Baby crazy

David and Mary continue to be obsessed with their baby sister.  They each insist on plenty of "Sara Time" every day.  Sara Time consists of much singing, shouting, cheering, hugging, kissing, grabbing, dragging, dancing, smothering, rolling, wiggling, jiggling, pushing, pulling, cooing, goo-ing, giggling, cackling, and laughing.  Sometimes I wonder if she will survive her babyhood.

I thought having a toddler and an infant was frightening.  But that's nothing compared to school-aged children and an infant because the school-aged children, with their blessedly longer attention spans, NEVER LOSE INTEREST.  Sure, your two-year-old might be smothering the snot out of the your two-month-old, but that's nothing a little fruit snack or Dora the Explorer can't fix.  Alternatively, David and Mary cannot be distracted/bribed/coerced from their baby sister.

Indeed, most of the conflicts in our house now revolve around Sara.  Who is touching Sara too much.  Who Sara smiles at more.  Who has the most Sara Time.  Who has the best Sara song.  Who built the best fort for Sara.  Who has read Sara the most books.  Who has taught Sara the most words.  Who wasn't gentle with Sara.  Who is being a Sara hog.

Yes, David and Mary are Sara crazy.

A sister's prayer

Sara, age 4 1/2 months, and Mary, age 5 1/2/ years

Sara has a bald spot on the back of her head.  Mary prays with great faith and sincerity that hair will grow on said bald spot.  She is confident God has heard her prayers and will answer soon enough.

(Any other bald spots out there in need of some prayers?)

Sara, Sara, and More Sara...But Not Enough Sara

Sara, age 4 months on the dot

I haven't taken many pictures of Sara.  Isn't that sad?  She was born into a world where nearly every moment of a baby's life is obsessively recorded and digitally documented with cell phones (as well as the now ubiquitous SLR cameras) and then shared via Instagram, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, your friend's photog business website etc etc etc.  Yet I can barely manage to take more than a handful of pictures a month.  Let alone post them.  I think I once went an entire month and only took one picture.  And, yes, it makes me very sad.  I guess it just shows I've had other things on my mind.

Another issue is that my other kids like to jump in the picture with Sara.  So it's not often I have a picture of Sara solo.  But it's not often that Sara doesn't have a sibling right in her face, so I suppose having few pictures of the little girl on her own is an accurate record of her life.

So I've been searching all the cell phones, hard drives, and data cards in our house for pictures of Sara (solo) from the last month or so.  Here are some (probably most) of the pictures I managed to find.

Sara, age 4 1/2 months

Sara, just over 4 1/2 months old. And, yes, she is "petite."  (Some might say "scrawny," or perhaps "lanky.")

Sara, almost 5 months old

A very happy and sweet baby no matter the age

Dress-up

Apparently, dressing up your baby sister is fun to do.

When I left Sara with David, he promptly wrapped her in his bald eagle blanket and plopped his Air Force Kid hat on her head.  (She was three months old exactly.)  David thought it was hilarious.

Hats are indeed irresistible.  Mary tried out this toddler sun hat on Sara.  Still a little too big.  (Sara was three and a half months old.)

Last week Mary went all out, from the witch's hat to the princess gloves.  (Sara is a little more than four and a half months in these pictures.)  Mary has big plans--big plans--for Halloween.

Sara, I hope you are ready.

Somehow I believe the dressing up has only begun.

Daddy has a little helper too

In this picture Sara hangs out with Daddy while he works on Deacons Quorum stuff.  (Sara is four months old in this picture.)

This is not her normal position of helpfulness, however.  Normally you would find Sara rested tight in the crook of her dad's left arm while he types his dissertation ... one-handed.  (Now that's true love.)

Mommy's little helper

It is a well known fact that Mary likes to help out in the kitchen.  And now I have another little helper!  Sara loves to hang out in the kitchen and be part of the action.  (This was taken last week at the ripe age of 4 and a half months.)

S is for Sara

This is what Sara looked back in April, back when she was but a wee babe of three and a half months.
 

S is also for "sweet," you know.

Best friends

Brooke and Mary