Eight Months

8 Months

• I just now noticed that you were wearing this same outfit in last months photo. Well it is a cute one on you I guess.
• You have two teeth! The kids have been so excited for you to get these. They will stick their fingers in your mouth to feel, even when I say not to, and then it was taking so long that we stopped extra. Well, on our rode trip to Cedar City to see the Temple Open House, I saw them, and both were there. Maggie kept calling you her "two tooth baby sister". Sam now thinks that you can eat anything because you have teeth.
• Eating! You are loving it. I started giving you more table food and boy, you go to town on it. I have given you bits of dairy here and there and so far no reaction, so I have slowly been added a bit of it. That makes giving you table food so much easier, as so much of what I cook has a bit of butter or cheese in it. Often, I will take a bit of our food (chicken and rice) and mix it into your homemade baby veggies. The banana muffins are also a huge hit.
• You are rolling all over and getting so close to crawling. The other day, you were just rolling back and forth across the whole rug just because it was fun to roll.
• You and Mowgli still love each other. We were playing fetch/tug-a-war with him and it got you to laugh so hard.You are really fascinated by his tag and tonight, you grabbed him by the ears and started sucking on his nose. I stopped that one pretty fast.
• You are super chilled as always. You love going on hikes or walks in the stroller, just looking at all the stuff around you. I bring you with me when I volunteer in Maggie's class and all the kids think you are so cute. You are so good to just hang out in the stroller while I work with the other kids.
• You got your first cold this month. You haven't made a big deal about it, but you can see it in your eyes. Your eyes are just glazed over. Snot and drool are everywhere, and naps have been shorter. It looks like you are finally getting over it.
• You are continuing to stand against the couch, though it is not your favorite thing, nor are you great at it. You tend to grab something and then slowly tip over to the side.
• We let you cry it out officially this month. So if you wake up before 6:30 am, I don't get you. It took a few weeks for you to stop waking up around 3, not that you needed to feed anyways at the time, it was just a habit for you to stir at that time. Now, you sleep straight through.

7 months

7 Months

• One really exciting thing this month is that you are rolling all over the place, both frontwards and backwards. Mix this with your "handsiness", you are all over and into everything. The kids were playing chess and you made your way over there and knocked down all their pieces. They still think it is funny (thank goodness) and calls you "Monster Millie".  You are rolling around in your crib, grabbing the baby monitor and playing with the cord.
• We have been starting to give you more food, specifically allergenic food. We have tried peanut butter, strawberries, and eggs. You are not a super fan of table food. You really love the smooth texture of store bought baby food. 
• You are super loud. We have found you make up around 11pm, just making the motor boat sounds and then going staight back to sleep. During church, you never cry, just screech the whole time, to the point where it was hard to hear the kids answer questions. Also, you will wake me up with your kicking. 
• Your personality is showing more. You are really ticklish, you smile a lot, tease others by grabbing their hair and feet.
• You really enjoy sitting in the exercisaucer, banging the buttons to make the music play, drooling all over the place. 
• Everything goes in your mouth. EVERYTHING. 
• You are saying mama, not in connection with me, but I feel like it is because you will say it when you are crying and then you will stop crying when I hold you. You just like me.

6 Months

6 Months

• It was my goal to help you roll over this help. You could physically do but, but like your big sister at this age, were just lazy and didn't want to. I finally found "it", the thing that motivated you enough to do it. Maggie made a bead bracelet for a birthday party. It may not have been the safest thing for you to go for, but you rolled over 5 times in one night to get that bracelet. I still haven't gotten you to roll from tummy to back. I have found you once or twice on your tummy in the crib though.
• You are the drool master. I had to go to the store and buy you these bandanna bibs so it is a bit cuter for you to wear them. It really helps to save your face from getting soaked. No teeth yet.
• I am trying to give you as much homemade baby food as possible because I want you to get use to the texture. At first, you were disgusted at the fact that I gave you chunky peas, but you are getting the hang of it. I feel bad, I gave you homemade tomato soup thinking it has so much fresh tomatoes in it, it would be good for you. It did have a bit of dairy. You loved it though. That night, you woke up to a huge blow out of diarrhea. Well, we will wait on dairy again.
• You are also getting so handsy. We had to give you your own chair at the table because every time I put in you in the bumbo on the table, you would grab all the cups and plates and make a big mess.
• You are getting so loud when you want to be. 
• At your doctors appointment, you weighed 18 lbs 11 oz (83rd) and 27 3/4 in (97th) long. You are our big, beautiful girl and we love how there is more to love of you.

