Lillian Belle: 5 Months Old!
It was impossible to get a good picture this month because her fingers are always in her mouth. Always.
Not happy when I took them out lol. I wanted to be able to see the Tiana sticker ;)
Sweet girl :) Ah, I love her.
Weight: My guess would be around 14 lbs. She was 13 and some ounces at her 4 month appointment. At her appointment she was 45% for weight, 50% for height and her head was 50%.
Health: Lilly Belle is a healthy baby. We had a few days with constipation problems and teething is in full force but other than that, she's been super healthy. Her teething has gotten pretty bad. We've had some rough nights. We give her Tylenol when it gets really bad, but try not to do it too often; maybe once/twice a week.
Sleep: This month was completely random with sleep. She started the month off sleeping amazingly well while I was in WI her. She weened herself from her paci and found those fingers. I would just swaddle her up and give her kisses and then lay her down and walk away without a single cry. Then...we got home and everything changed about a week later. She cries a ton when we lay her down at night. Many times now I have had to nurse her to sleep to calm her down. It has gotten pretty intense. I like nursing her to sleep, I just don't want it to become a habit.
Social: Lilly likes people once she knows them. She gets pretty overwhelmed when many people are staring at her at the same time (who wouldn't lol). She did a great job on New Years Eve with a ton of people around and it was super loud and she just sat there chill the whole night. She has become an intense Mamas Girl this month. I kind of love it. I had a lot of time with her this month between a week in Wisconsin and then 2 weeks off of work for the holiday.
Diet: This is the part I was half dreading and half excited to write about. Bad news is...she has now had formula introduced into her diet. It started on the last day in WI when I just didn't have anything pumped. Matt and I agreed that her diet would still be 90% breast milk and 10% formula. Not very proud of that, but I remind myself daily that it's okay and I did not fail her. The exciting part is that we introduced solids on Christmas Eve. She has now had Rice Cereal and Avocado. We are not going to give her Rice Cereal anymore as all 3 times we gave it to her she had horrible nights. She really loves avocados though and has now had those 3 times as well. I mix it with like a tsp of formula to make it a bit more runny. Today I will be making sweet potatoes, carrots, yellow squash, fuji apples, peas and green beans. I can't wait to try them all with her this month and then to make some yummy combos for her too!
Clothes: Lilly wears 3, 3-6 and 6 month clothes. It really depends on the brand and the outfit and how I want it to fit her. Same as last month except she really only has maybe a handful of things that are size 3 months that still fit.
Baby Gear Love: She still sleeps with her Aden and Anais swaddles but she now just gets out of them at night and we now wake up to her chewing on them every time She still sleeps with her Sound Sleeper app and that is for naps and bedtime. Lilly still loves her kick gym! This month she spent a lot more time in the Bumbo and is great at sitting up in it. She still likes her Snuga Monkey Bouncer seat. Sophie the Giraffe is huge around here. She loves her! She started to love her Mamaroo again this month and even naps in it sometimes. This will probably be the last month with it though as we are moving in February.
Crying: Lilly cries more now. Not a ton compared to most babies, but more than was usual for her. This just started at the end of this month. I know it has a lot to do with teething :(
Likes: We have a lot of likes. Her kick gym is probably her favorite activity during the day. She is a huge fan of nursing. There are times throughout the day where she nurses every hour. I thought it was because she was hungry, but am now starting to think it is how she is soothing herself through teething. She can sit through long stories now and loves to stare at the pictures and grab the books. She likes to "turn the page" when we read to her too. She likes to hang out in her carseat/stroller and enjoys being in the car. Girlfriend loves her Daddy and "talking" to us. She still loves bath time and getting her hair washed. New this month is that she has really found her voice. She does this crazy high pitched scream. It's really loud but she loves it lol.
Dislikes: Teething and going down for naps.
Milestones: Lilly can roll now. While we were in Wisconsin she rolled from tummy to back and on Christmas while we were eating dinner she rolled from back to tummy. She loves to stand on our legs and she has really been practicing sitting by herself. I had her do it for 10 seconds one day but that was with some serious leaning forward. Eating solids was huge this month, too! We also have a fun new trick now. Lilly started to copy us when we make "motor boat" sounds. Hers sound more like "Ah PPppppphhhh," but oh so cute!
Nicknames: Lilly, Lilly Belle, Peanut, Peanut Butter, Sweet Girl, My Angel, LB
And now...a ton of pictures from this past month!
Lilly Belle hanging out with her Poppa. He loves her so much!
Play date with her buddy, Owen.
"Playing" together :)
Auntie Cirrah holding Lilly for the first time!
