5 Months Old

Baby Bear,

On Christmas Eve, you turned five months old!

Mommy doesn't think it's fair that the time is flying by so quickly, but that's the truth.  You are no longer a tiny, little newborn, but rather a quickly growing little girl.

You weigh about 14 1/2 pounds and are still wearing six month clothing, but probably not for much longer.  At your last visit, you were in the 50th percentile for weight, height, and head circumference.  At this point, Jack was still measuring above average for height and head circumference, but at his current age he is in the 25th percentile for all of the above.  We'll see how things pan out with you, sweet girl. 

You had a little tummy bug this month, so we had to take a step back with the solids; however, right now, you are almost solely on formula bottles minus the one nursing session in the wee hours of the morning that Mommy just can't seem to give up.  You have rice cereal in your bedtime bottle, and on Tuesday we started giving you cereal in your lunch bottle.  For the first time ever, you successfully ate from a spoon Tuesday at dinner time - some rice cereal and sweet potatoes which you liked a lot.  At least, we think you liked it.  You kept making faces, but then opening up that tiny mouth of yours over and over again.

This past month, you have perfected your rolling skills.  You can roll perfectly from your back to your belly, and you do it almost immediately after being put down on your back.  We've even found you this way in your crib a few times (this morning, in fact!), which is rather new.  Sometimes you roll the other way or from your belly to your back, but not consistently. 

You still laugh and smile a ton, and we love it.  That full, belly laugh just fills up our house, and we couldn't be happier about it.

You are very busy taking everything in - sights, sounds, and feeling.  You are easily distracted and love to stop what you're doing and take in whatever is around you, especially Daddy, Jack, and the puppy dogs.  You're always grabbing for something.  You love to tug on Mommy's hair, Jack's jammies, and Belle's tail!

You've started reaching for toys, and I've caught you once moving a toy from hand to hand.  Your fine motor skills are developing, my sweet girl, and I'm so proud of you!  Just the other day, you found the stripes on your tights and were pulling on your own fingers:)  Kept you busy for the better part of half an hour!

You love to try to stand when someone is supporting your weight, and you seem interested in sitting up, but your little back just isn't strong enough yet.  Soon enough, my love.

We're in love with your baby blue eyes, and all of your rolls.  My goodness, do you have rolls!

You are super drooly, you love to put everything straight into your mouth, and you try to blow bubbles as often as you can.

To say we are smitten is an understatement.

Did I mention that you can grab onto your tootsies, but that you haven't yet figured out that you can chew on them?  Jack loved to chew on his piggers when he was five months old, and I'm sure you will too!

You're even cute when you're crying:)  (And have I ever told you that we're in love with your elfish ears? Because we absolutely are.)

We love you, sweet girl.  More than words can say!