Full disclosure: this is the first The Other Side post that I have been truly giddy to share. Miss C is on fire, y’all. She is doing so much stuff that I can’t even handle it. Everyday is packed with new and fun things with her, so let’s get down to it.
First, the faces. With age comes the ability to be more expressive and to explore the ways she can contort her little mug. She likes to stretch her face around and clamp down her jaw a lot (especially when her gums are swollen). One of her more hilarious faces is the one we have dubbed “the Serious Cat” because it is reminiscent of the LOLcats picture:
…I know, it’s not an exact match, but just allow us to dork-out about our baby. She also sometimes looks like Winston Churchill when she sleeps:
“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Her coordination is really developing as well. She has taken to holding the bottle once she’s gotten enough of it to fill her stomach. It’s her hobby. She also really likes to grab at my hair and my glasses, which would be annoying if she hadn’t complete endeared herself to me with every little thing she does. She likes to open and close her hands when she explores the world around her. Seeing her do this is just one of those things that inexplicably melts my heart. Her little inquisitive movements are just so precious and contented.
And her feet. Oh my, her feet. She grabs at them with her hands and chews on them. B thinks it’s funny/gross that she sucks on her toes, but I like to remind him that since she’s not walking, it’s actually way less disgusting for her to chew on her feet than it is for her to do the same thing with her hands.
She is officially a roller! She rolled over by herself when she was about sixteen weeks, but then we didn’t get any repeat performances for about 2 1/2 weeks. Then all of a sudden, everything just clicked for her. And she rolled. And rolled. And rolled. And why stop? She loves her new mobility, and now it’s time to start baby-proofing the apartment because she won’t be slowing down any time soon. Or ever. She can’t yet sit up all by herself without the Bumbo seat, but she does love for us to hold her up by her arms so she can stand. She’s really good at locking her knees and “supporting” herself.
OK, what else, what else? OH! OH EM GEE I swear she said “mama” a week ago. It was likely just her getting upset and saying “ma” twice in a row, but it was still the sweetest sound I have ever heard. Ever. She was playing in her playpen with me next to her in a chair, and I left for a second to go to the bathroom. She got upset because she didn’t know where I was, and that’s when she said it. Again, likely not a bona fide “mama” utterance because she won’t be truly verbal for some time, but I’ll take what I can get.
She’s not a huge fan of Go, Dog, Go! yet, but if she’s anything like me it’ll grow on her because I am obsessed with it.
She is becoming quite a child of the world with her “hobbies” and traveling. She really enjoys reading books with me; it’s part of her bedtime routine but we also read throughout the day.
Does she have favorite book? Erm, maybe? We’ve mostly been cycling through books I loved as a kid so she can be able to emulate my greatness, so that means lots of Dr. Seuss and PD Eastman books. Hop On Pop is waaaaaay more hilarious than I remember it. To date, her most exciting outings are to the library. Last time she went I thought she was going to lose it. She was shrieking with glee the entire time we were there. She also likes the park and usually falls asleep when I wheel her in her stroller over the gravel. She attended her very first birthday party this past month of her friend* A, who turned one. Still not a huge fan of taking her to the store. Mama’s got to have her private time with her lover, Target. B stays with her at home when I go and get the shopping done.
*It always cracks me up when people say their babies are “friends.” Yeah, more like I’m friends with A’s mom. C likely doesn’t even know A exists.
All dolled up for A’s first birthday
Things are not easy all the time, but the overwhelming consensus of the family can be neatly summarized with a question B asks me daily now:
“Is it just me or is she the most awesome, happiest baby, ever?”
It’s not just him. Miss C is a treasure. Every day I look at this child we created and I swell with pride and love.
*****
The Shotgun Fetus is now a Shotgun Baby! Congratulations to Atticus and his mom and dad! Now only Jells is left and then our plan for blogging baby world domination will go into effect.
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And last but not least, major props goes out to everyone who helped me on my quest to be featured on A Clown on Fire‘s blogroll. You guys are awesome. Happy news! The Waiting made it on! All your checks are in the mail. Thanks to l’Eric for making this fun contest happen.
The Waiting 
Oh honey, it won’t be long until you are at the sink, and Miss C. is behind you on the floor. You will rinse a glass and turn to make a salient point with her, such as “Isn’t that right, Miss Poopy Doopy Pwecious?” in your normal sing song voice, and MISS C WILL BE GONE.OF HER OWN VOLITION! Yes, she will have locomoted herself, quickly, to an entirely different location in the house. She will think it extremely funny that you are looking for her. I just hope when you catch her she will not, as my daughter always seemed to, have fifty six filthy cents hidden between her tightly clamped jaws.
She needs to slow down! I don’t know if I can handle the parting of that new baby smell!
Oh, and by the way, you can regale me with Cameron-as-a-child stories anytime. Love them ;D
Just have another baby. That’s what I did.
That kid’s gonna be a star I tell ya!
But not the Red Bull mixed with Mountain Dew kind. ;D
Watching their development is so much fun! Now I know why so many moms feel like their kid is a genius. It is hard not to!
Every day I tell her she’s a genius. I’ll be like, “Look B! Baby just rolled over! She’s a GENIUS! Harvard, here we come!”
