5 Months Old!

      I cannot believe my sweet baby is 5 months old! She is 16 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile) and 26 in. long (50th percentile). She is transitioning from size 3-6 Month clothes to size 6-9 Month clothes. She wears size 2 diapers and size 1 shoes. We have moved her from drinking every 4 hours at daycare to every 3 hours, she was just getting too hungry in between feedings. So now she eats 5 oz every 3 hours at daycare, and she nurses about every 3 hours at home. We are finally through the 4 month sleep regression!! It lasted over a month: from about 3.5 months old until about a week ago! She now goes to bed around 7 and sleeps until 2-3 am. Then gets up at around 6 to start her day every day, like clockwork. So she is only waking to feed 1 time during the night now. She sleeps in her crib for her long stretch from 7 until 2-3, but then sleeps in our bed for the remainder of the night.

     We had hoped to wait until 5-6 months old to begin "solids" with her, but she got RSV at about 4.5 months old, and she was so congested she couldn't drink very well, so we introduced rice cereal to help her get what she needed. She still is learning and isn't entirely fond of eating from a spoon. We have found that she won't take the cereal at all if we make it thin and soupy, she likes it to be pretty thick, but even then, she still would prefer breastmilk or formula to cereal, which is fine since babies are supposed to get the majority of their nutrition and calories from formula or breastmilk until at least 1 year old! :) But she does eat about 3 tablespoons of cereal per day for dinner each night. Contrary to all the old wives-tales, cereal before bed does not make a baby sleep through the night! ;)

     Her sister loves her more every single day. I cannot express how full it makes my heart to watch the bond between Rylee and Payton grow and grow. Rylee will do anything for her baby sister. She spends more of her time at home playing with/taking care of baby sister than she does playing by herself. This is a big deal for my independent child! Payton is getting so strong and so active, now! She can sit unsupported for about 30 seconds to a minute at a time. It seems she can do more each day, and I think that is something that Rylee really enjoys. She loves interacting with her now that Payton will play back.

  I love you to the moon and the stars, my sweet girl. I have never met a baby as happy and sweet as you are! I seriously feel like I hit the lottery and ended up with the best baby ever (Don't worry I always told Rylee she was the best baby ever, too! They both were/are!) I can't wait to see what you become! Actually, I can wait, so if you could slow down on all this growing up you have been doing, that would be great!! :)