The Hollenbeck's: Catch-up...

I started this post weeks ago, but every night I crawl into bed, type a few sentences, then fall asleep. In fact last night Joel said I fell asleep before the laptop even had a chance to turn on.... I'm confident tonight though... I'm getting an earlier start: )

3 weeks have passed since my last post, and Malea has grown and changed so much in those 3 weeks. On the day she turned 16 weeks old, she started to roll over from her tummy to her back! My mom is so funny... she said, “I didn’t know if I should tell you or not, but Malea rolled over 2 times today!” I’m like, “Well why WOULDN’T you tell me, Mom?!” She said, “Well I thought maybe you would like her first time to be at home with you there to see.” HAH! Grammy you are so silly :-) With Malea being at her house for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, I’m pretty sure that won’t be the only milestone first witnessed at Grammy & Papa’s house. : ) That night after Joel got home, we thought we would “test” her rolling abilities and make sure it wasn’t a fluke... sure enough, first time we laid her on her belly, she rolled over to her back after about only 5 seconds. Joel and I cheered and clapped for her, but all of our excitement scared her and she started to cry... whoops! Needless to say, when we actually caught it on camera a few days later, we tried to stay quiet as not to startle her again. Here is our little rolling bean in action.....

She also started this thing a few weeks ago when she’s on her belly where she puts her face down on to the floor, pushes her butt up in the air, then straightens her legs out and somehow manages to do a belly slide forward. Not sure what to call it... she kind of looks like a worm when she does it: ) And for the past month or so she has been doing circles in her bed at night... I'll lay her down with her head at "12 o'clock", halfway through the night she'll have her head at "9 o'clock", and usually when I go to get her out of bed in the morning she is completely upsidedown to how she started. Speaking of bed, Tuesday night was the first night she slept in her crib! I know I know... you're probably asking why I waited so long, but having her in the pack 'n play right next to my bed was so reassuring when I would wake up in the night and be able to hear and see her breathing. Both nights I have laid her in her crib while she was wide awake, said her prayers with her, and then turned the mobile on.... it's a really cool projector one.... she is mesmerized by it and laid there and watched it for a while, then rolled over on her side, snuggled her lovie, and put herself to sleep without a fight. She slept the whole night through both nights so far without any problems. What a big girl. It made me teary eyed though.... partly due to my extreme tiredness I am sure, but between starting on rice cereal on Monday, and starting to sleep in her "big girl crib" on Tuesday, I was a little beside myself thinking about how quickly she is growing up. Wow... the saying is so true...

Everybody keeps telling me, “I have never seen any other baby so giggly, smiley, and happy all the time!” She has been like that for as far back as I can remember, and it just brings me so much joy that she is such a happy baby. I hope all of our future children are equally as happy. Her cute little laughy squeaks are starting to evolve into full fledge belly laughs at times. Lately she has really thought it’s hilarious when Mommy tickles her or blows on her belly, and she's really cracking up to peek-a-boo as of late.... I hope to get it on camera next time because her laugh cracks me up. I don’t exactly remember when she started, but she also loves giving kisses... she gets that mouth all opened up and gives ya a big wet one... little sweetie: ) I will have to try and catch that one on video as well. She is still sleeping very well... no matter if she has her night bottle at 7, 8, 9, or 10, she always seems to wake up between 4:30 and 5:00 am. Must know that her mommy values her sleep too: ) Malea still loves it when Joel reads her night-night stories.... and I love to watch.... he is such a great daddy.

Malea has been able to spend a lot of time with her cousin, Aubrey, on the days Jodi is up working at Mom & Dad’s house. Malea LOVES Aubrey. No matter what Aubrey is doing, it makes Malea laugh. When I got there last week to pick her up, Aubrey gave her the sweetest little hug. I can already tell that they are going to be the best little buds! Look out princess tea parties! Here we little ladies come!!! And the great news is, they are going to get to spend even more time together at Grammy’s very soon. A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Jodi for accepting a part-time job at Meth-wick! She worked as a social worker at Meth-wick pre-kids, and when they called and offered her the ideal part-time gig, after much thought and prayer, she decided to accept the job! We are so happy for her to get back to doing what she loves and is so great at, and we hope and pray it goes well for her! So Grammy will have both little girls a couple days a week. Oh how much fun they will have together: ) Mom has some awesome pictures of the 2 girls together, so I will try and get my hands on them so I can post a couple on here.

And now for some pictures.... lots and lots of pictures.... time to play a little catchup!!

Malea on her 4 month birthday in her cute little outfit from Nikki, Matt, & Sadie.... (some of these pics are from my phone... I apologize the quality isn't quite as good...)