Five Months Old

Phaedra’s 5 month stats:
Weight: 12 pounds, 1 ounce (percentile: between 5th and 10th)
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches (percentile: below the 3rd --but our doctor says his program that maps those things out always ends up funny on the head, so it might not be very trustworthy. According to Eleanor's old chart, it would put her in the 10th percentile)
Height: 24 inches long (percentile: 15th)

Phaedra’s 4 month doctor appointment didn’t end up happening until last week, so it was more of a 5 month appointment. Eleanor’s 4 month stats were these:
Weight: barely above 12 pounds (percentile: about the 30th)
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches (percentile: about the 30th)
Height: 24.5 inches long (percentile: 50th)

I kept thinking Phae was bigger than Eleanor was by this time, but apparently not.

So happy.
She flaps her arms so wildly when she's happy that they get blurry in pictures.

Phae’s doctor asked if she could roll from front to back. I said, “Well, no . . . but she’s really good at rolling from back to front. Then she gets stuck there.” The doctor said that was pretty funny because most babies roll from front to back first. When it came time for him to examine her, I put her up on the table and –flip—she was on her tummy. She had to show off her skills.

You can see how pink and sore her skin is below her nose in this picture. Poor girl. We've all really been struggling with a nasty cold for the past two weeks.

I don’t know if she’ll ever learn to roll back onto her back. She gets on her tummy, and acts as if all she wants is forward motion. She flails her legs and arms as if she’s trying to swim to you. She actually can move pretty far just on her tummy. She can slowly spin herself around by bending her body and pulling with her arms. Just last night, Grant and I were watching her on the floor. She saw something that interested her, and we watched as she bent one knee, gripped the floor with her toes and pushed herself forward. Yikes!She loves to play with her clothes after I take them off of her.

Phaedra started solids this month. She seems to really like rice cereal (most days). She has also tried bananas and green beans so far. She made faces the first time she tried both. She got used to the green beans a little faster than she did the bananas. She really wants to do what we are doing at mealtime, though. She sure has been easier about solids than Eleanor was when she first started out.

I was just sure she was going to cut teeth last month, but nothing has happened. That’s fine with me. They can take their time.

Everything goes in her mouth right now.

I have to fight to keep her thumb/fingers out of her mouth while I'm nursing her.Cute feet.

Sleep has not been very good this month, but we have all had a cold. Phaedra really wasn’t happy trying to sleep when she could hardly breathe. We’re slowly getting over it, but it’s one of those colds that lingers.We let her try the Johnny-jump-up for the first time about a week ago. She likes it. Eleanor wished she could use it, too, so she jumped next to her. Phaedra loved jumping with her big sister.
Before I had Phaedra, her Grandma Matthews told me she had a feeling this one would be red haired, blue eyed, and a terror. So far, Phae has only fulfilled the first two. Grandma Matthews says the only time Phae shows a hint of the third quality is when her older sister cries and Phae beams listening to it. I like to give Phaedra the benefit of the doubt and assume that she hasn’t figured out the difference between the sound of Eleanor’s happy squeals and her shrieks of anger and pain, so Phae is just happy to hear that sound because she thinks it’s playtime.
Some things I love about Phaedra right now (obviously not the only things I love about her):

• I love how her face lights up and she gives me a big, toothless grin while flapping her arms every time I go to get her out of her bed after a nap.
• I love her laugh.
• I love how she adores her older sister and gets excited over even the smallest amounts of attention Eleanor offers her.
• I love how she bends to try to watch her daddy when he first comes home from work, excited at first, but eventually fussy if he doesn't acknowledge her.
• I love how curious she is. She loves exploring as much as her mobility will allow, and has victory in her eyes any time she gets her hands on one of Eleanor's toys.
• I love her dimpled knees and her small, pudgy, feet and hands.
• I love how fluffy her hair is after a bath.
• I love it when she sleeps.
• I love the feeling of her head against my cheek.
• I love to see her daddy holding her.

I've been meaning to get a video of Phaedra laughing. Eleanor was making her laugh the other morning, so it was the perfect opportunity. I love that sound!

And finally, if anyone wants to compare, this is Eleanor a day before she was 5 months old.