5 Months!

Could someone please tell me how it is possible that I am *one month* away from my baby being half way to one year old?!  Just tonight, as I was dressing Miss Holland for bed, I stood her up on her changing table so I could pull her jammies on, and I was struck by how much she has grown.  The fact that I could stand her up to dress her?  Oh, how the months are flying!

 

Miss Thang continues to delight us all with her emerging personality.  She loves to talk, and she really is quite loud!  She’s quite the wiggle-worm too…I am thinking as soon as she starts really moving around, I am going to have to chase her down.  She loves to flop all around her crib, using her feet to propel her in new directions.  She’s equally active in the tub, an activity she has always enjoyed. 

Holland loves to grab at everything in sight these days, and she’s particularly fond of using her little fingernails to scratch whatever she can reach—she must love the feel and sound of the different textures, and it is so funny to watch. 

It has been particularly sweet to see how Holland has grown quite fond of her big brother.  She loves to watch him, and she will give him the sweetest smiles.  The affection is quite mutual, which just about melts my heart, as you can imagine!

A wonderful milestone from this month that I would like to shout from the rooftops is that our little girl no longer hates riding in the car (have I mentioned before that she loathed it until now?)!  Praise the Lord!  Seriously, it is such a huge relief to know that we do not have to anticipate intense, prolonged screaming when we get in the car!  It’s quite interesting to note that Wade also hated the car as a baby, but grew to tolerate it at just about the same time—4 1/2 months!  I wonder what is up with that? 

A wise woman suggested I not share my baby’s sleeping habits with the world because my baby would undoubtedly make me into a liar if I did so.   Well, see the thing is, I don’t think Miss Thang’s sleeping habits are really brag-worthy these days so I wouldn’t mind being made into a liar :)  No, actually it’s not really the sleeping that’s the problem (one time last week she only woke once the whole night!); it’s the actual going to bed.  She does a fair amount of protesting before naps, but it’s manageable I suppose  (I don’t really know what’s normal because both of my children have protested going to sleep, maybe that’s the case for everyone?)  As far as the evenings go, for the past week and a half, with the exception of a couple of nights (tonight included, fingers crossed!) Holland has followed this pattern:  clearly sleepy around 6/6:30—>bath, nurse to sleep—>as soon as I attempt to put her down, she is wide awake and not having anything to do with going to bed.  We are talking major screaming.  So.  Concerned that something could actually be wrong, we have brought her downstairs with us, and it’s really quite funny—girlfriend just wants to chill with us!  She’ll smile and giggle and just sit next to us on the couch, happily hanging out with mama and daddy.  Last night, I promised her I’d get her back for this kind of behavior by refusing to leave the room when she’s hanging out with her friends one day…I’m hoping this is just a phase, and she’ll be back to a consistent bedtime soon, even though I have to admit, I kinda like her company :) 

{This was when the bedtime strike began—Grammy was staying with Wade and Holland while Philip and I went out to celebrate our anniversary.  This is what we found when we returned (Holland had refused to go down for her poor Grammy!)}

{I wasn’t joking when I said she literally wanted to hang out with us last night instead of going to bed.  Note Holland’s little arm casually draped over the chair.  Also note my adult beverage.  I hadn’t planned on sharing my chair with my baby at this time of night! :) }

Around the same time that this “bedtime strike” began, I noticed little faint patches of eczema on Holland’s skin. (You can actually spot one of them just under her chin, on her neck in the above photo with Grammy.) I hate the thought of battling eczema again with another child, and to be frank, I’m just sad and a little discouraged about this.  Also, the going to bed issues combined with the eczema caused me to begin to fear wonder if Holland could be beginning to develop allergies.  We are praying that this is not the case!  I have spoken with the specialists that Wade sees, and at this point, it’s certainly too soon to really know if that may be the case.  In the meantime, I am avoiding drinking cow’s milk and peanuts (as I have been since Holland was born), and we are giving Holland a daily dose of a probiotic.  (Here is an interesting article that touches on some of the benefits of probiotics.)  If you’re inclined, we’d love for you to join us in asking God to protect Holland from allergies! 

The good news is that Holland appears to still be “thriving,” medically speaking.  She had a little check-up today (our pediatrician wants to see her a little more frequently than the norm just to monitor her growth b/c of Wade’s history), and she weighed in at 15 pounds even, which keeps her in the 50th percentile.  She was 25 3/4” tall, which is in the 75th percentile.  I am encouraged by this and hopeful I can continue to plump her up!