Love the cute baby posts!
So how long until this baby domination thing? Gotta make sure I’m outta the country for that…
Ha! Well, I think Jells is due in like 2 weeks, so that’s the period of time you have to prepare your underground bunker.
What a great post! I’m dying of cute and precious overload. She looks all knowing, doesn’t she? Like she’s wise beyond her years? It figures that you would have not only a beautiful child but a smarty pants to boot, Emily. I approve of “Go Dog. Go!” – one of my favs and look how great I turned out. haha!
Thanks, Lisa! (I am bucking the trend and called you Lisa instead of Grippy; hope that’s OK!) Go Dog Go! is a fantastic book. I want to have a dog party on top of a tree.
She is so sweet!
Thanks! I tend to agree ;D
Ahhh she is so cute! That little face–it kills me. It only gets better, too. Sonia will be 11 months (!!!) old next week, and she is just AWESOME. It’s so much fun. She’s like my little buddy now and I just love playing with her and watching her explore her world. You’re just getting into the really, really super fun part. You have SO much to look forward to.
OK, now I know I say this every time, but that is just cray that she is going to be 11 months. Weren’t you only pregnant, like, last week? Everybody tells you that it goes by fast, and during those first sleepless months, you’re like YEAH RIGHT. But then you look back and realize that they don’t even resemble the babies that you brought home from the hospital.
B’s right. She is the most awesomest, happiest baby ever. Love the fifth month!
And baby toes are delicious. Just sayin’.
Indeed they are.
Thanks! The fifth month is awesome!
Adorable! Also, hilarious: Winston Churchill indeed! Cannot wait to meet her and kiss those little cheeks! :)
I KNOW. Sometimes I can’t believe that you haven’t yet met her in person. That is going to be a fun day when we get y’all together.
SHE IS GORGEOUS!!! Even in her Churchhill persona…
Thanks! Haha, she makes it work even as Winston Churchill.
Absolutely breathtaking!
FYI: my book, The Bellman Chronicles, will be FREE to download on Sept. 10 – 11! Check it out on my Amazon Kindle page.. You won’t be disappointed. And if you can slip me a review, I’d be forever grateful…
I think I can definitely get on that! Will be downloading!
How wonderful! Getting so big so fast.
I know. She’s going through her clothes like they’re Kleenexes.
It is so weird when they slow down and you go, wait I can buy you nicer clothes because you will wear them a good bit.
Can’t wait for her next trip to Memphis! We’ll get to see what she can do….
Hahah at the rate she’s going, she will probably be doing gymnastics by Christmas!
She is so precious!! Love the shots, and that great “O” face – priceless! I could gush on, but I want to make sure I get in a plug for MY fave book also, the Go, Dog, Go! Timeless literature, I tell ya…Oh, and our littlest was trying to climb the big oak tree in the back just last week. I asked him what he was trying to do. His answer? “I’m going to the big dog party up there, mama!”
Oh man, it is the BEST book! If y’all ever have a dog party on top of a tree, let me know ahead of time so I can meet you there.
Congrats on the blogroll and the cutest baby ever!
Thanks! I’ll take both!
Oh man, five months! That’s bonkers. I’m glad you’re reminding me when all this stuff happens because I thought I’d remember forever. And I can totally relate to B about the fascination of one’s own child. Every night when I go in to check on Eebs, I come back in to Hubs and tell him we have the cutest kid ever, how the heck did we get so lucky.
It’s really amazing. Sometimes I just look at her and think “I made this.” Mind=blown.
Adorable!
Thanks!
Awwww! She is just so adorable. You should be proud at what you’ve done! Just think — the cute ones were more likely to survive and thrive in caveman times because their parents were less likely to eat them. Isn’t that great?
I love P.D. Eastman books. Big Dog, Little Dog was one of my favorite books growing up.
Wow! That’s an awesome way to look at it. The epilogue to Darwin’s original findings must be Survival of the Cutest.
I love your Miss C updates – it’s a preview of what’s to come for us! Also, she is incredibly adorable!!
Thanks! I’m glad we can be of some service. Go ahead and invest in a bouncy chair now because you’ll probably need it in about 15 minutes.
Haha, I love the comparisons to Winston Churchill. My daughter looked like Don King when she was first born. Tons of black hair sticking straight out all over her head.
Hahaha! Babies with tons of hair are awesome. I have one magazine where the baby on the cover looks like she’s wearing a wig. It’s hilarious.
Hahah I died when you said holding her bottle is one of her hobbies! Hahah so cute and little. Why can’t we go back to a time when simply holding things was fun? Go, Dog. Go! Is the best book evs. Good choice. Miss C seems to be changing a lot! Must be so exciting and fun for you! The bottom picture is my fave because she’s so adorbs in that one. BUT I do love her faces AND the Winston Churchill look. So prefect!
I’m glad you caught the hobbies thing; I was about to delete it because I thought it would only be funny to me! She grows up fast, I shouldn’t blink because I might miss something, she will be getting married before we know it, cliche cliche etc. It’s all so true tho! She’s an awesome kid.
[…] remember seeing her roll and smile. Then she pulled up. Before we could blink, she was […]