Month 5:
Audrey really started rolling around a lot! First it started out as a simple flip from one side to the other, then came the double roll, then the triple, and before I knew it, she was rolling all over the floor! She also began eating a lot more baby food. I absolutely love making her food! We started with organic whole grain rice cereal at first, but it wasn't long before we moved into more flavorful foods like bananas, sweet potatoes and green beans (in addition to her 5 oz bottle of milk as well). We spaced her feedings out to every 3-3.5 hours now too. She's really progressed with her hand/eye coordination and loves playing with her toys. Her favorite toys right now are the excersaucer, "Jenny" the giraffe teether, and a ball. She's sleeping very well ... two 2-hour naps a day and a short evening nap (about 45 minutes). She's made it abundantly clear that she is ready for bed by 8pm, so we've moved bedtime back up :) But she's goes right to sleep as soon as we lay her in her crib, so she's adapting very well. She used to respond best to her swing, but I've been very intentional about all rest times being in her crib so that she would begin to learn and understand that it is the primary location for sleeping. We had a few rough naptimes where I had to let her cry in her crib instead of move her to her swing, but she eventually got used to it and now we're good to go! Sometimes I just look at her and it feels like she is growing up so fast! I'm so fortunate to be staying at home with her during this time because she changes so much from day to day and I would be devastated of I missed even one second of it. Here are some pics of our baby girl at 5 months old:
Month 6:
Everything seems to be happening quickly now that she's hit the 6 month mark. If you're not careful, you'll miss something! Audrey is definitely sitting up very well on her own now. At 5 months, she could sit up on her own but was still wobbly so I never really left her alone for fear that she would fall over and hurt herself. But now she's much stronger and sits up so nice and tall! She's eating like a champ too! Her daily menu consists of any of the following foods: bananas, pears, apples, blueberries, pineapple, mangoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, green beans, broccoli, and avocado. She's also moved up to 6 oz bottles and meal times every 4 hours. We introduced her to "puffs" as well ... teaching her how to use her tongue and jaw to eat and she also drinks juice from a sippy cup too! I make her juice just like I make all her food. We have a great juicer so I've started out with fresh apple juice and will soon be adding carrot juice into the mix as well. She is weighing in at 18 lbs and has grown to 28.5 inches. She is perfectly proportioned in the healthy weight range and is still showing to be >97% in height. As a result, even though she is only 6 months old, she is wearing 9 month clothing because she is so long. We completely skipped all 3-6 month clothes altogether - ha ha! Her doctor says that her coordination and protective skills are advanced for her age and she is very socially aware. She follows very well with her eyes and shows great signs of understanding when she is spoken to. We have recently entered into the phase where she needs mommy in her presence all the time. She fusses and cries if I ever leave the room. Sometimes I find it to be a little exhausting, but most of the time I cherish this phase because I know she won't always need me like this. I never mind holding this sweet girl in my arms ... ever ... I was born for this! She is definitely teething so ev-er-y-thing goes straight to her mouth :) She really enjoys her teething toys and tag blankets especially ... the toys feel good on her gums and she finds the tags to be fascinating. Her sleeping patterns are changing too. Her morning nap has condensed to an hour but both her afternoon and early evening naps are around 2 hours. The best part is that she sleeps a solid 12 hours a night now! How wonderful! She plays pretty hard throughout the day. She has several interactive toys (with lights, sounds, and music) that really entertain her but her favorite thing is watching "The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That" on PBS Kids every morning and evening ... she is absolutely mesmerized by that cartoon! I'm looking forward to reading more with her. Right now she likes to look at the pictures in the books but would rather be eating them instead :) She is growing up too quickly and I can hardly stand it but I'm pleased with how well she is doing it and can't help but feel a little proud of the smart little thing she has become :)
