Month 5

Our 5 month old girl!

Dear Reese,

You are just getting to be more and more fun everyday! We are in awe of how you're learning new things each day. The most amazing thing for mom and dad is that you've been sleeping so much better at night! You usually only wake up once to eat in the early morning. Much improved! You're also learning how to move your body more. If we lay you on your back, you immediately grab your toes with both hands and roll to your side. We've even caught you with your toes in your mouth a couple times! Yuck! You can touch comfortably in the bouncer, so we've been putting you in that a lot more. And you are SO close to sitting up by yourself. You can balance for a while and then you eventually topple over, so we have to make sure we are right there to help you. You have never been one to love laying down, therefore we are constantly propping you up in various toys. So when you have an amazing career one day, you can tell people that you've never been one to sit back and watch and that always been a go-getter! Another thing you've been doing a lot of is touching faces. Whenever anyone holds you, you instantly grab their face (usually their nose). This means that glasses, earrings, and long hair have become dangerous to the wearer (we warned you!). Our house is pretty loud these days. There is still lots of babbling and giggling. You just love to hear yourself talk! You also have started patting the table with your hands, gurgling, and splashing your hands in the tub. About halfway through this month (4 1/2 months old), you got your first tooth (left central incisor). We knew you had been drooling a lot, but you weren't irritable and your gums weren't particularly red. All of a sudden one day you had a tooth! Less than a week later, you had two (right central incisor). Other developments include crying for toys you can't reach and being pretty attached to mommy. These have both been challenging developments and I'm not sure having mommy home all summer is going to make that one better. As flattering as it is that you love your mommy, we really want you to be comfortable with everyone you meet. One good thing about having you go to daycare is that you do play well with other kids and you have gotten comfortable with some other adults, too. We'll see how you are after the summer! 

Playing in the bouncer!

Two teeth!

Someone's a little spoiled...

One of my favorite pictures of you!

We love teether toys these days!

We have been trying lots of new foods this month. We've been using the brand Beechnut. I really like it because it hardly has any added ingredients, even less than some of the organic brands! I thought I'd start by trying lots of different foods using the pre-made baby food and then start making the kinds you really like. Sweet potatoes are the first on the list to make! This month you LOVED squash, macaroni & beef, pears, raspberries, green beans, cinnamon & raisin granola, and carrots. You were not as fond of chicken, bananas, or peaches. In fact, you made the funniest pucker face when you tried peaches! I bet they'll grow on you. 

Wild about shoes, not so crazy about bananas...

We took our first family trip this month. We went to Dallas for a wedding celebration. We decided to go down there for a few more days and make a mini-vacation out of the trip. You did pretty well in the car, although it was a pretty long drive and you started getting restless when it was bedtime. We got there Friday night and went straight to bed. On Saturday we shopped and had the wedding celebration that evening. You let us stay until 9pm before you got a little cranky. On Sunday we visited the Dallas Aquarium. It was super crowded! You loved watching the fish swimming and we had an overall good time there. We went swimming later that day. The water was a little chilly, but you enjoyed splashing in it. That was your first time swimming! I think you're going to be a little fish like I was as a child! On Monday we decided to leave early to avoid driving during your bedtime. You slept most of the way home and it wasn't a bad drive at all. We stopped in Oklahoma City and ate at Joe's Crab Shack. Overall, we were pretty happy with our first family trip. We conquered that task and we feel a little more confident to take you traveling again soon. 

Taking a break from driving on the way down to Dallas.

After the wedding celebration, Reese was wide awake!

I love playing with daddy!

Her new stingray from the aquarium.

Penguins!

Promise we did not coordinate our outfits on purpose!

Daddy & Reese

Indoor waterfall inside the aquarium

Look at all those fish!

Miss Reese LOVES animals!

Aquariums wear me out!

Enjoying a high chair for the first time.

Being at the table is way more fun than a car seat!

Swimming for the first time!

A little chilly, but I still loved it.

 Splashing!

Had to wear the crab shirt to Joe's Crab Shack!

Of course we had to buy a t-shirt too.

At the very end of this month we took you to the doctor. Your arms were getting pretty red and dry and were starting to develop little sores. The doctor diagnosed you with eczema. The doctor started you with some hydro-cortisone cream and we'll follow up with it in a month. We did get to measure you when you were there. You weighed 20lbs and were 26 1/2 inches long. Still a big girl!


Watching you grow and learn has just made us anxious to see more milestones! We are looking forward to hearing you say words, sit up unassisted, roll from your back to your tummy (you're being stubborn with this one) and crawl. I'm sure these things will all happen before we know it! 


Love,


Mommy