Edie's 5 Month Update

Size
Weight: 12 lbs 3 oz
Height: 25" (haha wha same as last month? Honey I shrunk the kid!)

She gained so little in the past month, boo! More alert and louder than ever, I'll take that as she's just fine. Plus, she doesn't fit into her 0-3 onesies so she must be growing taller.

 Attending her first wedding.

Sleep
Edie's night sleep in the past month was good, but half the time she woke up crying hard after the first sleep cycle, which she didn't do before. While we were in Toronto she even woke up after the 8:30 safety zone, but quickly returned to bed when I came back and nursed her (my sister was babysitting). She wakes up to eat two times a night and sleeps a total of 11-12hrs, instead of 14 in the previous month. My guess is that she's more or less caught up on her lack of sleep from before, so she doesn't need as much night sleep. We're going to try pushing her bedtime later to see if she'll wake up later. Waking up in the middle of the night and then starting the day at 6am is making me more tired than ever. When I read about other babies that wake up to play or comfort nurse multiple times a night, I'm quickly reminded that Edith is a great sleeper.

 Here's a lovely tent that my sissy built to prevent Edie from watching tv. Couldn't stop laughing even though we were worried that she woke up way past her bedtime.

Since she moved to her crib two months ago, Edie never cries before going down for a nap, but on Monday she cried for almost 30min. I was so exhausted and it was Kel's last day of pat leave, so I let him deal with her. Ever since that day her naps have been longer. I know people say you have to nap train to get longer naps, but Edie always soothed herself to sleep and still only napped for one hour. Maybe it's a growth spurt or she's fighting off some germs? She was coughing a bit and her dad had a mild cold. I also made her room much darker and we close her bedroom door sometimes, but WHO KNOWS?! It could be a combo of these things and these long naps may or may not be here to stay. I'm just glad she seems even happier and more alert with these longer naps.

 Yep, she sleeps a LOT and has a giant bald spot to show for it.

While Kel was on pat leave for five weeks, we stayed home most of the time to accommodate Edie's frequent naps. I wonder if we'll look back and laugh at ourselves, trying so hard to give her the sleep she needs, giving up our social lives and pre-baby lifestyle. On most days, I think we're doing the right thing. We can only do what we think is best at each stage of the game, so for now our family revolves around Edie's schedule.

 Ambidextrously rocking-on for sleepiness' sake.


Milestones
Edie rolled over from her back to her tummy two weeks ago for the first time. She was reading with daddy and wanted to eat Kel's ear, so she kept turning and turning until, bloop, her face was plopped on the couch! Since then she's repeated this trick a few times. Today she did three in a row and if I'm not crazy, I even saw the slightest hint of a smile on her chubby face.

 Slightly confused after she went from tummy to back.

Finger-loving Edie now grabs objects with purpose, sometimes even with fervor using both hands together with her mouth. She calculates her success rate and only aims when the odds are easily in her favour. If a toy is slightly farther but still within reach, she will just look and then start sucking her fingers as a substitute. She loves them fingers as much as ever, but instead of the constant sucking, she will now sometimes gnaw on them.


Favourites
Like most kiddies, Edie has an oral fixation. Whatever looks interesting must be examined by her mouth first. This includes our glasses, hair, faces on her footed pjs, her change pad, whatever. She also likes to scratch surfaces with her nails.

 Ooh a flat surface, let's scratch it together grandma!

Her favourite pastime is reading (haha go ahead and laugh, I know I sound like those mothers that have a concrete plan on how their kids will get into Havard). Since reading is so popular as part of a bedtime routine, we tried reading to her when she was younger, but Edie wouldn't even notice the book and got royally cranky. These days she looks at the pictures attentively and will even squeal with delight when we turn the page. When she's in a good mood, she even talks after each page turn as if she's reading to us.

 All of her favourites: daddy, book, clothe and Skwish.


Eating
No big changes, still nursing 5 minute (now usually less) on one side. Edie will sometimes humour me and eat right after tummy time or just before a nap. Can't say I don't try to feed her! If I'm not half asleep (nursing makes me so sleepy!), I'm usually giggling as Edie pounds my chest with her fist. Sometimes she'll even stop and serenade me with a little song.

Out of boredom I gave her some banana one day. She didn't like it. Since then, my mom and Kel have tried feeding her some more banana with a spoon. I'm pretty sure she "won't like" whatever we feed her, just because it's not familiar and she needs to work harder at swallowing. We don't have any plans for introducing solids right now so it's all for fun and giving us all a chance to get used to the idea. I'm not quite ready for the extra work and I don't know if Kel will ever be ready for the mess. I hope she will love food as much as we do.

I have to be more intentional about getting Edie to take a bottle (or perhaps sippy cup if she'll take it?). We tried a handful of times in the past month and she just swirls it around her mouth like it's a toy and gets annoyed that we're holding her. It's tricky enough to get her to nurse; convincing her to drink from a bottle is doubly hard. We're invited to two weddings this summer and we really want to go. As it stands, the weddings collide with Edie's bedtime, so we'll have to find a way to feed the kiddo without me being there. Impossible? I don't know, but we gotta try.


Losing My Hair and My Mind
The funny thing with babies is that when they're new newborn, the feed-change-rock cycle is so short and you're just running around like a headless chicken trying to keep you and the baby alive. There's hardly time to eat or even run to the washroom. But now that I have time to sit and eat (and write!), there's much more room for crazy thoughts to creep in. Some nights I find myself subtracting the months from the big twelve. The 6-pounder is going to be a walkin' squawkin' toddler in seven months?! She's not going to need me anymore. Nope, my one year-old will be totally self reliant. Kelvin sees me crying, ignores the fact that I'm losing my mind and patiently tells me that it's a GOOD thing that Edie is growing fast. I nod and half-hardheartedly agree but is convinced there's a way to keep Edie exactly as she is. Then the next morning rolls around and I'm dying to stop the headache and peel my eyes open so I can go get Edie. Man, would she'd grow up already and just let me sleep another 20min?! Oh motherhood, we're on perfect grounds for insanity.

 Celebrating Canada Day for the first time!