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Wow, Month 5 was pretty incredible. It’s definitely safe to say that we are officially having a blast with our little infant. Adele has grown so much in the past few weeks, the changes are incredible. She observes, she thinks, she reacts. She’s just such a good baby. We are SO lucky!

She’s a little lady. She thinks she’s bigger than she is. She wants to talk, she wants to crawl, she wants to sit up. She tries so hard to do all of those things, but she’s not quiiiite there yet. She’s an ambitious little one though and that makes me so proud!

Here’s a run-down of all things Adele at 5-Months Old!

TALKING
Adele isn’t ‘talking’ yet, but she is vocal all day long. She coos and hums all the time. And if she catches your eye while she’s doing it she giggles that she has your attention. Lately, she’s been shrieking with glee when she gets excited. It’s a pure happy noise, but boy does she get loud! I think it  pleases her to hear her own voice. We think it’s super cute. We can hear her through the baby monitor in the dark talking to herself at night sometimes. She makes lots of “mum mum mum” sounds (which of course I think is “mama”, but I know it’s not an intentional sound — yet!).

The other thing she does often is blow strawberries (as evidenced in this video!) We hear her making those noises at night and in the car a lot. She is really good at entertaining herself with these sounds. We actually turn the radio off in the car to listen to her because it’s just so funny. It comes out of nowhere too which makes it even funnier!

HEALTH
She’s super active and has a very healthy appetite. But she’s caught three colds in the past two months. It doesn’t seem to bother her too much, but it’s so sad to hear her all stuffed up. I’m hoping that these little colds just mean her immune system will be solid once she gets older. They only last 3-4 days but I don’t like to see my baby suffer. We just give her extra cuddles and leave a humidifier on in her room and that seems to do the trick.

DAYCARE
We just finished up a full month of daycare! I think she really likes it there. Every night, when I pick her up, she’s smiling and laughing so I guess that’s a good sign! She naps and eats well there and I think she’s getting a lot of stimulation through the day. She loves to watch the older toddlers running around. It’s cute to see her watch them. The teachers tell me she can’t sit still and she’s constantly rolling around and bouncing up and down. All in all, I think we made the right decision by putting her in daycare. I miss her immensely during the day though. Just means our weekends count for more now.

SLEEP
Ah, sleep. My favorite subject to talk about. In months three and four, we settled into a schedule with her, and in month five, we cemented it. At the risk of jinxing everything, I am amazed at how well she sleeps. Since July, I can literally count on ONE hand how many times she’s woken up in the middle of the night. She’s been sleeping a solid 12 hours a night since she was about one month old and she hasn’t stopped yet! I was afraid of the dreaded four-month sleep regression, but it never happened (and yes, I’m super thankful!) She goes to bed every night between 7p and 8p and doesn’t wake up til 7:30ish every morning. There were some days this month when she didn’t wake up til 9! Girl loves her sleep (like her mama!)

The big change for her sleep-wise this month is that she doesn’t need to be rocked to sleep anymore! The first day she was in daycare, I quit rocking her cold turkey. It was scary but necessary. The first night, she cried for 45 minutes (I was going in every 10 minutes to comfort her though), the second night was 25 minutes and by day three, she was only fussing for a few minutes before falling asleep. Now, I just put her music on and give her her lovey and pacifier and she falls asleep. I still can’t believe it. I honestly never thought it would happen, but it’s been great! She doesn’t need white noise anymore either, though we do put a fan on for her so she hears something. She usually sleeps on her side now (like me!)

The only thing that has become an issue lately is that she’s rolling over now. She rolls alllll over the place. And at night, she often rolls onto her belly and for some reason forgets she knows how to roll back! Sometimes I have to go in and help her get back on her back and she’ll fall right back asleep again. How long does that phase last?

One night, I did find her asleep on her belly! She must have been too tired to try and roll back!

NAPS
She takes three naps a day now and they are still short, about 45 minutes each. She naps in her crib at daycare, but on the weekends, we have a bit of a hard time getting her to sleep there. She usually naps in the carrier or walking in the stroller on the weekends. Any tips for good weekend naps?

FOOD
She has six 6oz bottles a day, five of those are breastmilk and one is formula. Since I went back to work, I am having a tough time producing enough. Supplementing one bottle a day has taken some of the pressure off me and she doesn’t seem to notice a difference. I nurse her in the morning and at night and now I cherish those sessions so much.

If she sees a bottle now (or even me if she’s hungry), she opens her mouth and puts her arms out reaching for it! Smart girl.

She’s starting to get distracted while she eats now. She’s constantly looking around and turning her head. She likes to play while she eats. I used to have the TV on or have my phone nearby when I nursed her, but now I turn everything off and just enjoy our time together.

We haven’t started solids yet. We’re waiting til 6 months to try the Baby-Led-Weaning approach. We’re skipping rice cereal, oatmeal and purees in favor of giving her real food when she’s ready. We’ll see how that goes, it’s just a few more weeks away!

TOYS
By far, her favorite toy is her Kitty that Aunty Mikaela gave her. She LOVES to look at her and eat her ears. They talk to each other and it’s so cute to watch. When she hears it, she looks across the room to find it.

She loves her teddy too. Pretty much anything with soft parts she can put in her mouth makes her happy.

She also loves her rings now. She holds them and puts them in her mouth. We’ve got about a dozen of these all over our house.

She also loves books!! I read her a couple every night and she is so patient while she listens. She loves to help turn the pages and sometimes she tries to eat them too. I love that I have a little reader on my hands.

She also loves her playmat and her exersaucer. She spends equal time in both. The playmat has been fun lately because she can roll straight off of it. I put her square in the middle and she can make her way to the other side of the room now by rolling. Maybe it’s almost time to get a baby corral or something! Crawling is not too far off for us I think!

PERSONALITY
Adele is the best. She smiles and laughs all. day. long. She rarely cries. Seriously, she goes days on end without ever shedding a tear. Even when she’s tired or has a dirty diaper, she never lets us know. She’s just a really happy baby!

She’s so close to sitting up on her own now too. She tries, but she’s not quite sturdy enough. Since she was born she’s been trying to sit up on her own so I’m sure she’ll be so excited when she actually can!

A couple of other memorable things this month that I want to remember:

1.) On Halloween, Adele was playing with her dolly in her carseat. Irving held out a bag of candy that we got at a party and she deliberately threw the dolly out of her seat onto the floor and put her arms out reaching for the candy!

2.) A few times this month, when we woke up in the morning, we heard music coming from her room. She figured out how to put her music player on all by herself! It’s about a foot from the mattress (secured to the side of the crib) and she can reach it if she scoots down far enough! Too funny.

Whew, this post got super long! Month five was huge, lots of changes and lots of growing. I’m sure month six will bring even more of that! So in love with my girl, she means the world to me and I hope to give it all back to her. She’s perfect.