Molly Is Five Months Old

Dear Molly,

I can’t quite believe we are at 5 months already! I remember when you were born as if it was yesterday. Look at you here..

And look at you now:

I don’t know how you got so big so quickly!! Where did all you newborn-ness go? People say it goes by fast, but they didn’t elaborate on how fast! It feels like yesterday you were so tiny and now, in a blink of an eye, you’re 5 months old. This age has quickly become my favorite age.

Your monthly updates:

Personality:  You have developed the best personality and character. You are happy all the time and are forever smiling and chatting away. We have an amazing, unbreakable bond, but here’s no doubt about it, you are 100% a Daddy’s girl. I love watching the relationship between you two grow and my heart is completely melted about 5,000 times a day.

• Independent
• Content
• Clever
• Determined
• Sociable
• Cheeky
• Adventurous
• Confident

Size:

At your last visit to the drop in clinic at 19 weeks old you weighed 14.13lbs.You are still right on track, staying in the 50th percentile for your weight! We need to check your height and head circumference at some point as they dont do these measurements at the clinic. Your clothing sizes on the other hand are all over the place. You are so long now that you have to wear age 6-9 month sleep suites. However, you are still in 3-6 clothing, even some of your 0-3 month tops still fit you. As I said, all over the place! We have been told that we have to book and take you back to get weighed in a months time as we are venturing into the Baby led weaning territory!

Health & Development:

Development wise, you’ve grown leaps! Last month you mastered rolling, this month you’ve mastered sitting up completely unaided. You can sit for ages and play happily with your toys, and every now and then you will go to the side and end up on your front to roll – You’re a right wriggler too! You still dislike tummy time so I’m wondering if this will delay your crawling. Saying that though, if you’re sitting on someones lap, you will climb to stand up. Will you miss crawling and go straight to walking? Who knows! To top it off, ladies and gents we have a tooth! Your first tooth made an appearance this month, one of the bottom ones. The second bottom one is closely behind with a top one making its way down! You’re dealing with it really well though, you dribble and chew everything, but your mood, attitude and sleep hasn’t changed at all! You understand a lot more. We use baby signing with you and you’re slowly getting to grips with the basics. You know what “more” means as you open your mouth straight away. Also, when we say “up” both arms shoot up so you can be picked up – Its too cute!

Feeding:

This is where things get a little different than last month. So. You hated baby rice. Like, full on screaming wouldn’t eat hated it. So i gave you a banana instead and you loved it. You didn’t poop for 2 days, but hey..you did eventually! This kick started our journey into baby led weaning. As you were only just shy of turning 5 months, I was skeptical of giving you a lot because  everyone says to wait and start at 6 months. However, upon speaking to the Health visitor, you are:

• Sitting up on your own.
• You can hold your head up.
• You can grasp items and put them to your mouth.
• You give me and your dad the devil stare whenever we eat and scream because you cant have any.

All of these are signs that you were ready for the big leap into eating solids. So we went with it. We started off with the mushier stuff. The bananas, the sweet potato. We are now starting you on more normal foods and establishing some form of routine for eating. We think we have it down now

7am – Bottle upon waking

8am – Breakfast

11am – Bottle after nap

12pm – Lunch

3pm – Bottle and snack

6pm – Dinner

7.30pm – Bottle and down for bed.

You are still having your 7oz bottles 4 times a day because you’re still in the process of learning to eat. 90% of the food we give you gets gummed and then spat out. Once you establish how to swallow, then we will start to reduce your milk intake.

We are all learning here!

Sleep:

You still sleep through the night. 7.30/8pm – 7am. You have gone through these Leaps ( Wonder weeks reference ), and teething without any change to your sleep pattern and have somehow completely missed the 4 month sleep regression ( Other parents please don’t hate me ) You no longer sleep in your swaddle ameba, you sleep in a normal sleeping bag. We use your MyHummy every night without fail, to be honest, we are pretty sure it helps us sleep too!! You are also now sleeping in your cot because you grew too long for your crib. *cries to self in a corner* The transition was as smooth as anything ( again, pleased don’t hate me ).

Milestones:

• You can now sit up completely unaided
• You can now roll over by your self!
• Pushing down on your feet – When we hold you up, its almost like you are wanting to stand already!
• You have your first 2 teeth!
• You started eating solid foods!
• You are starting to use and understand baby signing.
• You went up to 6-9 month clothing
• you now sleep in your big girls cot!

Things you like:

• All the milk.
• Frozen Strawberries
• Your Jumperoo – You bounce around like Tigger in this thing!
• Car rides. They send you off to sleep straight away
• Music. Any type of music instantly calms you. You just lay there. The louder the better. Disney, Musicals, You are still very fond of The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
• You love animals.
• Bath time. You love a good bubble bath, you wiggle around like crazy now.
• MyHummy. Your MyHummy white noise toy – Still the Best.Purchase.Ever.
• Being in your sling/carrier
• Sitting up on your own!
• You like it when mummy and daddy have chats with you.
• Daddy’s voice – you are such a daddy’s girl!
• Disney Movies – Thank god for that!
• Being tickled.
• Swimming – my little water baby!
• Blowing raspberries
• Your feet – Always grabbing them when laying on your back.
• Chewing your hand…all the time!
• Attempting to escape any position you are being held in.
• You love eating and exploring new foods!

Things you don’t like:

• Being interrupted mid feed for winding.
• Waiting for bottle to be made/warmed up!
• Being taken out of the bath!
• Tummy time
• Being laid down
• When Daddy makes you jump by getting too into Peek-a-boo!
• When mummy or Daddy leaves the room.

Nicknames:

• Molly Mols
• Molly Moo
• Bug ( I call you this all the time)
• Beanie

Favorite photos from this month:

Somes sleeping in their big girls cot!

Splish Splash Fun in the sun!

Next month you will half a year old. I dont know how you are already nearly 6 months old, but time needs to slow down!

Mummy and Daddy love you to the moon and back Bug.

Always.

xxx