5 Months

Lua is five months old!  

She's a pretty big girl, weighing in at around 16 pounds (that's a ten-pound gain since birth!).  She's starting to get taller, too-- at her last doctor's visit, she was in the 87th percentile for height.  She can now stand in my lap and look over my shoulder, or sit firmly on my hip.  From her shrieks, to her smiles, to her purposeful grasp, it's clear that she's no longer a newborn.  She's now a full-blown baby.

It's been fun watching her grow in this past month.  She's becoming so independent!  She can now play by herself, at least for a few minutes at a time.  She tolerates tummy time, and is just starting to push herself up with her arms.  She likes to reach for toys, grip them, and drag them slowly and inexorably towards her mouth.  She laughs easily, and smiles at everything.  She loves songs and, when left alone, makes a low, droning whine that we assume is singing.  She babbles and groans and chatters constantly.

She's still a little slow in terms of physical development, but that's okay with us.  She has yet to roll over, which is something that I attribute that to her contented (read: lazy) nature.  If her toys are out of reach, she seems content to play with her hands or feet, instead.  She just kind of accepts her world as being either face-up or face-down, and makes no effort to change that.  

Dan and I joke that we are in a temporary and miraculous window of calm.  Our girl is old enough to play by herself, but still doesn't move from where I put her.  She has no teeth, so she can't bite, and she's too young for solid food, so her breastfeeding sessions are simple, predictable, and easy.  I don't expect all of this to last, but I'm grateful for this period of relative calm.

I can also happily say that Lua and I have hit a groove in our stay-at-home relationship.  We're getting out more and more often.  We go hiking several times a week, and have been to a few play groups.  I feel like I'm finally making Mom-friends, and I'm more and more comfortable in my role as a stay-at-home-mom.  

This past month has been our best month yet, but it's also been crazy, hectic, and insanely busy.  I'm getting out every day, and Dan is working between 50 and 60 hours a week.  We're so, so happy, but it all comes at the expense of the blog! Thanks for standing by as I work to get up-to-date.  

And now, here are Lua's five month pictures!  

She's getting so big!  And exuberant!

Lua, laughing at Daddy

Five months old!

Posing, realistically.

I love this little face!

Going...

Going...

Gone

Note:  These pictures were taken a few days early, as we were getting ready to leave for the East Coast.  Lua's wearing her new Christmas dress!  She isn't quite sitting on her own yet in these photos, but on Christmas Day (at exactly five months!), she learned to sit all by herself.  What a big and exciting milestone!