Baby A---5 months!

what the actual hell?  where has the time gone?  i absolutely cannot believe that my baby is 5 months old.  i remember when z was an infant, i kept looking forward to the next stage.  i couldn't wait for him to be 3 months because maybe he would be less cranky, 6 months because maybe he would be more fun and interactive, a year because he wouldn't be so needy, etc.  with ava, because i'm pretty sure she is our last baby, i am trying to soak it all in and savor the infant period, and it's going so so fast.  the days with a toddler and infant are challenging, i've never worked harder, or been yelled at more (haha), but there are moments i want to bottle up and save for later.  nursing is one of them.  i try to spend some of the feeding just looking at her, watching her chin move up and down as she gulps milk, her chubby fingers grasping one of my own, or clutching my shirt, or resting on my breast.  the sweet sweet noises that she makes as she drinks.  sometimes her legs and feet move around, kicking. other times she is relaxed and heavy.  sometimes her eyes are open, and she gives me a big smile, other times she struggles to keep them open while she finally succumbs to sleepiness.  sometimes she plays with her hair, right behind her ear.  when she is done, if she is awake, she dramatically pops off, her hair a little wet from sweating, her cheeks red and shiny, and a huge smile on her face.  other times, she is completely passed out, and rolls off.  it is one of the most amazing things i have ever experienced, nursing my babies, and i'll be a little sad when it is over this time.  the days are hectic and go by quickly, and i sometimes feel bad that baby girl doesn't get the attention from me that z did when he was a baby.  i have to make myself stop sometimes and be purposeful about interacting with her, playing, doing tummy time, singing songs, or just staring at her and taking it all in, rather than just having her tag along for the ride.  she is so smiley and playful now.  she smiles at everyone.  big, huge, gummy smiles all the way up to her eyes.  she chats with us, makes lots of screeching and shouty sounds, giggles, blows raspberries.  she love love loves to watch her big brother and giggles the most when he interacts with her.  she has started to prefer mama now, and wants me to hold her allthetime!  if i even start to set her down she immediately starts crying, with a big sad frown on her sweet little face.  we are kind of battling our way through the four month sleep regression still.  her nights are not that bad, except for when she was sick, but she has all of a sudden started to refuse naps.  some days she goes the entire day without a proper nap.  before, i could put her down and she would cry for about 10-15 minutes, but now she will cry indefinitely until i pick her up.  most days, when z goes down for his nap, she will take a decent nap, too.  but trying to sleep train her for naps during the day is impossible since i have to somehow keep z entertained and make sure he's not getting into trouble.  or danger.  so i don't know.  i'm kind of stuck.  nights are fine, recently she had a cold with really bad congestion, and she had a hard time sleeping at night, and then she got another cold and cough right after, and sleep deteriorated further with her waking up from 4-8 times per night, poor baby.  but she is better now, and has been waking up once or twice a night.  last week she was nursing constantly!  like every 45-60 minutes!  i imagine she was going through a growth spurt.  i decided to try some solid food to see if that would help.  i gave her a little mushed up avocado, which she handled pretty well, but she doesn't really swallow the food yet.  i also whipped up some pureed carrots, which the taste she seemed to enjoy.  but, i don't think she's actually ready for solids yet, because she still has a very strong tongue thrust reflex.  and she just doesn't seem as interested in food as z was.  at 4 months he was extremely interested in eating already.  she hasn't really exhibited any of those signs yet, and with the strong tongue thrust reflex, i'm not going to push forward with solids at this point.  we recently got her a high chair, so during dinner, i have been putting her in there, and give her a baby spoon to chew on while we are eating, and she seems happy with that for now.  yesterday i pulled the bouncy/activity chair out for her.  i sensed she was getting bored.  well, she had a blast in in for about 30 minutes the first time in it, while z jumped around it and bounced her up and down.  she was giggling like crazy.  so hopefully she will continue to like it.  so far, she hasn't been too crazy about her little froggy chair and even gets pissed off if i put her in the mamaroo (z calls it mamaroof!).  oh, we went to san diego for a week, so it was our first air travel with both kids.  they did great on the plane.  but then they both got a cold while we were gone.  boo.  i could go on and on about her, but i'll do the update and hopefully get all the important stuff.

-feeding: breastfeeding.  tried a little bit of solids (purees), but she is not really ready yet, so will wait til she is 6 months old and try again.  she usually nurses every hour to two hours during the day and once or twice in the night

-growth: she is outgrowing her 3 month old jammies, and most of her 3 and 3-6 month onesies.  is transitioning to mostly 6 month clothes now, some 3-6 month still.  i think she is around 14 lbs based on my non-scientific weight check the other day.

-development: rolling from back to front and front to back, is pulling her feet up to play with, chews on her hands constantly, is very aware and alert, is a little sensitive to loud noises and little bumps from her brother, she is constantly trying to sit up.  from a lying position.  she just tries to pull herself up to sitting from laying down using her own core strength, haha.  if i put her in anything that is slightly reclined, like the mamaroo or her rock n play, she will sit straight up and hold herself up.  she is a strong baby. she is very grabby, she grabs anything near her.  she is able to look at a toy, grab it, rotate it, put it in her mouth, pass it from one hand to the other, etc.  she can sit on her own for a few seconds before starting to tip over.

-sleep: touched on this above, not really napping well these days, sleeping pretty well at night.

-temperament: still pretty chill, although she is becoming more clingy and needy.  her default is happy and smiley, even if she is tired and cranky, she will cry but still try to laugh and smile.  she definitely lets us know when she wants or doesn't want something, she can be very loud and insistent, haha, which makes me happy.  i don't want her to be a push over or a follower since she is the younger sister.  i want her to be able to stand up for herself.

-likes: baths, mama, baba, playing with her big brother, big brother's bright orange tractor, her ball, chewing on sophie the giraffe's face, being held and cuddled

-dislikes: being put down, naps, being sick

-me: ups and downs, this stay at home mother of two business is for real.  i have a lot that i want to write about it, so hopefully i can have some time to get it all down in another post.  but i am both enjoying these little ones and working my ass off harder than ever before! hahaha.

big chubby cheeks