Elton John Impression

Soilds

Amelia tried her first solid foods today - sweet potatoes and rice cereal. She was not a fan of either.

Families Can Be Together Forever

Today Amelia was sealed to Jake and me for time and all eternity in the Atlanta Temple (learn more about LDS temples here: https://www.lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples?lang=eng). It was a beautiful, spiritual, emotional ceremony made more special because Gavin got to come inside the temple and observe. Afterwards it was hot and sticky but we managed to get a few pictures:

Sitting! (sort of)

As long as she doesn't try to move too much she can remain upright when placed in a seated position. Amelia is also rolling everywhere and scooting around a little. Saturday she got her first tooth - on the bottom. I'm pretty sure a few on the top are soon to follow.

Hooray!

Today Gavin finished filling his library summer reading program tracking sheet with stickers - this means since May 27 he has read 50 books! This is a huge deal since he has always been a reluctant reader. Somehow the promise of trinket toys and free frosty coupons has enticed him to get reading. We are so proud of him! Great job Gavin!

 Celebratory run through the sprinklers:

Gavin has also been a great helper to me this summer, especially concerning Amelia. I compliment him about this often, and yesterday when I told him he was the best helper ever he said, "Will you tell everybody that?" I sure will!

Gavin's speech has improved quite a bit this past year and most of what he says is pretty clear. There are still some little kid terms and pronunciations that he uses that I love and will miss when they're gone:

• ice cream = "oss keem"
• popsicle = "popsicle stick"
• thirsty = "drinky"
• lego = "weggo"
• and recently, butterfinger candy bar = "one of those hand things"

5 months

As of this past Saturday Amelia is 5 months old. She is much more active now. She likes to get down on the floor and play with toys, and although she can't yet crawl she manages to roll around to get to whatever toy she wants. She also enjoys playing with Gavin. He spends a lot of time entertaining her each day, and makes her laugh often. It seems to be his favorite past time this summer. However he tends to get carried away and wound up, and I rather frequently have to tell him to calm down and back away before he accidentally hurts her. Amelia has been teething and waking up 2-3 times a night. Her naps are erratic as well. She is sometimes clingy but seems to still be in a good mood overall despite her teething pain. She has gone swimming a few times in our pool now. She most enjoys being held on the steps and repeatedly splashing the water with her hands. She also likes watching Gavin swim. 

With a baby in the house we haven't had quite as active a summer as usual, but have still managed to have fun. Gavin has been swimming in our pool, to Monkey Joe's, playgroup at Lane's to play and eat peach ice cream, slip and slide at Carleigh's house, playing at Brayden's house, riding his bike and playing with the neighbor kids, built a dragon at Lowes, and a few trips to the library. He is enjoying the summer reading program, earning trinkets and free food coupons for books read. He's doing all our family's daily scripture reading this summer, reading a chapter each day from his kid version of the scriptures (with help). This past Saturday we found a bag of transformers at goodwill for $10 (probably cost $200-$300 originally) so he's been enjoying those as well. In his downtime, when he's not building airplanes out of cardboard boxes, he has been watching documentaries on Netflix - about various modes of transportation, dinosaurs, and other animals. He would rather watch these than cartoons. 

Finalization

Today at 1:30 we go to court to finalize Amelia's adoption. This morning I was discussing this with Gavin while he held Ameila and he said this: 
"She is my special baby. I wanted a baby when we didn't have one - when it was just me. Now we have a girl baby. Now I like girls. I don't hate them anymore."

The finalization went smoothly and quickly. Our appointment was at 1:30, and we were back in our car by 1:50, and that includes waiting on a certified copy of some documents. We should get Amelia's new birth certificate within a month. Here we are with the judge that finalized the adoption: 

And here are Amelia's first pictures as our official, legal, 100% ours daughter: