5 months

These months are going by so quickly! Wasn't I just writing her four month blog a few days ago? And how is it already mid-March?
Well let's not dwell on that. Autumn is still busy growing up these days. I'm going to indulge myself in another list-style rundown of what she's doing these days -- as if you care what size diapers she's wearing or how often she's eating. I do though. So, with that:

Little Booger

--Wears size 2 diapers. We might be starting an entire blog of diaper reviews, for the record. Brian took it upon himself to embark on a mission to find the miracle diaper that will not only hold in her blowouts, but will somehow make her stop smelling like an ammonia factory by 4am every day. So far, he is not winning. We do have about 564 size 2 diapers of various brands lying around though. Maybe it's time to get Charlie Sheen on that mission.

Hanging out in bed with Sammy. Dad says this is the last time she gets to be in bed with a boy until she's 30!

--She's eating a lot, and chunking up quite nicely (see cheeks in pics below). After discovering that she had two amazing nights of sleep following being only bottle-fed those days, I've pretty much gone to just pumping. We mix the bottles with about 4-5oz breastmilk and 1.5-2oz formula. Not sure how long I'll keep that up, but I'm really glad she doesn't mind the formula. She is also eating rice cereal once a day. Not too exciting, if you can't tell by the look on her face.

--Sleeping -- winning! Well, for now at least. We started putting her in her crib after her last appointment, about 3-4 weeks ago. The first 2 1/2 weeks were unbelievably rough. Like, waking up every 45 minutes-1 1/2 hours rough. This type of behavior was somewhat acceptable when she was a newborn and I didn't have to go to work, look presentable, or say anything intelligible all day. But now that I'm back at work, doing my best to change the lives of other children? Not ok. So anyway, she has finally gone back to waking up just once to eat, around 3-4am -- and maybe one other time just to talk to herself or try to find her paci.

We love this. Bedtime is around 7-7:30 and we can count on her to wake us up at 6:20am on the dot, every single day. Also, we are all still 100% addicted to her Miracle Blanket swaddle. The geniuses behind the Miracle Blanket hold a special place in our hearts, but they seem to have failed to recognize how easily they could expand their business to make twice as much income if they only made the swaddle blanket in more than one size. Sure, this is probably because the Miracle Blanket is designed for newborns, and not for squirmy, rolling 5-month-olds who are trying to learn to crawl. Well folks, we refused to let that stop us! Poor Autumn's little legs have been scrunched into that pouch for at least a month or so now. So the other night I grabbed some scissors and solved the problem in about two minutes. See picture below. Now we can swaddle her until she's twelve, aaaaaaah.

--Wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. Just upgraded to size 2 shoes.
--Cooing, babbling, yelling, squealing more and more every day. When she wakes up in the middle of the night we can hear her talking to herself for up to 15 minutes before she starts crying or yelling for us. Lately she's been practicing "puh" and "tuh" sounds, usually whispering them to herself. "Buh", "gih" and "nah" are also mastered.

I look like a little troll!

--As far as activity and skills go, she's still active and trying to learn new things every day. She can sit up by herself, sort of, but has terrible balance. She's trying her darndest to become mobile in a more effective way than steamrolling across the room. She can do a push up where only her hands and toes have contact with the ground, but it doesn't get her anywhere...yet. She loves her new doorway jumper and still the Jumparoo. And she still really loves putting everything in her mouth. She also really likes to try to swipe at Wally, and he rejects her every time. So sad.

So without further adieu -- my impromptu five month photo shoot of Autumn. I somehow managed to get her into this adorable party dress that Aunt Kellie bought her for Christmas. She doesn't have many (or any) parties to go to, but she really likes eating the dress, so it turned out to be fun for everybody.