Lucy: Five Months Old

She is five months. Already. Somehow, it has been the swiftest five months---- and the longest. It feels like we just brought her home, were just in the thick of those rough first three months.... Feels like we're still recovering from that madness.... Yet here she is, five months old, and has been an absolute dream for much of the last several weeks. Somehow, she is old enough to coo and kick and roll and laugh and grow into her own little body. Somehow, she is one small month away from eating solid foods. Sitting up. TEETH. How is it that five months can go so fast and so slow?

And what a month it has been since her last official photo. Between August 12 and September 12, Lucy's whole world shifted dramatically:

~ She lost the binkie and the swaddle. 

~ She learned to soothe herself back to sleep far better than before. 

~ She fattened up quite a bit. 

~ She found out that life is pretty great, and is now quite cheerful and content during her waking hours.  

~ We realized that being really attuned to her napping/sleeping needs was critical to her happiness, and dove back into the world of strict nap rituals. She now naps, if at all possible, within two hours of waking up, and then again within two hours of that first nap. If there is still a sizable chunk of the day left between nap #2 and bedtime (6:30... she chose this bedtime, not us!!), then she gets yet another nap. It means I stick close to home, but the trade-off has been 1,000% worth it. She is simply a happier baby when she gets this sleep.

~ She is less portable now... for the above reasons. Without the binkie to soothe her anywhere, anytime, it's harder to get her into sleepy mode without the comforts and familiarity of her own bedroom. And I'm okay with this. I miss the jaunts around town in the mornings, trusting her to get catnaps all morning as we went along... But I love the steadiness of the home-rituals just as much. So it is all good. 

~ We aren't on solid foods yet--- I'm waiting til the 6-month mark my doc recommends. But she is definitely moving towards that milestone. She has become FASCINATED with watching me eat! 

~ She CAN roll from tummy to back, and from back to tummy. She just DOESN'T, not very much. I can count on one hand the times she has done either. Looks like she's not a "gross motor skillz" rockstar just yet. That's all right. Noah wasn't really, either. He took his time on all of it... 

~ Lucy LOVES kicking. She gets the biggest smile after she's kicked and made contact with things... so I often lay her on the floor under my feet when I'm sitting on the couch. She can look up at me AND kick the side of the couch, and she is completely content to do so for long stretches. 

~ Unlike Noah, she LOVES the car. Hallelujah!!

~ She's been responding to music since birth... but especially now that we have the piano, she will clam right up and listen raptly if I muddle through a song or two... and she especially loves it if I attempt to sing and play at the same time. I'm rusty, but it's been fun.

~ Lucy LOVES her brother. I swear, he is tho only one to get her to laugh. But I'm okay with that. It is amazingly cute to behold. 

~ She's still pretty tiny-- just barely moving into 3-6month clothes. But she's chubbing up. Her cheeks are ridiculous, and I love love love them.. and her slowly-chunking-out thighs. 

~ Her blonde hair is filling back in on top, after several months of being barely there. I love to smooth her hair and "pet" her... 

~ Her eyes still show NO signs of turning brown or hazel, the only two colors I SWORE we'd get in our kids. I am still a skeptic that she'll keep the blue, but she seems bent on proving me wrong!

I guess that's enough Lucy stuff for her 5-month check in... I am just grateful that we are in a lovely place in our lives now where she is happier and we can enjoy her more... Where there are enough quiet moments and smiling moments that the love is free to flood in and overwhelm me with gratitude. I needed this. She did, too. 

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Credit:

Lucy's monthly photos are inspired by the Young House Love blog, here. You can see Lucy's 4-month post here, her three-month post here, and her two-month post here. The fabric in this month's photo was totally in honor of September being the first days of school... I love that chalkboard fabric!