Why rinse chicken? Reflections as my life unfolds: Audrey

Audrey,

You’re 5 months old now (plus a week because mommy is so bad at writing your letters on time) and what a fun little 5 month old you are! Daddy and I were just looking through our cell phone pictures of you and talking about how much you’ve grown already! You’ve grown from a tiny little peanut to Mommy’s sweet little girl!

You smile and giggle all the time now. And you give the BEST kisses! Mouth wide open, you come in for a kiss and slobber all over whomever you’re loving at the time. Mommy likes to call it her daily baby spit facial.

You’ve found your feet and love to stick them in the air and kick around. You also love your little activity bouncer. Your legs are still too short for it, so we raised it up and put a box under your feet. You bounce and play with the toys, and push the buttons to make the music play. You just love it and it can keep you entertained for almost an hour!

Your first tooth is starting to pop through too! It’s just a little white dot right now, but it definitely explains all the drooling and the random cries that sound like you’re in pain. You chew on your fingers and gag yourself multiple times a day from sticking them in a little too far. We also have to be careful because you love to throw yourself backwards, arch your back and hang upside down. You throw yourself back so quickly that we have to hang on tight to you all the time just in case!

One of your favorite parts of the day is rocking on the front porch with Grampy when he gets home from work. I have to admit, it's one of Mommy's favorite parts of the day too.

You took your first long road trip to visit your Auntie Amanda and Uncle Ryan Memorial Day weekend, and for 8 hours in the car, you did fantastic! You went in the pool for the first time and hated it, which surprised me because you love the tubby so much. You spent lots of time cuddling with your Auntie and Uncle Ryan and let them "practice" on you since their little boy will be here in September.

You're stronger and stronger by the day too! You wiggle yourself in circles, push up on your hands and toes, and I have a feeling it won't be long until you're crawling all over the place (or *gasp* even walking!).