loved the water and spent most of her time on my lap like this.  She just wanted to splash, splash, splash with her hands!

 The kiddie pool is only 1ft deep, so she could touch her feet in her floatie and she absolutely loved it.  She had the best time swimming with Layla.

6 Months Old

Memaw was here to help me get a smile out of this cute little munchkin

 She always has to take a look out the window when she is sitting in her chair

Memaw, you are hilarious!

 Marlee weighs a whopping 14 pounds, 5 ounces.  She's a petite little thing in the 25th percentile for height and between the 10th and 25th percentile for weight.  The doctor said it is common for babies to drop a little in the weight category at 6 months because they are burning more calories than they were before.

Speaking of burning calories, she isn't crawling or sitting, but she rolls and rolls and rolls.  She decided one day that she wanted to try rolling back over to her back again and now she can't stop.  I constantly find her way off of her blanket.

Still wearing 3-6 month clothes and a size 2 diaper

Although she isn't sitting, she can sit for a small moment on her own.  And she loves to hold herself up with her hands.

Sleeping 10-11 hours at night and is eating 6 ounces every four hours.

Loves her feet.  Loves grabbing them.  Loves sucking on them.  Loves everything about them.

Eats oatmeal every night along with a fruit or vegetable.  So far she has tried green beans, sweet potatoes, apples, squash, pears, and green peas.  She didn't care too much for the green beans and ABSOLUTELY HATED the green peas.  I don't blame her.

Has started playing in the water during bath time and loves to play in the neighborhood pool in her floatie.  We are glad she likes the water.

Reaches for EVERYTHING.  The fun is just beginning. :)

Started pulling the strings on her toys that hang from her car seat and it makes me smile every time I hear it as I'm driving down the road.

Has so many different facial expressions these days.  It is so much fun to watch her watch things.  This is her excited to see Frank across the living room

"Oh, hey there, Mom"

Love those cheeks!

We just love her more and more every day and I absolutely cannot imagine my life without her.  I thank God every night for bringing her into our lives.  I asked James if he wanted to contribute to this post and he said that "he couldn't be more proud to be her daddy".  We love you Marlee Mae!