five months

Whoa, Ella is 5 months old. That means I’ve been a mom for five months! And you know what? It’s starting to feel a little more normal. Or at least, I’m starting to get used to this “new” normal. The past five months have been the hardest transition of my life. And it’s been wonderful. I still find myself questioning every thing. But I’m not feeling so much like my life is a wagon rolling out of control.

This month has brought many new things for Ella - the biggest being daycare. And she is loving all her new friends! The first week she came home exhausted every day. Her daycare mom tells me that she just sits and watches all the kids play, and smiles at them every time they stop and say hi to her. They are all in love with her too. And we love her daycare too. It’s an in-home Christian environment, we get picture texts every so often, and a complete printout of her Ella’s activities everyday. I was so apprehensive about sending my baby to daycare, and it truly has been such a blessing.

Ella has officially discovered her thumb! She and and her pacifier are still fast friends, but he’s slightly less important these days. Another new talent of Ella’s is sticking out her tongue, she always seems to stick it out the left side – and I just think it’s hilarious. She has learned to roll from her tummy to her back … so tummy time is now an optional activity in her book. She hasn’t learned to roll from her back to her tummy yet, there’s not as much motivation for that one! But she really is so close, she’ll get as far as her side with her head face down but just can’t get that arm out of the way. And just last week she discovered she has feet; grabbing onto them is a new hobby of hers.

We are definitely experience the four month “wakeful period” here – and hoping it ends soon! Ella has been such a good sleeper, sleeping through the night since she was about 2 months old. But lately she’s been reverting! We had her sleeping from 10pm-8am (with a 6am feeding) fairly consistently. But lately she’s been missing her paci around 1am, and seems convinced that 4am is a great snack time. I haven’t decided if it’s her still adjusting to being in her own room, or if she’s going through a growth spurt.

Ella is becoming more and more animated and interactive. Nate is a little worried about what that means in the future. He was hoping for a content and quite little girl like her mom … but I think we may have a little social butterfly on our hands! She’s constantly moving, talking all the time, and always wants to have us in her sights. She loves to be held, and loves to watch Nate rant about his day. She just sits and stares at him, and smiles and laughs – it’s completely distracting to him. :) Her little personality (or rather her big personality) is showing more and more every day. I truly cannot get enough of her. Some days I think I can’t handle the cuteness. Which I guess is good when she keeps me up all night!