Charlotte- 5 Months!

Clothes
Mostly all 3-6 months or 6 months clothes.




Health
So far so good!  So thankful she did not catch the cold that Derek and I got.  It appears most of her cradle-cap has cleared up this month as well.  She had just a minor case that could be kept at bay by using a little baby oil at bath time and a brush.  We will probably stop doing that routine this month.



 

Diet
I'm still exclusively pumping and we use Similac Supplementation whenever we need it.  It is really dependent upon the day of whether I'm still enjoying "breastfeeding."  Some days I just tell myself to finish up the day and that will be it.  Then the next morning I get up and I'm just like, Ok I can do another day.  And other days it is completely fine and I think I can continue doing this for months!  How I'm feeling today is that I'm going to start the weaning process....it's definitely a mixed bag of emotions about stopping.

We switched to the next Mom's On Call schedule this month.  We dropped from 5 bottles to 4 and I was terrified.  Of course it was the usual case that the Mommy loses sleep over nothing because Charlie did just fine!

Another big deal this month is we started solid foods!  I was hesitant to start with cereal and wanted to go straight to the food, but decided to take more of a relaxed approach.  Charlie ended up hating cereal and spit it out repeatedly.  She has since moved on to pears, squash, apples, and peas.  Apples are her all time favorite.  I would have to say that she doesn't love eating her solid foods yet.  She will swallow anything that ends up in her mouth but doesn't always open her mouth to get her spoonfuls.  She continually gets better and better each day.

We also tried to introduce the sippy cup this month.  She had absolutely no interest in using it.  When we would place it on her tongue, she would suck.  But then spit it right out.  We plan to put it away for a couple weeks-month and try it again then.
 




Sleep
This month was definitely the worst month for sleep.  The 4 month sleep regression is seriously no joke.  I really can't complain though because Charlie only woke up in the middle of the night 3 times last month (first time since December!).  We fed her 5 ounces and she would go right back to sleep.  It really wasn't that big of deal.  However, the real challenges came with her naps.  She would raise such a fuss when putting her down and completely dropped her 4th nap in the late afternoon/evening.  I felt like she was telling us that she didn't need that many naps and so we switched to the next schedule.  It was like night and day difference!  She went down for her naps (one in the morning and afternoon and catnap in the evening) absolutely no problem with no fussing.  Thank goodness that is taken care of now. 

With the new schedule we started putting Charlie down half hour earlier.  She had no problem falling asleep.  She will sleep from 7:30/7:45 to 7:15/7:30.  She wakes up by herself most mornings and just babbles until I come in and get her at 7:30.  One or two mornings out of the week we will still have to wake her.

Charlie has discovered her side this month.  She is such a side sleeper!!




Crying
We really don't hear a peep out of her all morning/early afternoon.  In the afternoon and evenings she requires more entertainment and contact.  But other than that, she really doesn't mind much! 


Baby Gear
Eric Carle bug, play mat, Jumperoo, Vulli chan Pie Gnon Key Rattle





Likes
Music (LOVES music!), standing, rolling, being on her tummy, bath time, people singing to her, watching Brutus, playing with her feet


Dislikes
Waiting on her bottles when she is ready to eat.  I wouldn't say that she "dislikes" new environments, but she is definitely hesitant.





Milestones
This month Charlie starting rolling around like no other!  We put her down and she will be two feet across the room before you know it.  She loves to roll!  She has also found her feet.  She can go 10-15 minutes playing with them.  As you can tell the photoshoot was a little different this month with her wanting to play with her feet constantly!  Another milestone this month was her first roadtrip since Christmas.  We went to Athens and she did great in the car.  It was her first time sleeping in her pack n' play.  She did great at night but putting her down for naps were a struggle (this was before switching to the new schedule).  You could definitely tell she was not her normal happy little girl while there.  Lastly, she is a talker!  She is constantly telling stories by blowing raspberries and making noises.  If only we knew what she was saying :)




Other Thoughts
Charlie, this month has brought the most changes and development hands down!  You've become the most interactive little girl with both Derek and I, but also with your toys and Brutus.  You are able to move places and get things all on your own.  We have had the best time watching you change!  I think we updated the grandparents daily this month on new things you were starting to do.  We absolutely love each and every big smile you give us.  You are so enjoyable and we love how happy you are.  We cannot wait to give your more new experiences.  We can see that little brain thinking and taking it all in.  We are looking forward to what the next month will bring!