Elliana- 5 months

My girl is 5 months! She's such a bright spot in our every day; it's hard to imagine life without her. 

December kind of zoomed by. Each year that I've experienced Christmas with a baby, it gives me all the feels. This time around was no exception. This December there was a lot of reflecting back to the year before while I was pregnant with Elliana. At the Christmas Eve service I was just overwhelmed with gratitude that I was holding Elliana in my arms. This baby girl is such a gift. An undeserving gift that has been such a tender mercy to us. 

Not much changed about this little bean. She's eating 6 times in a 24 hour period and taking 3 naps plus a 4th quick cat nap in the evening. I'm not sure how much she weighs or how long she is, but she's definitely growing. She's still much smaller than the boys, but her legs are bulking up and those cheeks! The cheeks are not lacking. She's starting to grow some more hair, but it's coming in slow. 

She loves to have two brothers around to entertain her and talk to her and basically think she is awesome at every.single.thing. she does. Nolan loves to try to time it just right to come with me to get her up for her first feed of the day around 7:15 (he's supposed to still be in his room). He gets such a kick out of how happy she is to see us. She has started showing signs of stranger danger already. She's not always happy to just be passed off and around from person to person. I'm not wanting a koala baby, so I'm trying to encourage family members to push through the tears. But sometimes she just needs mama. 

Also consistent with my boys, this little peanut is a Mama's girl right now. If she's wanting me to hold her while someone else has her, she'll flail her arms in my general direction until she gets to me. She also loves my hair and stuffs it in her mouth often. It's not my favorite Elliana feature. She's getting much better arm control as she's grasping at toys and getting things to her mouth. I can't believe it, but I think we're close to teething. She's gnawing on anything these days. 

Our Elliana Joy IS an absolute joy. She's our Ellie Bean, Ellie Bell, Ellie Girl, Elliana Joy Joy, and all around cutest baby in the entire world. Isaac says all the time, "She's the cutest, best baby there ever was!" Pretty much!