Month Five

1.19.2016


Last week, R turned five months old. Okay, I was all right when R was three and four months, but FIVE. That's basically six! Six months is basically a year! I have a toddler! 
And... she's off to college.

Help.
Wearing: 3-6 clothes
Size 1 diapers (still!)

SLEEP

Everyone warned me about the dreaded four-month sleep regression, and I kept waiting for it, but actually R did really well this month! She typically goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until at least 5:00 most nights! What.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. (From all the beauty sleep, get it? Never mind.) 

Sometimes she has a hard time going to sleep initially, and it will take a good half hour of her paci falling out, us going in to put it back, etc., before she's fully asleep, but a lot of the time she goes down pretty well on her own. There were a few nights where she got a 2 am feeding session, and a few times she woke us up at 3 am talking to herself in her crib. She wasn't crying or upset at all... just awake and talking. It was so cute and even though we were tired obviously because it was the middle of the night, sometimes I couldn't bring myself to go in there and give her the paci.

Now, naps are another story. I think because she sleeps so well at night she doesn't need to nap so much? I don't know, but a half hour is about her average time nap, which means I run around like crazy trying to get a few things done in the meantime. Now that I'm back at work that's less of a concern, but they tell me she still doesn't nap very long at daycare either. I'll take it for some solid nighttime sleep!

EAT

I am exclusively breastfeeding if you don't count the two times we gave her some rice cereal. I've read a lot of different things about feeding. Rice cereal is the most horrible. Not exclusively breastfeeding until six months is the most horrible. Giving them solids early is the most horrible. So I'm reverting back to this post and deciding not to worry about it (except when Jordan jokingly tries to feed her black olives and then I put my foot down because those things are the nastiest). I figure our moms did all this crazy stuff with us, and we all turned out (relatively) fine, so we all need to calm down. I do plan on making my own purees and seeing how that goes with her. I'm not really for or against any particular method of baby feeding. It's all personal choice. Amen.
I do want to write a post about nursing at some point, though. Just for my own historical purposes and to share what I think about it. Spoiler alert: it is hard but I love it.

She is still eating every 2.5-3 hours, or 6 times a day. At daycare we bring 5 ounces of milk for her bottles, and she's been eating at (ish): 6:30/9:00/11:30/2:30/5:00/7:30.

PLAY

R is so dang adorable right now it's not even funny, and it makes it so hard to leave her at daycare in the mornings because I know I'm missing out on some quality cuteness! This month she found her toes. I die. She will pull them all the way to her mouth and suck on them, and its kills me.
She loves loves playing on her activity mat. When we bring her inside at the end of the work day and lay her down, her eyes light up and she kicks so hard! I think she recognizes it.

R is doing fantastic at tummy time and can hang out and look around for a solid 10-12 minutes. She rolls over sometimes (front to back), and lately she's started scooting in circles while on her stomach. We will put her down facing one way, and in a few minutes she's still on her stomach but facing the opposite direction! We are still waiting for the back to front roll action to happen. 
We've been practicing sitting up with her, and she can sort of balance on her knees for a very short time (seconds, really). We don't have a Bumbo seat, but I've read a few articles about those and how they can cause hip problems, and they are expensive anyway, so I'm glad we never ended up buying one. I just hold her hands or let her sit back against me, and she's doing a great job!

I can get her to giggle sometimes when I kiss her stomach or neck, although she's still not really outright laughing at anything on a consistent basis. Hopefully soon!
One thing we've discovered recently is that she recognizes her paci and is really good at taking it out of her mouth. She will then hold it in her hand and stare intently at it, sometimes transferring it from hand to hand, until she tries to put it back in her mouth. The majority of the time she's unsuccessful and ends up putting the wrong end into her mouth. It is crazy to watch her try to figure this out because we can tell she's really thinking hard about it.

She talks to herself while she's doing it, taking it out and trying to put it in again, sometimes grunting when she gets frustrated. However, this is the insane part: if we try to help her by taking the paci away and giving it back to her in the proper position for putting it in her mouth, she screams! She is perfectly happy concentrating on her own, but she does not like it when we try to hep her. Isn't that nuts?

