5 Months

**My apologies for the late post.  We were on vacation, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the computer.**

Our little lady turned 5 months old at the beach.  What a rough life this child leads.  She is fortunate to be the second child, as we so could not wrap our heads around taking a baby this young to the beach the first go round.

5 months finds Annabelle much the same - still a good baby.  Less newborn, though, which I guess is a good thing.  I have managed to figure out her nap schedule, which is two long naps and one short nap.  If she gets her first nap of the day, she is an excellent sleeper all day long.  In fact, I often have to wake her from naps to feed her.  Why, you ask, would you wake a sleeping baby?  Because it is my strong belief that babies that sleep too much and eat too little during the day will sleep too little and eat too much overnight.  So there you go.  Unfortunately, Sweet Cheeks (a Sam-approved nic name) does not always get all of her naps because, well, Sam and I would kill each other if we never left the house.  And three naps a day in the crib, plus 5 nursings a day mean we would pretty much never leave the house.  So we have Sam days, filled with outings, and Annabelle days, filled with at-home play.  It is working for us so far.

I still swaddle her!  But she is getting really good at getting out of it, so I must soon figure out how to put her to sleep with free arms.  Especially since she is taking to rolling over in her crib.  And no, she still cannot roll from her stomach to her back.  This confuses me.  She is pushed up all the way on her arms, crying because she is mad, and just sits there.  Just lean, little girl!

She is playing much more.  She likes to always have something to hold, be it a toy, strap, or burp cloth, and is constantly trying to get said item into her mouth.  This, plus my battle wounds from spoon

 feeding Sam, are making me consider Baby-Led Weaning with her...but that is another post.  She is always trying to sit up, it looks like she's doing little baby crunches.  If I get her balances just right she can sit for a few seconds, but she just won't reach her arms down to learn the tripod sit.  She did, however, sit in her first ever high chair on the way to vacation.  She's no longer content in the bouncy seat because she can't see what's happening.

I'm not going to lie, it is hard work to get her to laugh.  I feel like this goes with her laid back personality - it takes a lot to get her worked up for the good or the bad.  Some belly blows and neck nibbles will often do it, but there is no belly laughing yet like Sam had at this age.

And her list for the month...
Likes:
-Sam.  Her biggest smiles are always for Sam
-Being included

-Having her diaper off

Dislikes:
-Being left out
-Prolonged periods on her stomach