Liv Ellen
Originally uploaded by kyleroth.

Liv is 5 months old today. When I told Kade this, he looked puzzled and said, “baby doesn’t have presents.” I told him we would make one for her today (I think I’m going to have to cave in and get the paints out).

Liv has come a long way in her 5 months. She fits right into the chaos, and she is rather entertained by it. Her brother and her doggies are her favorite things to study, and I can only imagine what she is learning from them. The child just about breaks her neck trying to find Kade when she hears his voice. She just started to blow raspberries and she still talks like crazy. She loves it when we play peek-a-boo and recite an old Danish rhyme my grandmother used to say to me. She gets very frustrated when she can’t manipulate a toy the way she wants or if she can’t reach something, which leads me to believe that she’ll be mobile very soon. She will study my face with her little hands when I talk to her, and the smiles, coos, and laughs - they melt your heart. You are taking a gamble if you try to drink or eat anything while holding her because she grabs at anything within reach. Her toes have a way of always ending up in her mouth (at least when she doesn’t already have her fingers in there). In fact, she doesn’t sit in the bumbo for long because she can see her feet and will try like crazy to get at them, which only results in frustration and tears. She has learned how to get what she wants, though. If she can’t reach something, she’ll begin to cry and once it’s in her hands the tears miraculously stop - interesting.

The spell she casts on all of us is nothing short of amazing. Her daddy will happily put the computer away just to get a chance to hold her, her mama will smile when her little hand wraps around her finger during the third feeding of the night, and her brother will stop his imaginary sword fight just to lay a big wet one on top of her head. I think I have figured out how she does it. It’s her smile. She lights up when you look at her. She loves you back. There is no greater gift in this world than to see the love you have for someone reflected back at you. It really does make the sleep-deprived haze I’ve been living in for the past 5 months worth it.