Nicknames...

Lily is officially 5 months and 16 days old! The time is flying. She is growing and changing faster than I can document. Her latest accomplishments and quirks can be most easily displayed by her many nicknames:

Chewy - About a month ago, Lily began studying people while they ate. A short time later, she started imitating everyone's chewing motions. Next, Lily's chewing motions became much more frequent and more defined...apparently she caught someone chewing with their mouth open, and liked their style.

Piglet - Lily likes to snort...it's quite cute. She also likes to eat...eat, eat, eat, eat, eat! The combination of these to facts has gained her this nickname.

Skinny Mini - As I mentioned before, Lily likes to eat. She is very serious about her eating, and gets very angry if she doesn't get food right when she wants it. Though her main source of food is still bottles of milk or formula, she is eating baby food now. So far she has had squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, and peas. She likes every food we've given her thus far, and wants to eat the food that Aaron and I are eating. Regardless of her eating habits, Lily is tiny. At her last doctor's appointment (mid-January), Lily was 24.5 inches long (70th percentile for her age), and weighed 12 pounds 14.4 ounces (30th percentile). She continues to be long and skinny, and is looking to pass her mother in stature by the age of 6.

Squeaker - Lily loves to squeak, and does it constantly. She sucks air in through her mouth, and makes a noise in her throat like a squeaky toy. She does it mostly when she's playful or excited. She saw another baby at church on Sunday and began squeaking over and over again...it was as if she was speaking her own secret baby language.

Drool Queen/Slobber Monster - Lily is teething! She has two teeth that have FINALLY broken through her bottom gums, though you can't really see them yet (unless she's crying). This cutting of teeth causes Lily to drool more than ever. It also causes her to chew on everything in site.

Muscle - Lily is very strong. Since she was born, she's been trying to sit up, and when she does, you can see her baby six-pack. How jealous am I? She is getting very close to actually sitting up on her own...she grunts and strains and trys so hard, but just can't get it quite yet. She is also trying to crawl, but is currently relying on swimming, bouncing, rolling, and spinning to get herself where she wants to be.

Pumpkin - This is the one nickname that I have called Lily since her birth day. A few hours after she was born, I was getting a breast-feeding lesson. During the lesson, the nurse who was helping me squeezed Lily's head, and I couldn't help but think how much it made her look like a cute little pumpkin. Since that day, Lily has been my little pumpkin.