5 months

On Wednesday Lydia turned 5 months old. For some reason 5 months sounds so old to me... at least in baby terms. I think that every month that goes by has been my favorite so far, and it feels like the rate at which she changes just keeps increasing!

Her stats: Remember when I said that people's comment for our little girl was always, "She is so little!" Well now we are onto the "She is so chubby!" stage. Lydia weighs about 15 pounds which is around the 25th percentile, and she is 24 inches long. All of the sudden her 3-6 month clothes fit her perfectly and 0-3 month things are not even an option. She has rolls on her arms, dimples on her thighs and chins that go on for days and I love it!

Eating: It is probably apparent from the above paragraph, but this girl loves to eat. I have started to change up her nursing lately - now she only eats from one side at a time (except for right before bed). So now she is nursing every 1.5-2 hours (about 7 times a day) for only 5 or 10 minutes each time. I find this so be more convenient, and at the moment she puts herself to sleep for naps by nursing so the more frequent nursing makes things flexible.

We haven't started any kind of solid food and we don't plan to until 6 months. Up until a few days ago Lydia was completely uninterested in food, but now all of the sudden she looks at what we eat and her hands go right for our food at mealtime. We have been giving her a few things to try - an orange, a little bit of ice cream, a tiny bit of banana - and she really has liked all of it. It makes me sad to think that soon she will be gaining sustenance from something other than me, but I am excited at the same time. This month I plan to read a little bit about introducing solid food and once I find the way I want to do it I will let you know. As with everything baby there are lots of options and opinions.

Sleeping: About two weeks ago, right around finals time (of course) Lydia started to fight naps hard and sleep poorly at night. I started to feel guilty that we hadn't gotten her on a real sleep schedule yet and it was really hard. However, in the past 3 days since we have moved she has been doing great! She is still sleeping in her bed, but a few nights ago we started the transition to the pack and play. David and I have decided to start out slow because we aren't sure if we are comfortable to let her cry, so our first goal is to put her to sleep in her pack and play and try to extend the amount of time she sleeps there. Last night it only lasted 25 minutes, the second night it was 40 minutes and last night she stayed there for an hour and half! At this point David and I just want some time together in the evenings (ideally 8-10:30), and once we have that we will go from there.

During the day she takes three naps, one around 10:30, another around 2, and her third at 5 or 5:30. I nurse her to sleep and she easily transitions to her swing. For now this is fine, but once we have night time sleep down a little bit better I hope to be able to vary the places she takes naps and ideally she will learn to fall asleep on her own.

What she loves: Eating, anything that lights up and makes noise, Daddy, Rooney, bath time, diaper changes.

What she hates: Crowds of people, being sleepy, sore gums (from teething!)

Personality/Milestones: Just in the past week or so Lydia has mastered sitting up on her own. It is so awesome to be able to sit her down on the floor on a blanket with her toys and just let her play. Every once in a while she will fall backwards or roll forward, so I usually leave a Boppy pillow behind her but she is really learning to catch herself most of the time. She still isn't rolling over consistently, but when we lay her on her tummy she has started to pull her legs up underneath her body.

She smiles so much and giggles every now and then and she is super aware of people around her. Like I said above, she is not a fan of large crowds especially if I am not around (she cried hard and long for my mom during David's graduation ceremony) and I am noticing separation anxiety popping up now and then. She is interested in toys that light up and make noise and her grabbing skills are getting impressive.

Lydia is starting to cut teeth and every now and then you can tell it is really painful for her. It is hard to know what to do when we can tell that she is in pain, but lately she has found her fingers to chew on when her teeth start to bother her.

Heaven-sent baby items:

I can't believe I haven't mentioned the Sleep Sheep yet! This cute cuddly stuffed animal comes with a white noise maker built in. It makes different noises (like ocean, whale, stream, etc) and Lydia sleeps with it next to her during every nap. We have a white noise maker that we plug in at night, but the Sleep Sheep is awesome because you can take it with you anywhere and it takes batteries. White noise is a must have in my opinion when you have a little one!

 We set up Lydia's exersaucer a few days ago and she absolutely loves it! This is the main "toy" that she has, and although it is kind of big I think that it is worth it. It is nice to have a place where she can stand up and play by herself while I take a shower or get some chores done. We have the one found here.

Words from Daddy: Lately Lydia has been sitting up a lot more and it is amazing to see her sitting there looking like a little person instead of a (cute) baby blob. She has also gotten a lot better at grabbing things and manipulating them which comes in handy because she wants everything to end up in her mouth. She has been grabbing my face with both of her hands a lot which she also wants to put in her mouth... Also, it seems like she has gotten more comfortable with new people and new places and this has been nice to see, especially now that she has all of this extra time with her grandparents!

Now onto finishing our unpacking! We are almost there and then I will give you a tour of our new place :) Have a great weekend.