Hazel is almost 5 months, whaaat?!

Hazel is adjusting well to daycare. She's finally taking a bottle with gusto and I was immediately getting comments on how chattery she is and happy. Well, yeah, with a full belly she definitely is!  It just took some time for her to figure out that bottles still got her the good stuff.

I do have to say, when I went back to work with Kaylee I didn't need to really bother to take time and pump. She was pretty much on solids and cow milk and only nursed at night and in the morning.  This is a whole new ballgame for me with pumping! I'm constantly worried that I'm not going to make enough for the day, even though I'm really not gone long. Plus... how do you know how much to give them?! I'm used to just sticking a boob in the babies mouth until they tell me they're done. So much less guesswork!

Right after she actually ate, legitimately, from a bottle. 

Morning cuddles before we get ready to leave for the day.

Happy girl

Gwyn says "I see you're working on dinner. I can eat that dinner. Oh you left the stall door open? I didn't notice..."

Set up for a bacterial and fungal analysis of paint samples. Pretty colors! 

Not sure what this is, not what I'm looking for at least. On black agar (it has charcoal in it, typically used for isolating Legionella)

I might look ridiculous, but I did kind of miss dressing up like this from my days at BioRad.  I'm about to enter the production room at Biosan. Clean room attire required! Booties on my shoes, sterile jumpsuit, gloves and hair net.  If there was active production I'd add a face mask too. 

Hard to see, but there is roadkill over there with a Happy Birthday balloon tied to it. I was amused.

In baby news, Hazel is getting much more adept at grabbing things. Her favorites include Kaylee's hair.  She definitely communicates, it's great. She loves bathtime, especially with Kaylee in my big tub and will laugh if she sees the tub or if Eric starts getting her undressed.  She has learned other patterns of behavior. She could be crying and hungry but if I bring her to my room and lay on the bed the cry turns more into this hicupping excitement. She knows I'm gonna feed her. There's an instant mood change.  She laughs easiest for Kaylee. All she has to do is jump and Hazel is giggling. Kaylee can also soothe Hazel by singing a song. It's fascinating.

Hazel prefers being outside. Winter is going to suck. She gets bored inside. She is starting to be able to sit up on her own. I've also started to slowly introduce solid foods. I'm into baby led weaning, baby will let you know what they're ready for.  Hazel is interested in our food. She leans in and opens her mouth or will grab for things I'm eating if I'm holding her.  She hasn't lost her tongue reflex yet though so she'll automatically push things out of her mouth. That being said, I'm not opposed to food for fun and taste. It's not going to be a big part of her nutrition for a long while yet. So far she's had baby food apples, which she liked, and tonight I let her nom on a banana, which she LOVED. I doubt she's actually swallowing much, but she's learning more tastes, which is great.