Five Months

5 Months

• We started baby food with you. You were horrible at it at the beginning. Every time I tried to feed you, you would stick your tongue out. Plus, I just don't think you liked rice cereal. After a few unsuccessful weeks, I went to the store and got baby oatmeal and some veggies. Now we are talking. We seem to like those and we are getting better at eating. We have tried sweet potatoes (classic one to start with), green beans, squash, peas, and carrots. I have to say though that you are a incredibly messy eater. I am having to bust out the full body plastic bib to save me from scrubbing outfits each time.
• I think you are following your sister's footsteps in being a lazy tummy timer. I have been better at having you do tummy time or even just laying you done on a blanket vs the bouncer or exercisaucer. Most babies will naturally learn how to roll over. Not you though. I need to be better at practice it with you everyday. That is my goal for you this next month.
• You have never really been too thrilled about water, but lately you have been kicking and splashing a bit more during bath time and then when we took you to Willard Bay where the water is really warm, you actually seemed to enjoy it. Maybe you take after your Grandpa Price and just hate cold water. 
• At night when you get tired, you also get really giggly. I can get the best laughs out of you right before bed. You love getting kisses on your neck and you are pretty ticklish under your arms.
• Maggie and Sam still adore you. They each have been wanting to hold you and feed you a bit more. It is nice that I can lay you down and Maggie can feed you if I have to quickly get us ready to go somewhere. Maggie also loves reading you books and I find Sam singing made up songs to help you be happy. 
• We took the older two kids to Lagoon and had you stay all day at Aunt Laura and Uncle Tommy's. They loved have you and said you were great.
• The two people who love you so much surprisingly are your cousins Caleb and Owen. They think you are the cutest thing in the whole world. When they come over, they constantly ask where you are (you will be sleeping) and when you are awake, they will keep running back to you, asking if you missed them while they were away for a whole 2 minutes. It is so cute. You really have a way to melting other's hearts.
• I love you so much. I can't believe that you are only 5 months. That seems so young, but I feel like it was forever ago that you were born. I tell the other kids this and now I am telling you this: YOU CAN'T GET ANY BIGGER. Stay my baby forever.

Four Months

4 Months

• We finally figured out your allergy issues. I tried going diary free and soy free but it still didn't clear up. I took you to the doctor and we decided to try soy formula and then pump. Well the soy formula worked right away. Obiviously it was something I was eating but we couldn't figure it out, so I have stopped nursing all and all and you have done great with the bottle.
• Grandma came out this month for a few days to help me make the drive to Oregon. She loved being able to feed you. Honestly, I don't know if I fed you much while Grandma was with us. You were great on the trip. In Oregon, everyone was shocked with how big you are. You are a bit bigger than Sonora (who is 7 months). 
• I have been practicing rolling over with you a lot lately and you are so close to rolling over from your back to your belly. 
• Your laugh is coming out a bit more each day. You like being tickled and just making smiling faces at you.
• You don't like water or swimming much. Each time I take you, you cry once you get wet. 
• Your doctor apt stats: 17 lbs (90th percentile) and 27 inches?? (80th percentile). You have had to pull out the 9 month clothes you are so big.
• We also celebrated this month by having you try rice cereal. You still stick out your tongue a lot, but you didn't not like it. 

