5 Months

Dear Annie,

You are 5 whole months old today! You are definitely getting to be such a big girl, and are growing up SO fast. Sometimes I am truly blown away by just how lucky your dad and I are to be your parents. Your smiles and laughs really do just make our day! We are always SO excited to get you from your crib in the morning - your dad even gets a little mad at me when I go in to your room before he gets there. Even if you are whimpering a little, your face just lights up when you see us! It definitely is one of the best parts of our day. After you go to bed at night, there are a few more hours that we are still awake - we always end up missing you a little by the time we go to bed! I love holding you, and kissing your big fat cheeks, and squeezing your chunky thighs! I love that you will reach for my hand now, and just feel my fingers and palm instead of just immediately grasping my finger anymore - it's amazing to watch you figure out the world!

You just get more and more interactive each day - you really are smiling AT people now, and if we are particularly entertaining, we might get some extended laughs out of you, although it's still hit or miss. I think it's just that we aren't that funny :) You have started to get a little anxious when we aren't around. This is hard for us, because we know that we are coming back and are leaving you with people who care about you, but you might not quite get that yet! It is awesome to get a HUGE smile in the afternoon when we come to pick you up from daycare!

A few big changes happened with you this month. You learned to roll over consistently, and have really been enjoying being on your tummy now! You almost immediately became a tummy sleeper, which does scare your dad and I a little - just last night, after us being in bed for a few minutes, your dad was compelled to go check you one last time to make sure you were still breathing, so he ran back downstairs :) Right as he opened the door, you stirred a little, reassuring him that you indeed are alright! All that time on your tummy is making you so strong! You can lift your whole chest off the ground now - a far cry from your faceplanting in the early weeks of your life! You are turning yourself in circles when on your tummy too - I think you might start moving sooner than we may want! We really will cherish these last few weeks or months before you start to be on the move :)

You also are grabbing at everything! We sit you down in our laps, and you reach out for the table, or a glass, or my hair! It probably is a subtle change to other people, but a big one to us! No longer can we trust that objects are safe in front of you - just last weekend you reached out and dumped an entire glass of water on the floor at a restaurant - I guess we need to learn to keep things out of your reach now!

You are still kind of a little peanut! 0-3 month clothing still fits you just fine - starting to get SLIGHTLY tight, but still fits! Mostly you are in 3-6 or 6 month clothes now though. You are a little short for jumpers/exersaucers but definitely LOVE to stand tall! You are a great little stander - you stand pretty steadily with us only holding your hands slightly. You like to "do the hula" but you're still really good at supporting all of your weight when upright.

Sleeping is still among your favorite activities, and we REALLY hope that continues! You are sleeping approximately 11 hours straight at night, and sometimes it seems you would go longer! You seem to get very anxious for bedtime in the evenings - if we time things right, you really are happy to go to bed, but if we wait too long or you are too tired, you get QUITE angry! All is well within a few minutes when you fall asleep though. Your dad and I really enjoy reading you Goodnight Moon (Lap Edition) at night - you sometimes seem to tolerate it, other times you JUST want to get into your crib. What you enjoy even more than the book is craning your entire body and head around to stare at the red lamp behind us. Someday you'll appreciate fine literature, we hope :) While your naps during the day are short, you typically take them willingly, and fall asleep very quickly, as long as you are in a familiar setting.

This will be the last month that you will only eat mama's milk, and I am very glad to say that feeding is usually a pleasant experience for both of us, finally! You seem very satisfied by nursing, and really are quite content in my arms when feeding now, instead of being a wiggly fussy mess. You put your little hand up on my chest and look up at me when you are eating, and we get a few minutes of calm quiet time in an otherwise busy and hectic day. I know you won't remember this at all, but I always will.

Little bunkin, we are so proud and lucky to have you as our daughter! We love you to the moon and back.

Love, Mom