Five Months Old

One word to sum up the past month: PROGRESS.

You are growing up in so many ways.

You have started to recognize your name.

You also recognize: nap, eat, truck, sit up, and stand up.

You eat (and luckily are not allergic to) rice cereal, avocado, and bananas.  And you normally house all that we will feed you.  We think you might be like us and have no adversaries to food.  Madzars eat anything and everything.

You are moving all over the place these days.  You can get anywhere you want on the floor by rolling, scooting, or inch-worming.  Occasionally you get frustrated with your turtle-like pace and let us know with high shrills.  Some times we will help you; some times we leave you to work it out yourself.

We walk a fine balance of coddling you and letting you be independent.

You are not crawling yet but seem to be very close.  I've caught you a few times up on your hands and knees rocking powerfully back and forth.  Dad goes for the hands-on approach and helps you move your limbs to imitate crawling.  I go for the lead-by-example and find myself crawling circles around you on the living room floor while you laugh and swat at me.

You have discovered that you can put your toes in your mouth.  While you're in your car seat- or on your back.  This makes changing your diaper a little more tricky.

Even though you are far from talking, I feel like we understand you so well.  You communicate very clearly to us.  We know when you're hungry.  We know when you're tired.  We know when you would prefer to be with mom and when you'd rather hang out with dad.  We know when you're bored and need an outdoor adventure.  We can even tell when you'd rather play by yourself on the floor.

Your personality continues to develop.  And you are the sweetest person I know. (Dad is a very close second.)  You are content doing most things.  And the smallest amount of attention always results in a big, baby chuckle from you.

The more I know you, the more I love you.  The other day I was carrying you into our bedroom.  I was talking to you; I always talk to you; I talk to you all day long.  And without thinking I said to you, "You are my best friend."  I know you feel the same way.

You no longer take a pacifier.  You only want your two fingers- index and middle.  Just like Dad.

You slobber.  A lot.

You have breast milk five times a day.  The last meal is given to you by Dad where you have started holding the bottle by yourself.  It is so cute.

After that bottle, we sit you in your Bumbo seat and feed you some solids.  You usually make a mess which then leads to a bath.

The Puj tub is a no-go these days.  You are far too active for it.  So Dad or I will get in the BIG bathtub with you.  You go crazy for the Rubber Duckie (splashing everywhere!) while we attempt to scrub you down.

After bath time comes a new diaper, a lavender lotion rubdown, and fresh pajamas.  We then sit with you for a few minutes while you calm down.  Around 8p, we lay you in your crib.  We both kiss you and tell you how much we love you.  As I make The Sign of the Cross on your forehead, we wish you a laku noc.  You typically go right to sleep with no fuss, fingers in mouth.

You sleep the whole night through- right up until 7a.

You take three naps a day: 8:30a, 12:30p, & 4:30p.  Each of these range from one to two hours. 

Some times for the 4:30p nap, Dad or I will take you on the back porch and swing in the hammock.  You don't mind.

You can sit all by yourself for several minutes at a time.  

You met your Uncle E, Teta Nicole, and Cousin Charlotte.  They drove 15 hours down from New Hampshire for your baptism.  When you met them, there was something special there.  You took to them very easily, I could tell.  Must be a family thing.

The doctor says you should double your weight by 6 months old.  You're almost 15 pounds now.  Right on schedule.

You put everything in your mouth.

You laugh all the time.

Some of that laughing comes when I sing.  I've made up several songs that I only sing to you.  But you also like some popular classics.  Yankee Doodle is one of them.

We play games with you.  They usually consist of us tickling you or blowing on your tummy.

You love to look at yourself in the mirror.

With all of this going on, I haven't had time to be sad about you getting older.  Don't get me wrong, I do look back and reminisce with old pictures and videos.  But every day is so new and exciting with you.  I look forward to all that is in store for us.

We think you are perfect.

We think you are the most beautiful baby we have ever seen.

We love you like crazy.