5 Month Update

I can't believe my little girl is 5 months old! One more month until she's half a year. Half a year! How has that much time passed already?

So what has she been up to?

1. Still lots of drooling, and sucking on her fingers. I learned that this is indeed a sign of teething. I also learned that there is a difference between "teething" and "cutting teeth." She isn't cutting teeth yet (thank goodness. I am not looking forward to that time).

2. She doesn't "talk" as much as she used to. Art commented on this the other day, and I told him that I think it's because she's concentrating on other new skills and developments.

3. She sometimes reaches for things intentionally, but even if she's just stretching out her arm, if she feels something near her palm, she'll often try to grab it, and if she succeeds, she'll try to bring it to her mouth. Her favorites are the burp cloth, her own clothes, and my hair.

I find it slightly amusing (and sometimes annoying) that she would rather stare at her teething toys than chew on them. Which means I have to hold it in front of her (when I would rather just give it to her and be able to walk away and do something).

4. She can't sit unsupported, but she tries to sit up, from a laying down position. She also tries to roll from her back to her front, but she can only get to her side. I tried to get a picture of this, but she only does it during a diaper change, and, as cute as it is, I am not putting her bare bum on my blog.

5. She rubs her eyes with the back of her hands when she's tired. It's so cute!

6. She often pulls at her hair and ears when nursing. I don't know why she does this and it kind of bothers me, because it looks like she's hurting herself! I try to hold her hand and sing to her. This seems to help.

7. At her last check-up she weighed 13lbs. I'm guessing she's close to 15lbs now.

8. She still sleeps through the night. She usually goes down around 9:30 or 10:00, but she'll almost always wake up, and so it ends up being 11:00 before she's asleep for good. She wakes up around 7am or 8am, nurses, and then goes back to sleep for an hour or so. There was a short period of time not too long ago where she started waking up around 4am or 5am and then wanting to play! But that's done now. (*Fingers crossed*)

9. We're still going strong with breastfeeding (I don't plan on stopping for at least another year). But now we're getting into the distracted nursing phase, which is not so fun. She starting to look around if she hears someone talking, and most of the time she unlatches when she does this. This sometimes means her feeding is cut short, which could result in another feeding soon after. C'est la vie.

10. Another thing that she really pays attention to is when I eat. I'm excited by this because it means she's going to start solids soon! I'm doing what's known as Baby Led Solids (or Baby Led Weaning). The idea is that you wait for your baby to tell you when they are ready to try table food. Most parents know when that time comes because the baby tried to grab food off their plate! :)

I've never liked the idea of starting Sophia on rice cereal, and I'm glad to know that I don't have to! When she's ready (and when she can sit up unsupported), I can start giving her my food. And it makes so much sense, that she would just start eating the food that I eat. And maybe this way I can ensure that she won't be a picky eater. (*Fingers crossed*)

In preparation for her journey with solids, I have been giving her tiny tastes of my food. I grab the tiniest little piece, squish it between my fingers, put my finger in her mouth, and let her nosh for a few seconds (in hopes that she'll swallow it, which doesn't always happen).

So far she's tried:

- chocolate (this happened when she was 2 weeks old, and it's Art's fault. I will not give her chocolate on a regular basis)

- mint ice cream (this one is my fault, but again, not something that she will eat on a regular basis)

- eggs

- blueberries

- salmon

- avocado

- watermelon

- bananas (she LOVES bananas)

- bacon juices and sausage juices.

How do I feel 5 months in? It's so much fun being a parent and watching your child grow and learn and discover new things. Thus far, I don't feel like she's growing up too fast. I'm not dreading the concept of her getting older. The older she gets, the more fun and interesting all of our lives become. Of course, I'll probably be eating my words when I find myself shopping for her first bra...