These are all out of order but I'm too busy to fix it (sorry).
Lilly did not perform (obviously) but she did attend her first Emerald City Dance recital with Mommy!
LB meeting Auntie Jenna!
And Uncle Coco!
Sweet story time with her Nama :)
Lilly Belle misses her Nama and Poppa very VERY much!
Meeting her Gigi (Great Grandma)!
4 Generations
Auntie Cylie & Lilly Belle
See how she can pull herself up using her tummy muscles, strong girl!
I'm obsessed with this pjs :)
She fell asleep nursing and stayed sleeping while we changed her.
Lilly does a lot more tummy time now and loves to "play" with her toys.
Her ball and Sophie are currently her favorites.
After her first bite of rice cereal, she wasn't so sure lol.
Lots of sweet naps at the beach house.
Lilly Belle's 1st Christmas!
Sweet girl with her daddy (and presents)
And of course the favorite toy was the cheapest little Minnie Mouse teether ;)
It is now January 7th as I type this and she's still obsessed with it :) Good job, Santa!
This is a funny picture but Auntie Mel held Lilly a lot during the break and LB loves her Auntie Mel. Especially when she does this silly shaky dance with her. LB is not a fan of Auntie Mel when she makes scary faces at her LOL...this results in tears...every time. (Kinda funny...)
Our first Christmas as a family of THREE!
Christmas is hard work for this little elf.
Nana and Lilly Belle in their matching Disneyland Christmas jammies.
Cuddles from Auntie Megan :)
The morning after the Christmas sleepover which none of these kids actually participated in.
Lilly: "Um, Quenton. What are you doing?"
Not a big cereal fan (don't blame her...sick!)
But avocados...now those we're a big fan of!
"Hey Mom, check me out! I'm riding on a bear!"
Lilly's first time down to the beach at Nana & Papa's!...Technically we could call this her first time by the ocean!
Hehe, I love this one!
Nana & Papas :)
Lilly's first time meeting her Great Auntie Colleen!
Lilly Belle with a bunch of her cousins. (Caitlin, Clare, Quenton, Lily, Cody, Lilly Belle & Owen)
Lily & Lilly. Ha, our Lilly wasn't so thrilled about being passed around but I do love and am obsessed with her hoodie/whole outfit.
Family visit! (Uncle Gary, Chris, Quenton, Cody, Lily, Mary, Clare, Megan, Auntie Colleen, Lance, Marie, Matt, Caitlin, Lilly Belle & I) And just realized...Owen is not in this photo, he must have been down stairs.
Cousins "monkeying" around lol
This picture is so real. I love it.
Thank you cousins for letting me play with your old toys!
After a rough night, the only way she would sleep was wrapped in her princess blanket in my arms and then I finally lay her down and this is how she stayed :)
New Years Eve! Quenton loves his "Baby Lilly (wiwwy)"
And we should end with this...
Pretty much sums her up. She is such a good baby! We are very blessed.
Dear Lilly Belle,
You are growing so incredibly fast. I cannot believe you are already 5 months old. I have recently been freaking out knowing that before I know it, you're going to be sitting up and crawling and walking and talking and then graduating college. It's all going to happen in the blink of an eye and I don't want to miss a thing. I keep coming up with master plans to quit my job and just stay with you every second of the day...so far...sadly (very sadly), that plan hasn't worked out so well. So, when I am home and in the time I don't have work to do, I soak up every minute I have with you, almost to a fault. When I'm not working, I'm with you and you have my full attention. I want you to always know that 'you are not the center of the world, but you are the center of my world.'
My favorite times of the day/night with you is still nursing. You look up at me and just stare and stare. Sometimes you even stop eating because you can't help but smile back. I love that so much! I know you know that I'm your mommy and I tell you over and over again how much I love you. I sing to you and tell you stories. I love reading you stories in your glider and bath time is still so much fun with you. You like to hold your bath toys now and it is still awesome how you love when I wash your hair.
Our little family is going through a lot of changes right now and I pray every single day that you feel none of what we're feeling. We try very hard to make sure that you only feel love and happiness. Mommy & Daddy love you very much and no matter what happens, you will always be our baby girl and we will always have each other. You bring so much light to our lives and we cannot imagine life without you. Mommy & Daddy are working very hard right now to make big changes for our family. We want you to have a happy, stable life. One that is full of hugs, kisses, tickles and lots of laughing! Daddy is trying very hard in school and I'm about to start college so I can become a teacher.
We will always do everything we can to give you the best life possible. One day when you're all grown up and moving out, that's what I always want you to remember.
I love you my sweet girl. More than you'll ever know.
Love,
Mommy
