Dance Party

Sadie loves to dance! More specifically, she loves our family dance parties. One day she'll be mortified by our dancing, but for now she delights in it. And she's already showing great and varied taste in music, counting Lady Gaga, Patsy Cline and Beyonce's "Single Ladies" among her favorites!

Five Months

The recent warm weather means Sadie can finally wear some of her sundresses! A perfect chance to display those rolls!

Our tribute to Gary Coleman: Sadie's "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?" face.

Sadie now weighs sixteen pounds. Not sure why I thought sixteen pounds would fit into a 0-3 month t-shirt. Clearly it does not.

Sadie recently found her feet. Who knew they could provide countless hours of entertainment? This discovery has helped her develop a new skill, as well: rolling over!

This is how I find Sadie most mornings. How can you begrudge waking up to a smile like that, even if it is at 5:00 am?

Sadie has mastered the reach and grab, and it's keeping us on our toes! Anything within her reach is fair game . . . a toy, our camera, glasses, my hair!

Quite appropriately, Sadie's new favorite game to play with Daddy is airplane!

I've been a horrible blogger. I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Sorry! Between Derek's mission, my incident with a bird, and Sadie's increasing activity, the past few weeks have flown by!

As you can see, it's been a big month for Sadie! After starting life in the 25th percentile for her height and weight, she's been packing on the pounds with focus and gusto that many a sumo wrestler would envy. At her four-month appointment, she was in the 90-95th percentile!

She's also mastering the art of rolling over. She rolls from both her back to her tummy, and her tummy to her back, but doesn't yet seem to realize what she's doing. Each time she rolls herself over she looks around, a little confused, to see who flipped her over. Such a funny girl!

Four Months

Mini-me, you complete me.

Sadie's first plane ride

Compare this with the "4 Weeks" post . . . yowsa!

Ahh, the Bumbo. All that's missing is a remote and a cold beverage . . .

I'm kinda obsessed with these legwarmers. So fabulous . . . and she knows it.

Tummy time!

Sadie will be four months old tomorrow. What the what?! I know I keep saying this, but I can't believe how much she's changing! Even overnight. Take tummy time, for instance. For weeks - WEEKS! - we would put her on her tummy, she would whine a little bit and then turn her head to the side and just lay there. Then one day, she just lifted her head and pushed herself right up on her chubby little arms as if she'd been doing it all her life.

It's fun to see her personality developing, too. She's so happy and content most of the time, and seems to prefer talking and interacting with people over a lot of her toys. I'm sure I have no idea where she gets this from.

She seems to be so close to rolling over. I thought for sure it was going to happen yesterday. We were playing with one of her favorite toys and I held it just beyond her reach on the floor. She rolled on her side a couple of times, trying to grab it, paused . . . and then just rolled onto her back and started playing with her hands instead. I'm sure I have no idea where she gets this attitude from either.

Missing Daddy

Over the past two months, Derek's been on three different missions. While the 30 days he's been gone haven't been easy, we're so thankful it hasn't been more than that!

His absence has definitely been hard on all of us. But it's a reality we'll continue to face as an Air Force family, so we try to make the best of it.

Even at this age, Sadie misses her daddy. I'm always trying to think of ways to keep her connected to him while he's gone, which is challenging when we can't talk about what's going on. Well, I talk to her all the time about the situation and she has a lot to say back to me, but I'm not sure we're completely understanding each other!

In the meantime, we look at his picture every day and when he calls, I'll put the phone down to her ear so she can hear his voice. She smiles every time . . . then promptly tries to eat the phone. Oh well . . .

Back Home Again

Meeting Viv

Auntie Annie

Chillin' with Brent

Sadie and Mim

Four generations of Shumakers

Playing with Mema

Snuggling with Papa Shumaker

An Indiana girl for sure . . . Sadie's first tractor ride

Napping with Grandma

Last month Sadie made her first trip to the Hoosier State. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but she took it all in stride.

Of course, the trip to Grandma's isn't quite as simple for us as crossing over the river and traveling through the woods. We had a 4 am wake-up call, followed by a drive to the airport, about five hours of total flying time and a three-hour layover, but Sadie did great! She made lots of new friends . . . no one can resist those cheeks! And, fortunately, her ears didn't seem to bother her at all (feeding her on the descent is key, I think).

When we finally made it to Indiana, she got to visit her grandparents' homes, play with her cousins, spend time with her great-grandparents and meet some dear friends. She loved all the extra cuddling and attention. I think she's been a little bored since returning home, though. Mom and Dad just aren't quite as exciting, I guess!

Happy Easter!

Eight Weeks!

Sadie is now 8 weeks old, 10 1/2 pounds - about 5 of those pounds lie in her cheeks! - and a generally happy baby! She now giggles and squeals, rolls on her sides, and is holding her head steadier.

We've done a few play dates, gone on a few Target trips and ventured into the city, but her favorite place seems to be at home with Derek and I, which just so happens to be our favorite place, as well!