5 Months Old & 4th of July

Dearest Little Lyla,

Happy Belated 5 Month Birthday and 4th of July!!

On the weekend of your 5th month birthday, you also got to eat real food for the first time. You'd been showing all of the signs that you were ready for "real food!" I was hoping to wait until you turned six months old, but you had other plans. You started with organic brown rice cereal a few times and then we moved straight to the real food. The first time we fed you the cereal you grabbed the spoon and pulled it toward your mouth! Your first "real food" was avocado. You loved it!!

Here you are after eating the avocado for the first time. YUMMMM! 

Since the avocado you've also had:

Homemade applesauce/apples: You really liked the apples and applesauce I made for you.

Sweet potatoes: These were a huge hit with you, you smiled when you had them for the first time and ate lots each time I gave them to you.

Banana: You just had bananas the other morning with breakfast. Your first bite seemed like you weren't going to like them, but you continued eating them. I wouldn't say that you LOVE them, but you definitely keep eating them, so they must be tolerable.

I'm looking forward to making as much of your food as I can keep up with. (I'd love to make all of it, if possible. I know it will be harder when I have to go back to school in the fall.)

 I'm currently writing this post from Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Tom's cabin in the U.P. We made the trek up here to spend some time with the family for the 4th of July. Instead of making the 8 hour drive from home, we first drove to Neenah and spent the night there and then drove up.

You had your first swimming experience here! We were blessed with beautiful weather and plenty of sunshine for swimming in the lake.

 Mommy & Lyla =)

Playing with Daddy...you're not sure if you like this!

Hmmm....I'll just sit here in my swimsuit and look around. You didn't splash and play like you do in your bathtub!

The second time around you seemed to enjoy the water more!

So cute in your big girl swimsuit. (I had to get you an 18 month suit...it was the only one that would fit because you're so tall!)

Your cousin Elayna loved swimming with you! She just turned 3 years old.

Cousin Ry-Ry loved to hold you, even though it seems like you're almost the same size! 

Cousin Gracyn loved to hold you and help feed you bottles. 

While we were up here we also stopped by Mommy's family reunion. It was for Grandpa Steve's side of the family. They have a reunion every year during the 4th of July time. We didn't tell your Great Grandma Levine that we were coming, so we got to surprise her. She was so excited to see you and to have all of her relatives meet you!

Here you are surprising Great Grandma--You loved her sparkly 4th of July vest and earrings!

Mommy's Aunts/Uncles, Cousins, and your Great Grandma Levine.

You're growing up so fast little girl!! I've had so much fun being home for summer break. We've spent our time: going to yoga on Wednesdays, spending time with our besties, taking walks everyday around the lake, and of course, playing! 

Things I love about you:

I love the way you kick your arms and legs when we bring you a bottle and you're really hungry!

I love the little "hmm" sound you make when you're content.

I love the big smile you get when you see Daddy or Mommy walk by.

I love the way you smile when we read Snuggle Puppy. 

I love the sound of your little giggle, especially when Daddy is pretending to eat your hands.

I love the way you kick really fast when we put you in your bathtub.

I love you forever baby girl,

Mommy