5 months

Elysen , I absolutely cannot believe that you are 5 months old today. 5 months! How have 5 months gone by so quickly? You are getting to be such a big girl.

Weight: Probably between 15 and 16 lbs, according to our scale

Height: No idea, but I know you're getting taller because your clothes fit better and your dresses don't go down to your ankles. :)

Sizes: I have finally packed up most of your 3 month clothes. You still fit into the 3 month onesies, but they are looking a bit snug, so I moved you into the 6 month ones this week. It makes me sad to pack up those clothes.

You were still wearing a size 1 diaper until yesterday. You still fit in them, but they are getting snug too. So it's all size 2's for you now!

What you're up to:

- Your daddy took apart your swing this week. You are getting too big and you want to roll out of it, so it is going into storage until you have a brother or sister. You never really liked the swing all that much. It will be much sadder to me when you outgrow the bouncy seat (which is probably only about a week or so away...boo hoo).

Here you are asleep in your bouncy - but still holding onto your toys.

- You love to roll over all the time now. You always roll to the right onto your tummy, and sometimes from your tummy to your back. You have a harder time rolling to the left.

- The past week and a half has been amazing - you have become so much more independent. I finally know what it's like to have a baby who will play by herself for extended periods of time. I can put you on the floor on a blanket or mat and fold laundry or check email. You just lay there and talk to yourself and your toys.

- It's probably too soon to celebrate this, but in the middle of last week, you suddenly decided to start sleeping through the night! AHH!!! You have been taking a bath around 8, then your bottle before bed and sleeping until 6 or 7, or even 7:30....oh.my.gosh! I feel like a new person. Even if we still have a few setbacks, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

- You have had a few bouts of fussiness in the last few weeks that we can only guess must be teething. And by fussiness, I mean screaming for no reason. You can usually be semi-soothed by a washcloth wrapped around a piece of ice. We also have some Baby Orajel that we use on occasion. You chew on everything in sight, and cover us all in drool. So far, no teeth, but your gums are bumpy where they will be. I really hope that we don't have a miserable time when your teeth start showing.

- This week, I stopped nursing you. I had thought about continuing until school started, but this week is really my last one at home with no school plans, so I thought we'd just go ahead. It was not a fun process for me, but you love your bottle, so you couldn't care less. Now that I'm through it, I feel fantastic. Nursing was stressful!

- You are such a little talker these days. You aren't just cooing anymore. You move your mouth and speak your own words (even though we can't understand them yet - ha!) and you have recently started blowing your lips together. It's pretty hilarious, especially when you blow your lips and end up spraying us all with spit or milk or food.

- Speaking of food...you are eating more than just bottles these days. Our pediatrician recommended starting rice cereal at 4 months. Well, you weren't thrilled. We tried it a few times and you SCREAMED. So we waited a few weeks. Now you eat cereal at least once a day, sometimes twice. We also tried some green beans a couple of days ago. You really don't like those at all - in fact, your whole body shivered all over every time you tasted them. Your daddy and I were cracking up.

*Update: Today (3 days later), I gave you green beans again and you LOVED them. You ate every bite at 2 different meals. You didn't want to finish your cereal, but you certainly liked the beans.*

- You like the car a little better now. We drove to Tyler a few weeks ago. It was the first time your daddy had gone with us. We took turns driving and sitting in the back with you. You didn't cry until about 20 minutes before we made it to Marmee and Grandad's! It was amazing! If I take you to town, you usually fuss. You just don't like it when you can't see people.

- You've started playing in your bouncy-saucer-thing (no idea what it's really called). You are still too short, so I have to prop you up with blankets. It makes you tired, but you like it for awhile. It won't be long until you're ready to sit up in it all by yourself.

- We moved you into your crib about a month ago. It was so hard on me at first. I didn't sleep for several nights. It was hard to have to walk across the house to get you for your middle-of-the-night feeding, but your daddy helped a lot. Now that you're sleeping better, we are all enjoying you having your own room.

- I have been working hard to learn my sewing machine. I made your blue dress that you're wearing in these pictures. I still don't have all the little details learned, but I'm getting so much better!

Elysen, you are such a sweet baby. You love to be held, and you love to smile at people you see. You also like to smile at Darsee and Remus, and pet their faces, if they let you. I can already tell that you will be such a loving person.

I could spend my days just sitting and playing with you. It's hard to get anything done. Every time I look in the mirror while I'm holding you, I see just how big you have gotten.

Precious girl, you are the light of our lives. We love you so very much.