So yesterday LaNea turned 5 months. Its amazing how quickly time goes and just how big she is getting. Everyone around us seem to have babies that are older than her so she still seems to be the smallest but yesterday at church someone had a real newborn and it was crazy to see the difference. She still has one of the sweetest personalities of anyone I met. Eric and I both wonder where she got it from! That always seems to be one of the first things people comment on is just how happy she is. She went to the doctors with me yesterday and now weighs 13lbs. So slowly but surely she is getting bigger. She is just starting to outgrow her 3mon cloths but the 6mon are still really big. She is getting amazing at going down for her naps. She knows how to put herself to sleep during the day but always refuses to go down at night without a fight. But we sure do love her. Eric has even become incredibly protective about her which any mother has to love. He refuses to let her cry too long before he HAS to run and pick her up.
You have to love that smile!
This one just got such a perfect view of her large eyes. They are easily one of my favorite features as they are so expressive.
Still no teeth but lately she will chew on just about anything. She doesn't suck on everything anymore though which is nice. So as I had mentioned, we are trying to work with Lanie on eating solids. The first few times were wonderful. She ate the full amount and seemed pretty happy. However the last few days she has decided it isn't as fun as she thought so she seems to be adding in more excitement.
To start with you can see that she enjoys putting her hands in her mouth. I don't know if she things it a game by adding an extra obstacle in the way or if it simply adds to the flavor but I promise it makes my job a lot messier! She also enjoys talking the whole time. I guess I made a mistake by beginning to feed her with saying "Aaaah" cause it now is pretty close to the same noise she keeps repeating.
Today she decided that her next trick will be to let me put food in her mouth then she immediately sticks out her tongue and looks down so all the food slowly slides right off and into those waiting hands. She's a total trooper but I know wonder if any of the food actually made it to her stomach or is it all in the burpcloth instead? But at least she lets me feel like I'm doing something.
Fortunately, after living with Eric for the last year and a half, Izzie has become a very patient dog. LaNea has just recently started noticing Izzie and loves seeing her as if she's a new face. I don't think she's realized that Izzie lives with us too. She hasn't gotten the skill of petting down but she's pretty good at holding on tight!
Lanie is now starting to get formula more often and while I was at work on Saturday, Eric was thrilled to find her holding the bottle on her own. Unfortunately I forgot to warn him that our once very happy-to-be photographed daughter now enjoys staring at the camera with a frown on her face. So after a great deal of effort he got her to hold the bottle again while he quickly took a couple shots. 
The red eyebrows are the dead giveaway that she was mad just moments before.
This year for Christmas it was just our small family! We did miss the family but it was very relaxing not having to go anywhere. We did get to visit April and Kevin that afternoon and we so appreciated the Williams for letting us join in on their Christmas dinner.
Our beautiful Christmas Tree with all our fun presents! LaNea was spoiled but as they were mostly clothes, I'm very grateful. Eric was up at 7:00am ready to open presents. I made him open all of LaNea's with me before he was able to open his own.
This is how LaNea spent her Christmas morning. She didn't really care about any of the presents and didn't seem to notice when Eric tried to have her open one with him. She was just happy sitting under the animals. So much to look at.
Eric and I had a great CHristmas and got so much more than we wished for. Eric got a GPS that he was hoping for to help him navigate the Texas roads. I got a camera, Primary Pianobook, a workout step and lots of Disney movies. Life is great!
