five months

Little Loula:

In your fifth month, you stopped being an infant all together. I'm pretty sure you'll be twenty years old tomorrow. You started rolling over. Mostly only from back to front, but the other way too. I like that you did it this way, because you did it your way. By the end of the month, you were really good at rolling to actually get places or to grab things. You also found your toes. You don't eat them very often, but you do love to grab them and roll from side to side.

This month brought a few separations for us. You were left with loving friends and family a few times - a few times you were perfectly fine, a few times you just wanted your mommy. On one of those times when you wanted mommy, when I returned, I rushed into the room where you were crying (and being held and loved). The instant - I mean THE INSTANT - I touched you to pick you up, your cries were silent. I felt so very special in that instant. You then spent a half hour staring up at me with wide smiling eyes, a smile behind your binky. As if to say, "You did come back!" I hope you're learning that although I will leave from time to time, I'll always come back. And while I'm gone, I'm missing you.

Your hands are fast, fast, fast now. You grab with a vengeance. You must touch everything in your reach. And you will lunge straight out of our arms or laps to get to what you want. You love your exersaucer but have a particular affinity for the purse toy attachment. If ever you play with it too long you get angry. When I take you out of the exersaucer, you just get more angry. I think it's because you want the purse and it's really stuck. You often stand straight up in your exersaucer. Your legs and tummy are getting strong. Play time is intense - you focus through things, not on things it seems. You love your white blanket more than ever. It's the perfect amount of stretch and love I suppose. You also love Sophie the Giraffe. Looooooove. I often find you with your blanky in your right hand, Sophe in your left. And happy as a clam. (You appear to favor your left hand, which is very interesting with your exclusively right-handed family, including sibling, parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles.)

You've started sleeping a little sporadically. Sometimes I get a wake up call at 3:30 a.m., sometimes at 6:30 a.m. like old times. Sometimes your naps are two hours, sometimes they are two minutes like old times. I imagine it has something to do with your growth rate. Or maybe with how much you've played that day. You did get your first cold this month as well, which also seemed to throw a wrench into your sleeping patterns.

You wear size 6-9 month clothing mostly. That said, you don't fit in some things because you're too skinny. You're long enough for some 12 month clothes, but way to spindly to fill them out. I have you in size three diapers. You techincally fit in size two, but the blow outs were driving me insane. So you're in big size three diapers and blowing out rarely.

You love your big sister. Like a lot. You love to try and touch whatever she's touching. You love to grab her curly hair. And she is hands down your favorite reason to giggle. You laugh at almost everything she does. Although, I'm happy to report that you also regularly giggle now. Up until recently, I had to put on a circus to get a giggle from you. Now you laugh just because you're happy. Your little chuckles are some of my favorite sounds.

I love that although you are tiny, your spirit is huge. Your personality takes over our apartment sometimes. You're a very intense little girl. Either you're very happy or you're very, shall we say, unhappy. Luckily, there is more happy than unhappy these days. You're so very lovely my girl. And we're so very lucky to have you.

All my love,

Mommy

Here she is at one month.

Here she is at two months.

Here she is at three months.

Here she is at four months.