Warning: This is one of those long-winded, trying-to-preserve-memories-for-myself posts. Read it if you want, but the pictures are the best part!
I'm starting to hate it when people ask how old Molly is. Its like I have to verbally confirm that she is growing up. In two days she will be 5 months old. What is happening to my teeny-tiny baby? I'll tell you what's happening... she's growing like a weed, smiling like crazy, getting super strong, and is more fun (and easy!) than ever. I love it. (But hate it... slow down child!)
So here are some things that typify life with Molly at 5 months...
1) Toys
She has like them for a while, but now she loves them. She is very coordinated and can grab them from us or off of the floor. They inevitably go to her mouth. Poor, slobber-covered toys. This zebra is too cute so I don't let her grab and chew him... how mean of me.
Mr. Beetle is still her favorite but the blue and orange jingle creatures (we're not sure if they're supposed to be mice, rabbits, or dogs) give him a run for his money. She also loves Mr. Giraffe (we're real creative with names, aren't we) and Georgia-raffe.
The more she enjoys her toys, the more we can get done without having to constantly entertain her. In fact, sometimes I realize she does better if I just buzz off and let her do her thing.
Maybe the reason she loves Mr. Beetle is because he has a mirror on his belly. She is becoming more and more fascinated with herself and spends more time looking when we put her in front of a mirror. We can't blame her... we can't stop looking at her either. :)
3) Sitting
She's been able to support her own head for a while now, making it much easier for her to sit up. Now when she goes in her swing she doesn't need it to be reclined... instead she sits up and looks at the toys on the tray... and eventually starts crying because she can't lean forward quite far enough to get the plastic steering wheel inside her mouth.
She likes sitting in her Johnny Jump-up. She doesn't jump yet, but she likes to sit in it and drool all over as she gnaws on the cushy edges. She even does great in her Bumbo, which we mostly just use to feed her. But her favorite place to be on the couch. Yes, we have a real couch-potato in the making. (No, we aren't turning on TV shows for her... she just likes sitting up there with us.)
4) Chewing/Slobbering/Sucking
Her fingers. Our fingers. Toys. Binkies. Blankets. Her own toes. Her dresses. Dad's face. You name it.
5) Solids
Molly started eating oatmeal cereal just over a week ago. She's awesome. She loves it and does a really good job eating it. The only problem is that she gets so eager to eat it that she chomps down on the spoon before I can get all the food into her mouth... thus the mush gets all over her face.
I grew up babysitting for my siblings and neighbors. Even though I don't remember specific situations or experiences, something about feeding a kid baby food gives me that deja vu feeling of extreme familiarity. So feeding time is fun for us.
We have been trying to go on more walks together. The pediatrician recommended getting some sun glasses and a big hat for Molly... and if shopping is doctor recommended, you just can't say no! So we got her this adorable yellow hat with a big floppy brim and some polka dot sunglasses and now we're walkin' in style. I've only taken pictures on my phone so I need to figure out how to get them onto the computer. They are SO SO cute.
Sometimes I push Molly in the stroller and other times I put her in the front pack. Earlier this week I drove over to a walking path by the San Gabriel River that runs through town. She cried the whole way there and I figured she was too upset to go in the stroller, so I pulled her out an held her for a minute in the parking lot. She zonked out. Um, awkward. I didn't want to drive home, but it feels kind of weird to put a sleeping baby in a baby carrier, strap on a hat, squeeze on some sunglasses, and then go walking. I decided to do it anyway. She woke up and enjoyed it for a while until she fell asleep and snuggled against me as I meandered my way back, walking slowly so as not to wake her up. It was a strange but sweet walk together... one of those times you hope you never forget.
7) Rollie-Pollie
This girl is a roller! She started rolling front to back right at three months and then started rolling back to front just after 4 months. Sometimes we think she's forgotten how to do the easy one and gets stuck on her tummy. Maybe part of the reason is that she pushes through her arms so much now when she's on her tummy and lifts her head so much higher.
She's not trying to army crawl or anything, but when she lays on her back she frequently tries to do crunches - big, legit crunches.
8) Teething
She is. For real now. We can see them about to poke through. She's taking it like a champ.
We love reading stories together before nap time. Our favorites are "Snowmen at Night", "Room on the Broom", and "Harriet Dancing". She still isn't on much of a schedule, but its getting there. This month has been pretty unpredictable as far as how long she'd sleep at night and that would then throw off and affect the rest of the day. But this week she's been pretty consistent at sleeping from around 8:30 at night until 7:00 or so in the morning. Sometimes she'll wake up earlier so I'll feed her and put her back in bed which has been working great. This has led to more consistent morning naps, but we're still trying to establish a more regular afternoon nap.
Earlier in the month she would get really upset when she was tired... not just fussy, but big tears streaming down her cheeks, screaming, etc. All I could do was walk around with her until she finally zonked out. Things are SO much better now. Putting her to sleep is one of my favorite things to do now because she's just calm and snuggly most of the time.
10) Talking and Singing
Molly's usually pretty quiet, but she does like to talk to us and to herself sometimes. I like to call it the dying cat sound. She was pretty congested with a cold for a couple weeks and her little voice was hoarse so the sounds she made were extra funny.
Molly laughs, but they're usually silent, smiley laughs. Do those count? She has let out legitimate giggles a handful of times... sometimes we can get her giggling for a few minutes at a time, other times we'll get a tiny giggle and then spend minutes trying to get another one out but to no avail. When she does it we get giddy - it is so cute!
That's out little girl right now. Molly, we love you so stinkin' much!
No comments:
Post a Comment