Ack, I can’t believe it’s already been 5 months! As I approach the 6 month mark with Violet I am just shocked by how quickly the time has gone by. It may be a cliche, but it’s so true, especially the second time around! Here’s an update on how my girl is doing at 5 months of age.
{Violet at five months}
Weight – 12 lbs, 11 oz. She is in the 10th percentile for weight, which was a little surprising because, well, look at those chins! But her doc assured me that she’s right where she needs to be; she’s just always been a little peanut.
Length – 24 inches, which is the14th percentile. Yep, my kids will never be in the back row on picture day.
Sleep – Typically, she goes to bed after her last feeding at 8pm and wakes up between 5:30-6:30am. Sometimes she’ll wake up in the night and cry, or roll over and get stuck on her belly, but she’ll eventually go back to sleep after some soothing or a pacifier. I also flip her over if she cries when she turns over, but if she falls asleep on her stomach I just let her sleep, since most of the time I don’t even know until I see it on the monitor. It still makes me a little nervous though. She seems really tired and cranky in the evenings these days, so I think I’m going to start trying to get her bedtime closer to 7 or 7:30pm. My only fear is that she will wake up even earlier in the morning, so we’ll see. I was right about the 4 month sleep regression in my last update–that definitely plagued us this past month. Between that, the rolling, and the cold she’s still getting over, I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever get a full night’s sleep again.
Eating – That hasn’t changed from last month. I’m still feeding her 5 oz bottles of breast milk, 6 times a day. I tried to stretch her out a little and give her 6 oz only 5 times a day, but she wasn’t having it. When I move her bedtime up I may be able to do that so evening feedings aren’t so close together.
Clothing – She’s getting pretty close to outgrowing her 3 month clothes, especially the pants. I’ve unpacked all the 6 month clothes because I know it won’t be long until she can wear those. Yay for new (and new to us) baby clothes!
Mood – Violet’s moods are still pretty predictable. She cries when she’s tired or hungry, or in the evening just because. She’s had a rough couple of weeks lately though. After her shots at her 4 month doctor visit, she got a fever and was very tired and cranky for a couple of days. Then right after that she got a nasty cold that she still hasn’t recovered from (and she shared it with me…thanks Violet). Surprisingly it hasn’t affected her too much, but she’s a little more irritable during her normal cranky times, and I think it’s one of the reasons for her more frequent than normal wake-ups.
Milestones – Like I mentioned before, Violet started rolling over this past month! She had been really close for a while, getting on to her side from her back. But she finally turned over completely, from her back to her tummy, and now she thinks it’s the greatest thing ever and wants to do it all the time. Sometimes she’ll keep rolling and go from back to tummy and then to her back again, and then other times it’s like she forgets how she did that. She gets into what we call “beached whale” mode and cries until we flip her over back to her back. This is what she likes to do in the middle of the night. Yay.
Favorite things – her puppy lovey, an elephant taggie toy that makes a crinkly noise, hearing Jona talk to her and say silly things, rolling over, hanging out on the changing table, looking at herself in the mirror.
Least favorite things – evenings, when she gets stuck on her belly, being cold.
How we’re doing – We’re tired, but good. Not only did Violet and I get colds this month, but Jona and Aaron also both got stomach bugs. So we’re still in recovery mode over here. I am SO ready for spring weather, longer days, and being able to spend more time outside. We could all use the fresh air.
How big brother is doing – it’s a struggle still guys. We are still on the roller coaster that is having a 3 year old. He goes from sweet and clever to Screamy McScream-face in just minutes, seconds even, and half the time I don’t even know why. He has been doing a better job of staying in his bed at night, so I’m really thankful for that. Otherwise, we just keep trying to find ways of dealing with the meltdowns in a way that lets him feel his feelings without them turning into power struggles. But it’s easier said than done.
Things I want to remember – I love how Violet just breaks into the biggest grin when I come pick her up from daycare–it makes my day! Also, I’ve been trying to get into the routine of reading her a story at night before bed, and when I’m reading she’ll turn her head around and look at me, it’s so sweet. She’s also been making such cute little squeals and noises, I love listening to her.
