5 Months ~Amelia~

It was pretty tough getting this little girl to sit still for pictures this month!  Can't imagine what the months ahead have in store. 

This month ended with a vacation trip to Georgia for my mom’s 60^th birthday and a beach trip to Amelia Island, Florida.  It was an amazing trip and a very fast month.  If you didn't see my vacation post you can see it here. 

Growth:
Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz (75th percentile-Doctor’s measurement from appointment on Wednesday)
Height: 26" ish would be my best guess.  We don’t have an official stat from this month.

She is wearing mainly 6, 6-9, and 9 month clothing and sadly I have packed up most of her cute dresses and tank tops (I am on a mission for leggings this weekend to extend the life of some of them).  She is in size 3 diapers (except for the size 2's that are floating around still but she usually ends up blowing those out rather easily).      

Mobility/Coordination:  Amelia is pretty close to sitting up on her own and can sit in front of a musical mirror that we have for extended periods of time because she uses it to balance herself.  She is a pro at rolling back to tummy and in the last couple days she has really gotten the hang of rolling tummy to back.  She is still a thumb sucker and loves reaching for everything (food, toys, hair, necklace, watches, anything in her sight).

Language/Communication:  I would no longer say Amelia is a quiet little girl.  She still isn’t fussy and very rarely cries but she has found her voice and it comes out more like a squeal or squawk when she gets excited.  It happened right about the time we were on vacation on the beach and we were joking that she learned to squawk like the sea gulls.

 

 

She also will laugh and/or giggle without being tickled.  She has picked up on some ya and hi sounds. 

 

Personality/Amelia-isms:  Amelia is still our happy, silly little girl.  She beams and smiles and is absolutely lovable.  I will say she isn't much of a cuddler normally but absolutely adores Grant and thinks he is so funny.  You can already tell she wants so badly to play with him and do all the stuff he does.  

Sleep:  Sleep schedule hasn't changed much.  She likes to sneak in 3-4 naps with her early afternoon nap usually being the longest at 2-3 hours (sometimes even 4 hours!).  She still has yet to wake up at night crying or fussing.  We have also found that she now tends to sleep on her tummy.     

Feeding:  Amelia eats 4-5 times per day and still stretches some feedings as much as 4+ hours.  When taking a bottle, she normally drinks about 5-6 oz.  She has gotten over her pickiness for a bottle but it took some experimenting to do so (breast milk mixtures and bottle brands).  Turns out she doesn't like the playtex drop-ins we had for Grant and opts for the Nuk bottles with the funky nipple.  So much for re-using all of our bottles. 

 

 

We are still holding off with solids and are going to be starting a baby led weaning method towards the end of this month or beginning of her 6th month.  We are still reading alot about it and deciding when the time is right and Amelia is ready.

Illnesses:  Amelia ended up with a pretty bad cold (very loose cough and very snotty nose toward the end of this month).  It actually marked our first sick visit to the doctor because I would've bet money that she had an ear infection.  There were two days where she was very fussy and tugging at her left ear but both ears were clear.  We visited to the chiropractor and have been doing some ear exercises she told us about.  I have also been using some of my essential oils so maybe that has helped keep an infection away!
 

Teeth:  No teeth yet although it looks to me like she may have one close on bottom.  Amelia has been a droolin’ fool combined with her cough and runny nose I don't think the teething phase is far off.  I had heard about the use of baltic amber teething necklaces (read more here... and yes I felt the same way as the author of this article did about it being a silly hippie trend) to help with tooth and jaw pain (even headaches and migraines) and we have purchased one for her.  I figure it can't hurt anything and I have heard numerous 1st hand accounts of how much they have helped others yound and older alike.   

Firsts: Airplane ride, trip to the river in GA, trip to the beach in FL and pretty much everything we did while we were in GA/FL were all firsts. 

Likes:  Sleeping on her side/tummy, sitting in front of her musical mirror, being carried by mommy in the k’tan, blankets, being tickled, watching Grant,

Dislikes:  Nose suctioning and there has been lots of it lately!