Who knew a 5 month old could be such fun

I have so much fun with my daughter.

Yes, sometimes I tire of baby time and let her play in her exersaucer while I do something else, and by the time Ryan gets home I'm looking forward to leaving the house, but for the most part, we have a lot of fun.

Today we folded laundry, which consisted of her playing in her exersaucer while I sat on the floor next to her. She chatted and jumped and I told her what each item of clothing is and we listened to kids music. We had lunch with Ryan. I  heard on the radio that babies love language, especially polysyllabic words. I pulled out my current hefty read and read to her while she played with her toes (this was an attempt to get her to sleep). She didn't have any interest in sleeping, so I put her in the sling and started dinner. We discussed kitchen and knife safety, she smelled garlic and mint and tasted greek yogurt (not a fan, but her face was priceless). And then she was ready for a nap, so I covered her up, and by the time I walked from the kitchen to her crib, she was asleep. And asleep she remains so far.

I'm a big proponent of talking to babies and interacting with them, maybe because I've always had such an engaged kid. But that's kind of a chicken/egg thing for me. Is she engaged because I've talked to her pretty constantly since birth, or am I talking constantly because she's always looked so interested with her eyes wide open? Who knows. But it's a lot of fun to see her face respond to mine, take in any funny or new faces I make, and pick up different words and tones.  Babies learn at such a fast rate, it's really enviable.  The kid probably knows things about me instinctively that I don't even know about myself.

It can be draining sometimes, because she is a baby and needy and I'm not always a patient person. But the rewards for her in learning and feeling safe and accepted, and the rewards for me by way of our relationship, closeness, and her trust are beyond worth it.

Here is the super tasty, healthy dinner I made tonight. But I added chicken, and I didn't have feta, so I used shredded mozzarella. Very good. And I don't normally like asparagus.