Five Months!

--> 10/24/2012

Dear Lola,

You turned five months old this past Saturday.  I have to say that months four – five were my favorite so far.  You started out month four by grabbing things.  Your feet, my glass at meal time, anything and everything.  We went to Matagorda Bay about a month ago.  You cried off and on the whole way up and back.  The city itself wasn’t that nice.  I was hoping to get some cute beach pictures of you while we were there.  Two things prevented that: 1) I left your beach clothes, sunglasses, cute sun hat and sunscreen at home and 2) The beach was gross.  However, the point of the trip was to get a change of scenery so it served its purpose.  The locals were nice and we saw a guy catch a really big fish off the pier. 

Almost two weeks ago you were baptized.  This was such a special time for our family.  I look forward to sharing our faith with you and your baptism was a beautiful picture of what I hope is to come.  I should also mention that Will Dietrich, who is about 7 months older than you are, grabbed your hand and held it.  He’s a brave man doing that in front of your dad.  ;)

This past week you have most definitely started teething.  There’s no mistaking it.  You’ve been drooling quite a bit for a while now, but it’s obvious that you’re uncomfortable.  You make chewing motions (it looks like a fish) and moan all day.  Occasionally you pull at your ear and what really gets to me is when you cradle your jaw in that tiny little hand of yours.  We got you one of those amber teething necklaces, but I can’t tell if it’s helping.  During the day, you seem the same, but you are sleeping better at night – so it’s a toss up.  I spend a large portion of the day trying to distract you.  We go to the grocery store, the thrift store, Target and walking around the block.  The ErgoBaby has been a lifesaver – finally you enjoy baby wearing!  You’re still not a huge fan of the stroller (or car seat), but we managed two 1.5 mile walks this week in it. 

Despite your pain, you still give the sweetest smiles.  You haven’t been the social butterfly you once were, but you will occasionally smile at a stranger.  People love you.  Twice this week I was told, “You are lucky” and “You are blessed!”  A sweet Hispanic lady said, “Que Hermosa!” today.  I agree, you are beautiful!

You haven’t started crawling yet. I watch and wait in anticipation every day.  When you’re on the bed you try to crawl, but for some reason, don’t do it when you’re on the floor.  So I let you scooch down to one end of the bed, then I turn you around.  You’re incredibly vocal as well.  I didn’t think you could get any louder or chattier, but I was wrong.  You’re also about to go to the next sized prefold diaper.  Your dad and I were just talking about how it looked like you were longer – I guess you had a little growth spurt. 

In about a month or so, you’ll be ready for solids.  So far, you’ve only had breast milk.  I’m so proud of that!  Once you start sitting up, I’ll be comfortable starting solid foods.  I do believe you’ll be excited about that.  We keep you with us during meals and there are times you seem interested in what we’re doing.  I don’t really anticipate you eating much, but I think you’ll have fun playing with the food at the very least!

Love,

Mama