Our lil' Gillybean turns five months today. Although I mention this with every month milestone post, it bears repeating---time flies. It just doesn't seem possible for Gillian Grace to be five months old already! I'm not sure where the time has gone, but nearly half a year has passed in what seems like just the blink of an eye.
Dear Gillian Grace,
Today marks five months since your birth. Daddy and I cannot believe how quickly you have grown in what seems to us to have been such a short time. Just the other day I found myself tearing up as I packed away clothes that you had outgrown. At five months, size 6 month clothing is becoming snug and you can already fit in some onesies and rompers size 9 months and bigger.
You are a healthy 17 + pounds (we just weighed you yesterday) and over 25 inches long. Lugging around you and your carseat is becoming quite a chore. With a combined weight of nearly 40 pounds, I'm beginning to struggle tranisitioning you from the car to the stroller or to the house. You have begun to ride in your strollers without the carseat and you seem to enjoy riding "big girl style" much better. Daddy and I think you were growing tired of watching life pass you in reverse. Facing forward in your stroller allows you to flirt with all the passers by, illiciting more and more compliments from everyone you befriend. You have become quite a patient shopper and find contentment strumming your taggie blanket or playing with the ribbon on your binkie clip. The Whoozit baby toy on your stroller is finally of some interest to you, as you have recently begun to tinker with its various activity spirals.
Although you are close, you haven't figured out how to pull objects toward you quite yet. You are able to grab and grasp anything that catches your fancy, including your binky. And speaking of binky, for a baby that could take or leave the binky in the beginning you are surely singing a different tune these days. You L-O-V-E your binky! Daddy and I have made a promise to ourselves to curb your binky usage to nap time and bedtime when you turn one. We don't want you to be one of those binky babies we see out in public sucking on a pacifier at two years of age, mainly because we wouldn't want anything to cover up that beautiful face of yours.
Despite your excessive drooling and nibbling, you still show no signs of teething. We have the Baby Orajel and teething rings on standby and are ready for your first tooth to make its appearance any day now. You have a strong bite and when you clamp down on something, be it a washrag or a finger, you don't want to let go. You have begun associating sounds and objects with meaning. You recognize a bottle and know that it means that it's time to eat. You become very impatient once you catch sight of your bottle and have begun to extend your arms and wiggle your hands until the bottle is within your reach. Tiny grunts are also a part of your pre-eating ritual. You are now able to hold a tiny 4 oz. bottle on your own but still need assistance with the larger 8 oz. size.
Since you are now five months old, Dr. Shearer has recommended that we begin to introduce veggies into your daily diet. We'll try vegetables (squash) today for the first time during lunch. Currently you eat four times a day. In the morning you have 2 tbsp. of rice cereal with 1 jar of fruit baby food and a six oz. bottle of formula. For lunch you have an 8 oz. bottle of formula and we will gradually add veggies to the menu. An early evening bottle of 6 to 8 oz. is followed several hours later by your dinner of 1 tbsp. rice cereal, 1 jar of fruit baby food, and a 6 oz. formula chaser. You are quite the eater!
You are very close to sitting up by yourself. You laugh all the time, especially when someone gets close to your face and talks to you. You love when we blow raspberries on your belly or rub our nose against your chin or cheek. Your feet finally reach the base of your exersaucer, from which you still find endless entertainment. You seem to recognize Mickey Mouse and smile every time he comes into view on the television. You are a good traveler and did remarkably well on our first long road trip (13 hours to West Virginia-more on that in another post). Standing while holding onto our fingertips is one of the exercises you love best and bathtime remains your favorite time of day. During storytime just before bed, you have begun reaching for and attempting to hold the pages of the board books that we read to you. You still take two good naps a day, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. At night you usually sleep anywhere from 9-11 hours. Good girl!
Sometimes I wish I had the power of Samantha on Bewitched. With a twitch of her nose, Sam could stop time. With time at a standstill, she could continue on with whatever it was she needed to do. I used to wish for this power so that I could nap or catch up on chores. Now, I'd use this power to slow time and keep you little for as long as possible. It may be inevitable that you will grow up and one day become a young lady, but no one says that your Daddy and I have to like it! You will always be our lil' girl.
Happy Five Months, Gigaroonios (Gee-ja-roon-e-ohs)!
Love,
Mom
One week old
Five months old
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