5 Months

Our little biscuit was five months old on Wednesday! It's been a wild ride with this one, but oh-so-wonderful. 

She had a hard time coming into the world and getting used to living here, but once her gut got better and we figured out what was going on with her skin, she started settling in and getting happier and healthier by the day. Once she was about a month and a half, she had become the sweetie we know today, and though there have been some rough spots (being sick a LOT, starting teething early), she is a trooper. 

Stats:
Last visit to the doctor's office she was 16 pounds, 4 ounces (93rd percentile) and 26 inches long (96th percentile)! Amazing! Her head circumference is 16.25 cm (57th percentile). She makes her chunky monkey big sister look like a dwarf at this age! She fits into some 12-month clothes, and the 6-month stuff is all officially out of her wardrobe. 

Best tricks: 
She can roll front to back and back to front like it's her job. Put her down and she might roll across the room in a few minutes flat. That sucks a bit since she has pretty much outgrown her Rock n' Play Sleeper and if she sits in her bouncer for more than a few minutes, she finds a way to trap her arm in the seat and gets all mad that her arm is pinned down. My favorite place to put her was her little gym on the floor, but she rolls out of it in a snap now. 

She is trying really hard to sit unassisted and can also sit almost all the way up from a reclined position! This is why the sleeper is on its way out the door -- if she's on an incline, she can sit right up, and she would be able to topple right out of that thing. I still plan on using it for the weekly pictures, but no more sitting in it to happily watch me make dinner. (Yes, yes, I know about the mold and the recall. Ours is mold-free.) 

Vocalizations:
She rarely cries (and when she does, she makes the saddest little pouty face in the world); instead, when she would like to make her displeasure known, she makes this terrible noise. The best way I can describe it is an "EHHHH" noise. We call the girl "grunty." She just keeps making this noise non-stop until you magically discover what she needs, and I tell you what, she knows what's up, because I dash around like a maniac trying to stop that noise: "Diaper? Food? Toy? Want to be held? Want room to roll around? Want a solid gold pony? ANYTHING! IT'S YOURS! STOP MAKING THE NOISE!" 

This is not to say I find my kid annoying. Yes, it does feel like someone is drilling my eyeballs and my head is in a vice when she makes that noise. But that all just means she's advanced. Survival of the fittest and all. Here, I thought Josephine's newborn cries were the most gut-wrenching sounds on the planet. I was wrong. G has one-upped her and ensured she never goes unnoticed. Clever little monkey, this one.

She makes up for all that with her sweet little voice, though. Her talking, her laughing, her sweet little coos! Can't be beat. 

Favorites:
She loves eating, snuggling, rolling, toys, mirrors, pulling Josie's hair, looking at faces, and laughing, but her absolute favorite thing is her sister. She lights up when she sees her and laughs and laughs at anything she does, and talks and talks and talks whenever she is around. 

You can really see in this video -- when Josie is singing to her, she is looking up at her like she hung the moon. 

Dislikes: 
Having even a tiny drop of liquid in her diaper, sleeping on her back, sleeping in her crib, sleeping at all (for the past few weeks), the way her gums feel (apparently -- they are VERY swollen and she can't stop rubbing them/chewing on things). That's about it. 

Overall, this child is mellow as all get-out compared to her sister (and me). She's a very happy, smiley girl. Everywhere we go, people comment on how happy she is, how sweet she is, and what a good baby she is. If they had to spend the night with her or heard "The Grunt," they might change their minds, but hey, being a super-sweetie most of the time is pretty dang awesome.

She's just a beautiful, sweet, happy, smart little girl. She's amazing, and I can't wait to see her change even more drastically over the next few months. Almost a half of a year has gone by! It's hard to believe.