Hair!

Too much hair!

When does the shedding stop? It started around the time Markin turned 3 months old and hasn't stopped or slowed down. Everytime I wash it, it falls out by the handful (5+ hand fulls) and I clog the drain. Then more comes out when I brush it! I have plenty of hair, so I'm not worried about being bald (like a friend of mine was after her last kiddo - it never did grow back in that spot), I'm just tired of having hair everywhere. Poor little Markin seems to be covered in it and actually got it wrapped around her fingers and it cut off the circulation. Now, whenever she cries, that's one of the first things I check.


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And Markin's hair - can't believe how long it is. It makes her look a lot older than she is. This picture is just for Jen78 :) Yes, this is not a trick - Markin's hair goes a few inches down her back. It's actually long enough that I could braid it if I wanted to - but who has the time? I barely have time to get it out of her eyes in the morning. Might be time for baby's first haircut soon :)

5 months

Time is just flying by! Markin is already 5 months old. She's full of smiles, loves playing, and is a little chatter box! Despite the pictures above, she's a very happy little girl and full of smiles (I took these around bedtime, as you can tell by the thumb sucking :)

She's 15 pounds and 1 ounce (with a diaper), and 23 and 3/4 inches long.

Likes: Markin's favorite toys lately are still anything that hangs down, such as the floor gym, toys that are attached to her car seat handle, or ones that hang down from bars on the exersaucer. She also loves her crinkly kitty still. She's also getting into story time and likes to "help" me turn the pages of the books. She's really into exploring things with her hands and is working on hand-eye and hand-foot coordination. Favorite game is still "pat-a-cake" with her feet, of course.

Dislikes: being "gassy" (she cried for a half hour tonight because of that - then we got some big burps and all was better)

New accomplishments: Markin can sit up in a bumbo seat now! Also, she's starting to put her arms up for me to pick her up when she sees me. Wow - just when I thought it can't get any better, it does :)

Baby's first Black Friday

Well, Markin and I scored some good deals, even if we didn't get started until 10:00. She was an excellent little shopper - full of smiles and flirted with everyone who stopped to tell her hello. She even put off her next meal by over an hour and let me get one more store in! As a reward, she picked out a new toy - her first baby doll. Everytime she saw it, she'd start smiling and laughing and I couldn't convince her the doll I liked was a better choice, so of course we got the one she likes.

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year -mainly one healthy, happy baby girl :) Being a mother to such a wonderful little girl is the best thing in the world and I'm so thankful that things worked out the way they did so that she's part of my life. Just love her so much!

We had a very nice, low-key day. Our family is in Florida, so we hung out with friends who are practically family. Markin slept in until 8:30, then we went shopping (had to get the newspaper so we could see all of the deals we're going to miss out on for Black Friday since I have no desire to risk having something happen to Markin over saving a few dollars - we'll get any "left over" deals that happen later in the day). After her next meal, we went to our friends' house and had dinner - and they had lots of vegetarian options for me to choose from (more than my family provides for me!) Now we're home and just hanging out, trying to get warm - I am NOT ready for this cold weather and am very jealous of the warm temps our family is having in Florida.

Baptism

Markin was baptised today. I decided to get her baptized in my grandparents' church on my grandpa's birthday :) (I lost my grandparents 2 years ago - very unexpectedly. I was really close to them, which is why Markin is named after them.) She's wearing a dress that my mom made for her, with mother-of-pearl buttons from a dress my grandma wore when she was little. My sister tatted the pink lace and flowers to add to it. Rachael gave her the adorable bonnet made from a handkerchief for her to use on her wedding day (will post the poem later). I bought her a nice cross necklace to wear now and on other special occasions, such as her confirmation. What a special day, surrounded by friends and family.