LIKE/DISLIKES

This list is basically the same as last month. She likes her feet, baths, her pacifier, car rides, her activity mat, and looking at herself in the mirror. She doesn't like wind blowing in her face, sun in her eyes, or being cold (I mean who does?). And she doesn't like being helped (see above).
One of us got dressed that day. 
One of us didn't.
_______

Our little bean brings us so much joy every day, and we love her so much. Keep growing, keep smiling, keep pooping, dear R. We love all of it. Especially your baby sneezes, which are just the cutest thing ever. We pray for you every day!



Charlotte said...

She looks so adorable with that hat and those mittens on!
I love reading your little updates. Although I don't have children (and babies are therefore not a subject I tend to read about), you make all your posts interesting (and fun) and I really enjoy reading them! I'm also interested in your future breastfeeding post. :)

Anonymous said...

She's so cute. I love these posts. Looking back at past months, R and Ava seem to be on the same track (the 3 month post you did for R really sounds like Ava now!) so it is fun to see what I have to look forward to experiencing.

Ali said...

She is just so adorable! It's so cute when they start "talking" to themselves, even if it is in the middle of the night.

Leslie Lukens Martin said...

Sounds like you've got yourself a little "Miss Independent!" She is truly precious...such a pretty baby girl! This truly is such a fun age...and I think they become a little more entertaining every single day. I wouldn't trade this time for anything in the world!

Kari said...

Adorable! I know it has to be bittersweet watching your baby grow! It's good because, well, they are growing. It's sad, though, when you know you'll never get those baby moments back.

Erin LFF said...

She is so stinkin' cute! And has the best wardrobe ;)

Bethany Carson said...

She is such a cutie! Loved the photos, and your stories about her put a smile on my face!

Andrea H. said...

It's SO fun to watch them grow, right? She is super adorable! I love how she is already independent and willing to work out a solution on her own! Sounds like things are going smoothly which is wonderful to hear! :)

Katie @ Live Half Full said...

I love to hear how things are going!!! She's so cute.

Rachel Emily said...

Wow!! She is beautiful!! That picture of her in her pompom hat and mittens...swoon! I can't wait to read about your breastfeeding experience. I'm so interested in that stuff! So glad you found my blog and reached out :)

Callie said...

Rory loves wind in her face. Rain too. She thinks it's funny. I bet R will eventually like weather!

Callie said...

Rory loves wind in her face. Rain too. She thinks it's funny. I bet R will eventually like weather!

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

gahhh she is so adorable! i need all of her clothes. i don't know a lot of people with babies, but those that i do know that have good night time sleepers don't take naps very well, maybe it's common. and i agree - everything people do with babies is the most horrible, it's a wonder we turned out okay? pretty sure my mum was giving me solids earlier than she should be, not to mention smoking throughout all of her pregnancies and my childhood (and adulthood).. and my dad gave my older brother beer all the time when he was a toddler. actually, my brother is a horrible person, so just don't give her beer and you'll be fine!

Miss Nutralicious said...

I love the New Year picture! With her tongue out and eye contact with the camera, she looks sassy! My daughter is the same with naps---great sleeper at night, but naps are lame in her opinion.

Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch said...

I love all these cute pictures! THey are so fun.

I'm glad she is doing well and growing. It's so fun!

Also, I say feed her whatever! I mean kids in Asia grow fine and they get fed spices and fish paste and rice and whatever else and they grow up just fine. I've learned that Americans freak out waaaay too much about everything. BUT I'm not a parent so maybe it will be different when we have kids or maybe I'll just have to go to Asia again. ;)

Rach said...

I'm so glad that you are getting to sleep at night time! That's so great! And I like your take on feeding R. Like you said, we survived all the crazy stuff we were getting. :)

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

Sooo when did she start sleeping that good? Asking for a friend who is currently sleeping 30 minutes at a time.

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