My sweet baby girl turned 5 months old on Christmas Day, December 25, 2013. The last month has definitely been an eventful one! I'm a little delayed in writing this because of all of the festivities as well as some technical difficulties! But at least I'm sticking to my monthly blog! yay!
Laynie weighs 14 pounds, .02 ounces. We were able to weigh her when we took Rex for his 3 year check up. She is wearing 3-6 month clothing, but mostly 3 month. Some of her 3 month jammies are getting a little tight but some still fit. Most of the 6 month clothes are still too big. I found yet another box of size 1 diapers in her closet (even though I "knew for sure" we were out of them as of my last blog!) so I'm hoping we get through that box before she grows out of them. They fit but they're getting snug!
She has quite a healthy appetite! Dr. Gray had us go ahead and start with fruit solids including pears, apple sauce, and prunes due to Laynie's constipation. She preferred food over juice or Karo. It got pretty bad a couple of times so I'm try to be very strategic about what she eats. I still typically put dark karo syrup in 2-3 bottles per day to assist with keeping her regular. Sometimes I feed her cereal with juice instead of formula. For lunch she eats either cereal with formula or cereal with juice. For dinner she eats a fruit with cereal. She still takes about 4 ounces of milk for all other feedings. She adjusted very easily to taking solids. She's just very nosey and looks all over the place which sometimes makes it difficult to feed her. I typically sit her in her bumbo and feed her but I'm putting her in her high chair more often now.
Over the last month, I slowly produced less and less milk. For awhile I was only feeding her in the middle of the night but even doing that one feeding, my supply dwindled and I wasn't able to keep up. The last time I breastfed her was around mid December. I had hoped to make it to Christmas with feeding in the evenings but it just didn't work out. I am proud though for making it to where I did. It was one of the most rewarding experiences and I strongly encourage any mom who is able to breast feed to do so. I miss the bond more than anything but I'm so glad I got to experience it this time. On a happy note though, I never engorged or had pain when I stopped. I'm assuming it's because it was a gradual stop rather than all at once. The same thing happened with Rex. Yay for no pain! It has been nice not having to worry about what I'm eating or taking or drinking, especially through the holidays!
She sleeps pretty well at night! She typically has dinner around 7 or 7:30 then she'll play a little bit then take a 4 ounce bottle. After that, she'll play a bit then go to sleep around 9 or 9:30. This is about the same time Rex goes to sleep. Laynie will sleep until about 3 or 4 for a feeding. She'll have her bottle then go right back to sleep. She typically wakes up around 7 or 7:30. Of course, when I'm back at work, I have to wake her around 6:30 to get dressed and head to Ms. Anna's. During the day, she takes a morning nap which is typically about 30 minutes then she takes a long afternoon nap starting anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00.
She still sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed. My plan was to transition her to the crib over Christmas break and it has yet to happen! Yes, momma is having some separation issues! Seriously though, I couldn't find the plug to the monitor so I could not imagine moving her in there without a monitor! That was excuse #1. Excuse #2 was that she's had a stuffy nose for a week or 2 and I didn't want to move her until it passed so that I could closely monitor her. Good excuses, right?? :)
She is definitely quite the roller! She rolls both ways-back to belly and belly to back. She typically only rolls to her right and keeps rolling the same direction. When I lay her on her play mat, its usually not long before she rolls over. A lot of times I'll step away for a bit and she's rolled off the mat and onto the floor. She is very active and very wiggly! I call her wiggles all the time and even Rex has started to call her Wiggles! She was the exact same way in my belly...to the point that I was concerned she was having a seizure or something sometimes because she moved so much. One day this month, she was wiggling so much while she was playing on her mat that she somehow managed to get her foot out of her footie pajamas!
We are currently working on sitting up. She's almost there. She still needs some support but I know it will only be a matter of time until she's sitting up on her own.
This month I transitioned to giving her a bath in her tub in the big tub rather than in the kitchen sink. It's easier and she does well with it.
Laynie is such a happy baby. She smiles at anyone and people just love her! My favorite smiles are her morning smiles when I peek into her bed and say good morning. She gets so excited! I'm going to have to get it on video and share it! These last 2 weeks, she's become a little more demanding of my attention but for the most part, she is pretty content most of the time. She loves her bouncy seat, activity mat, and jumper exersaucer thing. This month she has also discovered spitting and making raspberry sounds so that is fun for her! Not so fun when I am trying to feed her but still kind of funny!
I definitely have a drooly baby on my hands! She constantly has her hands in her mouth and is chewing on her fingers. Unless she has a bib on most of the day, I have to change her outfit often because the top of her shirt gets completely wet with drool. I have a feeling teeth may be right around the corner!
Watching her and Rex bond more and more over time is one of my favorite things to witness. Although I have brothers and sisters, I did not grow up with any of them so I've never had a first hand experience with a sibling bond in regards to growing up together so I'm loving watching their relationship grow. Rex loves her so much and is so so sweet with her. He talks to her and calls her "mamacitas" and says "Yaynie" instead of "Laynie." He often says "Hi Laynie! We have so much to do today!" or says "You ready to go bye-bye Mama?" when we're getting ready to leave. He LOVES to lay with her on her play mat and loves to touch her head. I know as they continue to grow together, they will teach me so many lessons about love and that sibling bond. I'm so excited to watch them grow together.
Over the last month she had her first Thanksgiving, celebrated her big brother Rex's 3rd birthday and celebrated her 1st Christmas. It has been a busy busy month but a blessed one for sure! She got the laugh and learn car for Christmas from Santa and a multitude of toys from all of the grandparents. We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop's (Corey's parents) and (hopefully) started a new tradition of having my mom and Corey's dad over at our house for Christmas morning breakfast. Later in the day, we went to my moms for Christmas dinner with my family. It was a wonderful first Christmas for my baby girl!
I'm excited to see what the next month holds! Maybe sitting up?? Maybe starting to crawl??? Time will tell!
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