Five Months!

Dear Adeline Grace,

            You turned five months old on April 9th! I think this past month probably went the fastest so far.  You are such a beautiful, joy-filled little girl! You amaze us more and more every day! Your love for life is already so evident in your sweet little personality.

So what have we learned about you this month and what have you been up to in your fifth month of life?

Here are some of your firsts this month...

-On 3.12.12, you intentionally pet Boone for the first time! He was very patient as your rubbed your hand all through his fur.  You also tried to grab his tongue as he licked your hand.  These days, are watch him everywhere he goes, and smile at him when he looks at you!

-On 3.17.12, you celebrated your first St. Patrick's day.  We also celebrated your Mommy's, Aunt Jill's, and MaJo's birthday at your grandparents! We had lots of fun and you wore your first tutu to celebrate.

-On 3.18.12, you went on your first picnic.  Your daddy had this great idea since your mommy's birthday was the next day.  After church, we picked up KFC and went to a local park.  You sat in your Bumbo seat up on the table the entire time and had so much fun watching us eat.  You also went swinging and down a slide for the first time.  We just thought we would try it with you...and you loved it...especially swinging! We had so much fun on this day...probably our favorite family outing so far!

-On 3.18.12, you also turned over onto your belly in your crib for the first time.  You weren't too crazy about this.  (But this definitely changed as the month went on!)

-On 3.18.12, you ate rice cereal for the first time! (You had a lot of firsts on this day!) We did it right before bed and you were just okay with it.  You really weren't crazy about it and you were a tad confused with the spoon idea.  We continued this for a while throughout the month and then stopped rice cereal because it's not necessary in your diet and you just didn't seem to care about it.

-On 3.20.12, your Aunt Jill and MaJo watched you at MaJo's and PaJack's for the first time.  You spent most of the next two weeks with them while Mommy and Daddy worked.  You had lots of fun! I would pick you up squealing with excitement!

-On 3.21.12, you "held" your own bottle for the first time, you made your bouncy seat animals light up on your own for the first time by grabbing them, and you napped in your crib for over an hour on your belly for the first time.

-On 3.27.12, you reached out to someone to hold you for the first time...your MaJo.  Since then you have started reaching out for others (this isn't consistent yet).  You also took a couple "steps" on this day as Aunt Jill held your hands.

-On 3.29.12, you reached out to your Mommy and Daddy!

-On 4.1.12, you had your infant baptism and your dedication.  It was such a special day! You were so sweet during the service and the congregation couldn't get over what a sweet, mellow baby you were.  You wore the same baptism dress and shoes that your mommy wore.  Aunt Jill and MaJo bought you tights, a white bow, and white bloomers to complete the outfit.  You had a lot of family attend and we all celebrated after by going to Red Robin for lunch!

-On 4.5.12, your PaPaw and Gee watched you for the first time.  They had so much fun with you and you took at 2 hour nap on Gee's chest!

-On 4.8.12, you celebrated your first Easter! We celebrated at your grandparents on your Mommy's side and at your PaPaw and Gee's.  You really were into looking through your Easter basket in the morning and being outside with your cousins chasing bubbles. You wore a sweet, knitted dress that your Gee made you to church.

This month you also:

-Started preferring to sleep on your belly or side.  You hardly ever sleep on your back anymore.
-Are screaming happy screams a lot!
-Started moving your mouth and tongue as you see others eat.
-You started getting even crazier with your leg and feet movement...you are loving your Jumperoo and when we hold you standing up, you kick your feet dancing.
-You started making more funny faces...are so so expressive!
-Started loving an audience!
-Started using your two hands together to work toward a goal.
-Started holding your breath for a few seconds and letting it out in a shriek and giving a big smile...no idea what this is all about! :)
-Started being very intentional with your paci; taking it out and putting it back in (usually upside down); you also play with it and hit it against things.  You also like to chew on it....all parts of it.
-Started smiling when you see the sign for milk and we think you are starting to try to do the sign.
-Are "wallering" like crazy when we put you in bed before you get settled.  You have a hard time getting your nest settled, just like your Momma.
-Started being a squirmer on the changing table!
-You are starting to show signs of wanting to start crawling.  Daddy reports you scooted a bit on 4.5.12.
-Saying something close to "da da", sometimes more of a "ga ga".  You also say "mh" when you get upset and "Hiiiii".  We think you say the hi noise because we say "hi" to you all the time.  A lot of times we can say it these days and you will repeat it.  Too cute!
-Started being a very distracted eater (you will look around as you are eating, or stop completely, look around, and then latch back on yourself....so funny)
-Started rolling from back to front and front to back with ease and all the time!

