5 Months Already!

It snuck up on me a little bit, but our little Pumpkin is 5 months old already!

She is growing and is doing really well.  We had to go to the doctor because she was starting to get fussy with her feeds again and I needed a weight check.  She was up to 14.1 lbs.  It still amazes me that she is growing with how little she eats, but apparently she knows just what she needs.

She still manages to be the hardest baby we have ever had to feed.  But we are beginning to figure a few things out.  We have to stay on top of her meds and she needs a full 30 minutes to eat.  Thankfully she is only drinking 4 bottles a day and I just know ahead of time I need 30 minutes, so we make it work.  She drinks the first 2-3 ozs really well and then needs a 5-10 minute break then drinks some more and needs another break and then maybe one more time!  It's certainly a process, but it is working and it less frustrating for everyone.

She LOVES to smile and has such a bright and big smile.  It's pretty easy to get her to smile too.  Just look at her and smile and she will smile back.  She loves to be around people and is content to just be in the room with everyone.  She is starting to laugh, but still not often.

She is working on rolling over from front to back and can get over, she just can't get that arm out from under her yet.  She spends many a naptime working on it in her bed!  And boy does it make her mad!!  This child can cry with the best of them.  Not much makes her stop except being with people, her paci finally falling asleep or eating.  Otherwise, she will hang in there until she gets one of those things!

She takes all her toys to her mouth right now and really chews on them.  She loves all of her toys.  We haven't put her in front of toys with faces as much as we did the other two, but she seems to prefer human interaction.  She is working on sitting up and is getting stronger.  She tends to lean pretty quickly to side, but we are working on getting stronger.

I think we have settled on the fact that we have a chronic 45 minute napper and finally this week I have somewhat figured out a schedule that will work for her.  It's amazing.  She naps 30-45 minutes at a time and that is it.  She is generally happy when she wakes up now so she can be in her bed for about 1.5 hours.  And then her afternoon nap is longer because she is still napping on me.  She is asleep on me as I type this.  I have figured out how to get a lot done with a child sleeping on!  And it forces me to rest each day.  But even on me, 45 minutes in her eyes pop wide open and I have to get her back to sleep.

Thankfully she is a good nighttime sleeper.  She is still waking once a night to eat right now because she just won't take that much in during the day.  But we can handle it. She is definitely showing that she is different from her sisters.  We have tried everything to help eating be better and sleeping be better and we have just had to give in a little to her own schedule.  But we are still keeping our routine and that is proving to help her still be a very content and happy little girl.

She is a talker and a LOUD one at that!  She loves to squeal and just talk to her mobile or to her sisters or us.  She has started to do this almost growl because she gets so excited and wants to make her presence known.  I can't imagine her talking more than her sisters already do, but watch out if she does!  Poor Nate - he will never get to talk again!

I still can't figure out if she is going to keep taking her paci or if she is going to get her thumb.  Just this week she has started just sticking her thumb in her mouth.  She just chews on it right now, but maybe she will figure it out!!  Thumb sucking and rolling over to sleep on her belly might just be the answer to our sleeping woes!

This child has been such a sweet blessing to our family.  She throws mommy for a loop most days, but she is proving to just make me more flexible and relaxed.  I said that each child would wear down my type A personality a little more and she is proving to be no different.  She brings so much joy to our family and we are thankful for the gift God bestowed on us!