Chandler Rose at 5 months

To say we are smitten with this girl would be an understatement!  We are just completely in love with this precious baby!  Here is what Chandler is doing at five months old:

*SMILES!  And tongues out!  All you need to do to get this happy girl to smile is smile at or talk to her.  Her face just lights up and she talks and smiles at you!

*She is pretty easy going and just kind of lays around and moves from room to room with us as we go,  if she gets bored she lets us know and we'll just move her or entertain her for a bit

*She likes watching the kids and Mia.  Brayden especially likes making her talk and laugh and he is pretty good at it too

**SLEEP!  Much.better.sleep!!! Just about a week after Chandler turned four months we finally decided to move her to her own bedroom.  Previously I would just go ahead and feed her anytime she started to make noise in our room so that she didn't wake Brian up too much. Her schedule is still pretty predictable taking a little catnap in the morning around 10, a good 1 1/2-2 hour nap around 12:30, and another 45 minute/hour nap around 4.  Just within the past week or so we have stopped putting her down for her last nap of the day because she was having a lot of trouble settling down for it and we are feeding/putting her down for the night about an hour earlier.  I let her cry for just one night this month and thats all it took to break her of the 12:30 am waking, then for a couple of weeks she was waking around 2:00 for her middle of the night feeding and just for about the past week she has not been waking until sometime between 3-6:00 am and then not again until I wake her at 8:00 am for her first "official" feeding of the day.  Yes, we are only waking up once a night, life changing people!!! 

*She has started waking up happy from naps and in the morning, just the easiest sweetest disposition

*She is just the best little nurser!  I think my best experience with breastfeeding all three kids.  We are still exclusively breastfeeding and haven't started any solids yet

*Chandler very rarely cries and if she does start to cry she is super easy to console, all she needs is to be held and she is happy :)

*She rolls over both ways very easily so I am trying to break her of her swaddle and it has not been easy!  I have tried one arm out, both arms out, and all out and none had been successful up until about the past week.  I have been swaddling her for naps with her left arm out and she is sleeping much better.  In another week or so I will try again with both arms out.  Here are some pics of our little beauty from this month:

Sterling's Second Birthday

Sterling thoroughly understood, looked forward to, and enjoyed her birthday this year.  It made it so much more fun to celebrate her because she was just so excited!  We had a small dinner with family and a few friends and of course cake on her birthday.  

She asked to sit next to Cooper!

I love the look of admiration on Brayden's face looking at Colten

Sweet Chandler got lots of snuggles!

Birthday girl on her throne, our kids always have the best time playing with the Oquin boys, bless their hearts!

Girlfriend tore through her presents this year!  She was super excited about her chair and her goggles for swim lessons

Lucky girl got two birthday cakes!!

Mommy's favorite  cake from Whole Foods, Berry Chantily, so so delicious!

And of course we can't have a Barron birthday without having a cookie cake!

My kids LOVE their sweets!!!

The Friday after her birthday, we had our playgroup friends over for a little Minnie Mouse party.  It was so cute watching the babies of the group becoming big kids and playing together.

Sterling with some of her darling two year old friends

Brayden had so much fun, it may as well of been his birthday!

Seriously, another cake!!!

What a wonderful week we had celebrating our big girl!

Happy Second Birthday our Sweet Sterling Grace

Today we are so happy to celebrate our dear Sterling's Second Birthday!  Oh, how we just adore this girl and her growing personality!  So hard to believe it has been two years since this:

And only a year ago she was still just a babe!

Here is what our tootie girl is like at two years old:

*She has a mind of her own!  She knows what she wants but, can't always express herself which often leads to lots of tears, an occasional pass out, and frequent tantrums including laying on the ground in parking lots or stores...I have said before I am so glad she is my second child because I am a lot more relaxed about her fits and we often find it comical rather than  getting flustered about it!  She is definitely a two year old!!!

*She loves her siblings!  She loves Chandler (Na,Na) but her best friend in the whole world is Brayden (Baben).  She asks for him first thing in the morning when she is getting out of her crib and first thing when she wakes up from her nap.  She loves to play with him, copy him (good and bad :/) kiss and hug him.  All in all she just adores him!  Their relationship is SO sweet and makes my heart full.  

*She is so silly and funny!  She loves to dance, sing, turn circles and somersaults, tickle and play.  She likes to sing her version of the ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle, and Happy Birthday.

*Her favorite words right now are"MINE", "I DO", "EAT" and "get you" (usually said while crying)

*She has always had a pretty happy demeanor and has been pretty easy going until just the past month or so.. we know she is in the process of getting her two year old molars and know they can be pretty painful so we are hoping her being a bit difficult is just a little phase...:)

*Sterling likes to color, read lots of books, push her babies around, play and race and go "fast" on riding toys, do puzzles, and play outside

*We have been talking about her birthday for about the last week or so and she keeps talking about cake, balloons, and she will put her hand up to her mouth and pretend to blow out a candle which is hilarious and so cute!  She has also been singing happy birthday a lot and naming the people who are coming to her birthday and when she names us she comes and pats our arm at the same time.  

She still looks like such a baby when she sleeps.  She loves her crib and shows no interest in moving to a big girl bed.  She is OBSESSED with "baby" the dingy little doll that she has been sleeping with since last Christmas and the minute she picks up baby her fingers automatically go in her mouth.  We used to keep baby only in her crib but it has been making it downstairs more and more lately.  A lot of the time she will cry for baby and Brayden will climb into her crib and get it out for her!  

Happy Birthday to you Sterling Grace!  We LOVE you SO much!!!!!!