5 months old today!

She's FIVE months old today!!! Where did the time go? It's funny because, 5 months isn't really a long time in most of our lives, but, I suppose it seems like a long time for her, because it's HER WHOLE LIFE so far!

So check it out- it's the first "monthly" picture where she is not sitting against something, but sitting up on her own! She's not totally stable yet sitting up, she does still tip over, but, she's much more stable than she was. It's funny because her ability to do little things like this are expanding exponentially. Like two weeks ago she basically couldn't do this at all, and then all of a sudden, she can basically sit up without falling over. The in between time was so quick!




Beni does enjoy her going for walks in her stroller. I have to admit, while we spent a lot of time and effort picking out the best stroller, I hated using it at first. I only ever wanted to carry her in one of our baby carriers. I just liked having her close to me, being able to not just see but feel what is going on with her, and frankly, I found the carriers to be much easier- no issues pushing through crowds, having people bump into her, etc. Anyway,
when we got to Angola, Joel finally insisted on starting to use the stroller. He mostly used it by himself with Beni- if I was going along, I would carry her. These days though, when I go to tutor, I do put her in the stroller, so that Joel can push her around while I'm tutoring. It's funny because I seriously started to feel like that crazy character in the movie Away We Go who was all, "Why would I want to push my baby away from me?" Anyway, I am a little more chill about it now, but, I still prefer to wear her, if just for the ease than anything else. Nah, I'm not going to lie, I like to have her close to me as well. :)

Oh, and everyone really loves her sunnies too. :) She wears them very well, doesn't try to take them off or anything. Not yet anyway. I'm hoping that maybe since we started her on them so early that she might just take them for granted, and not try to get rid of them, but we'll see!















So I think just the other day I was writing about how she
has been trying to push up on to all fours, but wasn't as
close as we thought she might be. Well, guess what???
She did it today! She was amazing! Look at these pics where she is fully off the ground! The funny thing is that she was doing it on her own, but then I would say encouraging things to her, and she would smile so big and do it more. I caught her on video as well, and when she did it on video, and I was egging her on, she got this huge smile on her face, even though she wasn't even looking at me. So cute!




































Finally, a few more pics of her cheesing it up. She smiles all the time these days. Basically every time she establishes eye contact with Joel or I she flashes a big one. With someone new (like when our friends come to visit) it usually takes a few minutes before she warms up, but once she does, she's all smiles for just about anyone. But as I have mentioned before, when the camera comes out, she usually just like to stare at it with that quizzical look. Well, I think she is finally getting used to the camera being around, because I have been able to get her to look at me instead of the camera, and then when I ham it up, she smiles for me. I also get down on the floor with her, and then just set the camera on the floor, and shoot blindly, which then takes her attention away from
the camera. I guess I feel like I have to try to get these shots (not just because they are super cute) but to prove that she doesn't take after me in all ways- she does smile, much more than I do. :)





Oh, and check it out, she also still spits up. :) Like that looong line of gloopy white stuff??? Yummmy! :)










Yoga much? She's been doing so much of it lately... :)







P.S. Mook- PPC in full force here with intentional picture placement. :)