5 Months Old

Dear Laura,
You are five months old!

When we look at you your whole body lights up. You flash a huge smile and wriggle with enthusiasm. You laugh when we kiss your cheeks, change your clothes, or you see something funny. You enjoy singing and are particularly fond of The Wheels on the Bus.

You are incredibly vocal when you are getting tired, but you are also starting to just talk more. For about a week you stuck your tongue out as far as it would go while you chatted away. You love when it’s just the two of us and I can give you my undivided attention.

Kicking your legs is becoming a thing you do all the time. When you are sitting on my lap at dinner there is usually a constant “thump thump” as you kick the chair. Sometimes your legs are going until you are completely asleep.

Grabbing toys hasn’t interested you much yet, but you still love to look at your hands and suck on them. You do like feeling your toy dog and running your hands through his soft fur. You also rub your eyes when you are tired or just waking up.

Patterns are starting to develop for your sleep. You typically wake up around 6:30am and take a morning nap around 8:30am. Half of the time you will sleep for two hours and the other for about 45 minutes. The rest of your day depends on the timing of that first nap. Consistency with afternoon naps is still developing, in large part because our house isn’t usually very quiet in the afternoons so falling and staying asleep is hard.

You are starting to prefer being held instead of lying on the floor so that you can see what is happening. You are interested in the running water when I wash dishes. Instead of sitting in the bouncy seat at meals you like to sit upright on my lap. You aren’t able to sit up on your own yet but you want to!

Tummy time is happening more often lately. For the first minute or two you hold your head up really high. As you get tired it goes closer and closer to the floor until you are face planted and angry on the carpet. A few times you’ve rolled over to your back because your head was high enough gravity pulled you over, but you don’t roll consistently.

You have a special relationship with Dad. As soon as he walks in the door you start craning your neck to find you. You can’t contain your joy when he holds you. Sometimes you leap into the details of what’s on your mind and other times you listen adoringly to him.

I love seeing your relationship develop with each of us. We are so grateful you are in our family.

A little behind the scenes! Nathan covered you up with a blanket and started playing with you.