Five Months

Julia turned FIVE months old on Sunday! In my mind she seems so much older than five months. She is becoming so interactive and really starting to let her personality shine through. We often hear her giggling at things as she sees them - Theo running by her, mom and dad talking, suprising herself when she has grabbed hold of something she wasn't expecting, and being able to roll over instead of working on tummy time. Each new discovery is so fun, but what's more fun is seeing the pride on her face when she knows she has done something new.

Our biggest change this month has been in our sleeping habits. Alex and I used to lug Julia around in her car seat for hours on end and the whole time she would sleep. Not make a sound. Not even move. I remember multiple times during those first four months putting my finger underneath her nose just to make sure she was still breathing...

...Not so much anymore. It's as if Julia knows we are out exploring and she wants to be awake for all of it as well. Alex has had a lot of studying to do on the weekends so we've been trying to time it just right so that Julia will take her afternoon nap (usually around 1/1:30) and give us a few hours of napping time while we enjoy a coffee and some studying/computer time.  Jules will sleep long enough for us to get all of our materials out and savor the first few sips of hot coffee, but not long after she'll starting cooing, talking, singing and then getting mad in her car seat when we aren't paying attention to her. I've tried to bring things along to entertain her - toys, stuffed animals, her binky, and lately even SOLID foods (!!!) but the girl has a voice and it's not exactly conducive to a coffee shop environment in Iowa City.

Compared to those early months it seems as if Julia is awake for so much of the day. She usually wakes up about 5:40 or 6:00 in the morning and I'll put her in bed with us for some extra snuggle time and try to squeeze in an additional 30 minutes of sleep. She is then usually awake until mid morning (10/10:30) and will snooze until it's lunchtime. On most days she takes a really nice afternoon nap from 1/1:30-3:00 and then spends the remainder of the day awake until her 8:00 bedtime. I'm working really hard to establish a good bedtime routine so that she will start to understand that after we put lotion on, read a book, and then nurse, that is time to close our eyes for the night.

We made the transition from the bassinet to the crib a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't easy. The first night we put her in the big girl bed there were sounds of pure terror coming from her. We decided to start with naps and that helped to make the transition go a little more smoothly. We are doing pretty well with bedtime. Most nights she goes down a little fussy, but is quickly able to soothe herself and drift off to sleep. Other nights are a little more challenging. I'm not sure why some nights are easier than others, but I am quite proud that we've been able to do this without much trouble or tears.

We did start to introduce solids after within the last couple of weeks. Her weight gain is more than perfect and she has been starting to show some interest - she reaches for food on our plate and really intently watches us as we eat. She'll watch the spoon or the fork go from the plate to the mouth and concentrates on this at all of our meal times. Our pediatrician thought that she might be ready to try some solids, so we've slowly been incorporating that into our daily routine. If she is awake, she wants to be included at the dinner table. This has made dining out of the house interesting - we are usually well equipped with toys for such occasions.

We started with rice cereal and the poor girl hated it. The first few bites went down okay, but after that there was a whole lot of crying and arm flailing so we decided to hold off for a bit. A week later we tried it again, and while she didn't LOVE it, she didn't hate it either. On a whim, I mashed up some bananas into the rice cereal and she took to it so much better. She was leaning in, getting excited, and opening her mouth for the spoon. Since then we've tried avocado, sweet potatoes and oatmeal. Some days we do solids, some days we don't. It just depends. She is very set on being included at the dinner table tough - no more hanging out in the swing while we eat. She wants to be in on the action - sitting on Mom or Dad's lap reaching for our plates with those perfect, chubby little fingers.

One of the biggest transformations this month is Julia's ability to play independently. While she can be very demanding and want attention on her all the time, she is also starting to be able to occupy herself. She's noisy - always singing, talking, grunting, making other strange baby noises at herself and at her toys. As of recently she's been able to sit in one spot and pick up her toys for 10-15 minutes at a time. She is so into reaching and grabbing for things that if I sprinkle different links, rattles, and her softer stuffed animals around her she focuses really hard on reaching one of them and pulling it up to her mouth. She is sitting pretty well with support. I usually prop the boppy behind her so that is provides a little bit of stability and she is able to sit like that for a good couple of minutes. Her belly helps to balance her a bit ; ) Her flexibility is seriously amazing. She can sit, lean forward, and almost put her feet in her mouth. That's another thing - her feet are like built in toys!

She also has started to reach and grab for our faces, our noses, and our hair. If this isn't incentive for Alex to trim his hair up, I don't know what is. I haven't worn my hair down around Julia for the last month - otherwise it's the first thing she grabs and she does not let go! We are using the words "gentle, nice and soft" when she reaches for our faces. Often we will flip her hand around so the palm is facing outwards and we'll teach her what it means to be gentle. I know that she is starting to process some words, so my goal is to really teach her what gentle means. She is already showing an interest in Theo and I really do want to foster a good relationship between them. In the evenings Alex will have Julia in his lap and we will call Theo up next to him and "gently" help Julia to pet his head and his ears. It is really stimulating for her and you can tell that she really enjoys feeling the different texture. Theo is a trooper and really has taken well to sharing the house with this little human being. I really look forward to watching the two of them interact as she grows older.

Month Five should be a really exciting one - Julia will be getting her first set of wings, as we fly to Mexico in the middle of March. With that will come a whole bunch of new experiences! Sunlight, playing in the pool, putting her little toesies in the beach water, and our first BIG vacation. We are really excited!

XO,

KBG