Three Months

3 Months

• Well this last month has been great for you, but a bit of a challenge for me. We are still going dairy free. You are not fussy (though you never were) and you are sleeping amazing, but you still have bloody diapers. Your dad keeps telling me to wait longer, but he is the one the doesn't have to read every label and skip 99% of desserts. I have known a lot of substitutes, but still it is not the same. 
• Let's talk about this amazing sleeping. The week I stopped dairy, you started going to bed around 7:30-8:00pm, sleeping until 5-6 am, feed for 20 minutes, and then sleep until 9am. It is so lovely. I can get all ready for the day before you even wake up so that way when you wake up, we are ready to play.
• Your smiling has come out a lot more. I love seeing your dimples. You are just so beautiful when you smile, I have to tell you that at least 30 times a day. Your laugh is even coming through a bit, just a little, "hee-hee". Your dad can get you to laugh by saying, "P.U. sticky feet."
• The bottle is not your favorite. I don't get it, we give you a bottle once a day and you still are not loving it. If I sing you "A Child's Prayer" and have pumped milk in there, then you do okay. But heaven help us with formula. I have tired three times giving you the dairy free formula and you scream bloody murder. What is worse is that you remember that bad experience with the bottle so it takes you a couple of days to warm back up to using the bottle. My supply is doing great now, but I always worry about the future.
• If I leave you alone on your back, you have figured out how to push off your feet and scout along on your back. You are our first child that seems to want to move-though you despise tummy time as much as the others.
• Your all time favorite thing is your bouncer. You are so good at grabbing the hanging toys already. Pretty much anything that you can grab, you will grab it and hold on for dear life. I will lay you on the grass, and it is the same story. I took off the car seat cover so you can play with the hanging toys, and you are so content in the car-though you end up staying up when you should be sleeping.
• I just love you so much, and I am so happy that you are part of our family. 

Baby Blessing

We blessed you on Sunday, May 21, 2017. You were blessed by your father. Those in the circle were Chris Shippen, Joe Pavia, Tommy Matthews, Matt Ware, Mark Matthews, and Joey Price. Here are the words of your blessing

Our Father in Heaven. We’re grateful for the chance we have today to bring this infant in our arms to give her a name and a blessing.The name that we give her in Millie Avon Matthews. Millie, at this time we give you a blessing, this is a special thing in your life, a day that give you a glimpse into what your future roles will be in this world. We bless you with strength. We bless you with the Spirit. We bless you with a firm testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of the atonement, of the goodness of the world. We bless you with the light of Christ and to be a light in the increasingly darkening world, to those around you to be an example. Your strength will allow others to see the goodness in the world, to come unto Christ, and inspire people to be their best. We bless you with the testimony and the knowledge that some of the greatest works that you will do in this life with be being a mother and raising a righteous family. We bless you with kindness and charity so that those around you will feel the love of Christ. These things we bless you Millie Today, we do so in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

We had everyone over afterwards for a luncheon of a sandwich bar with chips, salads, fruit, pop, and cookies and brownies. I worked so hard getting the yard perfect, only for it to be a cold, rainy morning. Everyone was good sports about being inside. About 30 minutes before everyone left, the sun came out.

The dress that you were blessed in is very special. The lace flowers on the dress and the lace on the bonnet came from your Grandma Matthews's wedding dress. She took that extra, fancy lace off right after she was married so the dress could be her temple dress. All the flowers that are on the dress were hand embroidered by your Grandma Price. I showed her the lace, and she made all those flowers to make the daisy feel of the lace. I was the one to make the dress for you. The funny part about it though is that since we had to bless you later due to schedules and you being the fatty that you are, I couldn't button the dress up all the way. I am grateful that we had Great Grandma Schwabadissen's blanket to cover it up.

I took pictures of just you a few days before, knowing the day of would be crazy. The day of, I had one of the aunts take pictures of the whole family. But either of us noticed that there was no card in the camera. I didn't know if I should cry or laugh. Cry because we missed them (we are trying to redo them) or laugh because actually your dad forgot to say "by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood" so we tecchnically have to rebless you in a few weeks. I think our dad just has to do the first part and it will be in the bishop's office. So although is was your blessing day, it really wasn't. We really do love you and are so happy that you chose our family.