 

So what do you like and dislike?

You love…

-your Jumperoo and Exersaucer
-smiling (all the time); this includes smiling back when people smile at you
-talking
-getting your picture taken (you smile when we say "cheese"--oh my! what a ham!)
-Mommy's iPad and iPhone (you're a tech junky already)
-cuddling in Daddy's arms on the couch
-snuggling and being loved on
-chewing on toys

You dislike…

-sitting still
-still going down for a nap
-not much...you are such a happy baby!

What are your sizes?

You are still in 3 month and 6 month sleepers.  You are in mainly 3-6 month and 6 month clothes.  You are in size 2 diapers when in disposables and are still in your one-size cloth diapers on the smallest snap settings, although we are now having to widen the snap setting around your belly.

No doctor check-up this month, but we guess you are around 15 lbs or so and you seem to be getting longer and longer.  You still have a petite little head and petite little feet.  But oh, your rolls are everywhere and we love it!! :)

 What are your eating habits like?

You are still on the same schedule we started at 4 months.  You wake and nurse around 6 or 6:30 (right before Mommy goes to work), you take about 5 ounces around 9:30, 5 ounces around 12:30, nurse around 4 or 4:30 when Mommy gets home and then again around 8 or 8:30 right before bed.  You now seem to only wake up one time during the night to eat.  Your nursing sessions are back to around 10 minutes.  You are also stretching your feedings closer to 4 hours a lot of times, and even closer to 5 sometimes like the weekends when you are only nursing and not taking a bottle.

In our opinion, you cannot wait to eat food.  We are going to start at 6 months since there are so many food allergies within your Daddy's family.  We don't want to risk the allergies with feeding you too early.  But oh my, girl, are you ready! You are so, so interested in our food and your are pulling a cup to your mouth to "drink" out of it.  I can't wait to start making your food and letting you explore with your taste buds!

How is your sleeping?

You are back to being a better sleeper this month.  Honestly, sleeping is the only place in your little world that you are sometimes difficult.  We won't complain...you are such a happy baby! We have had to come to grips with the fact that you are a cat napper and you just don't need as much sleep as a lot of things we read say.  This is definitely a place where Mommy and Daddy have had to sit the books aside, and just go with our gut.  It's worked so far and you show no signs of being sleep-deprived!

This is still very similar to last month:  We start your bedtime routine between around 7:30 or 8 and you are in bed asleep by 8:00 or 8:30.  You wake up once or twice during the night to nurse and then go right back to sleep.  You stir sometimes around 6:30 or so to eat, and sometimes you are starting to sleep right through that. Daddy gets you ready to take you to your grandma's which is around 7:30.  You sometimes sleep on the way there and sometimes not.  When you get there, you usually go back to sleep for around 45 minutes.  If you are at home instead of going somewhere, you seem to have made 8-9 your wake-up time.  (You sleep about 11-12 hours at night.) Your naps are hit or miss as far as length.  You nap about an hour or hour and a half after both of your bottles for about 45 minutes to an hour.  You sometimes take a nap in the evening.  You really fight falling asleep.  But you take about 15 to 30 minutes to get to sleep, often wake up after 30 minutes, need consoling (back or butt patting and shhhh-ing), and then usually will go back to sleep.  So overall, you take about 3 naps each day for 45 minutes to an hour each.  You are getting around 14 or 15 hours of sleep on average...which is considered "normal" still at this stage.

So what makes you, you this month?

This month has been so, so fun.  They are all fun, but you have been such a little ham this month and are starting to study things so intently.  You seem to have such a thirst for life and want to take every little detail in.  You are so easy-going and laid-back, yet very intense and passionate all at the same time.  You are everything we prayed for and then some.  Every night in our nighttime prayer, I thank God for another day with you.  Every day is so precious.  You are our greatest joy and are so, so loved!

                                                                                                    Love,

                                                                                                    Mommy and Daddy