5 Months Old!

Our little girl is officially 5 months old.

The other day while getting Alexa ready for her bath, I stood her up in the water. She immediately started smiling... and then started to pee. I am very fortunate she is a girl or I would have been sprayed. Then again a few days later I had another close call. I put Alexa in her frog robe to take some photos. She smiled and gave me a few cute shots and then I picked her up and realized she peed not only on her robe but on my bed. Oh well she knows how to make me laugh.

This week was Alexa's first week at the sitters (Madelyn). She went Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 8-11am. I got great reports from Madelyn each day. Alexa came home and took really long naps. I think it will take them both a little time to get used to each other but I still feel this will be a good fit. Alexa will go back next week for 3 days & then start full time on the 28th.

We had a great week. Alexa and Justin had lots of time talking on video chat. I love watching them interact, its really a special thing. We were able to go outside on Wednesday. Our walk ended up lasting over an hour, it was sooo beautiful outside. I tried to push Alexa in the baby swing, but she did not care for it.

Alexa also started solids. She rotates between whole grain rice & oatmeal. She definitely prefers the oatmeal. She takes 2 tablespoons of cereal with 1 ounce of breast milk. She has not had any negative effects with the food & seems to really enjoy it. The only issue now comes when I am eating my own food. If I eat anything out of a bowl, Alexa will open her mouth and sometimes starts crying. Haha.. I just love her! In another month we will start introducing baby food purees into her diet.

Things I never want to forget:

*Alexa's high pitch scream as she is sneezing

*Alexa shows a very concerned look when you move her around in the highchair

*Her singing in her crib and then laughing

4 Months Part 4

On Sunday, Alexa had her first experience with solids. My plan is still to wait until as close to 6 months as possible before making it apart of her daily routine. This weekend she was having some issues having a bm so we took the advice from Megan to try some stage 1 prunes. Alexa had no spoon issues and ate half the container. Unfortunately she still did not go to the bathroom until the next morning. But I did at least learn that she can use a spoon and the practice stage of rice is not necessary for her.

Alexa's newest trick which makes me laugh every time started this week. When she is tired she will not only tries to dig her face into my chest but now she turns her head up and tries to suck on my chin. The first time she did this I thought she was giving me a kiss (which she does, but with her mouth open). She has continued to do it at least once a day. I don't know why she thinks my chin is so tasty.

Super bowl Sunday! I tried to make it fun for Alexa, but she was very tired and barely made it to kick off. Oh well.. I see us having many more super bowl parties in the future and I am sure she will remember those more.

Tuesday was our last infant massage class. We learned the techniques for the face & back. Alexa enjoyed the back massage but refused to stay still for her face. We ended up just playing during that part. We made some really good friends in the class & I will really miss our weekly gathering.

We also found a sitter for Alexa. Her name is Madelyn and she has a 2 month old son named Adam. She lives about a mile down the street from us. Her husband was just moved here this week to join Justin's unit. They are both 22 years old and have been married a year and a half. I really feel comfortable in their home and believe Alexa will have a good time there. She will be starting next week for just 3 hours a day until I start working full time. I figured a slow transition will be good for all of us. Madelyn has expressed an interest in watching an additional child once Alexa and Adam are a little older. So for now it will just be the two of them.

I feel we have been very successful with Alexa's sleeping routine. She knows what to expect when we go upstairs and she has been really easy to put down for both her naps and bed time. I really hope when she starts daycare she will have any easy transition & will sleep well for them.

This weekend we are looking forward to our visit from Grandma, Aunt Heather & Jackson. Bengal and Carson will also be returning home. I have really missed my fur babies.

4 Months Part 3

Alexa rolled over from her belly!!! I made such a big deal out of it she looked terrified. She also started giggling on her own. She has been laughing for quite some time now. The difference is that she does it even when she is alone. She laughs at her toys or hands or really anything. My favorite new activity is "standing." Of course she does not do this on her own but she really loves being on her feet. We practice leaning against the couch & she just smiles away. Her new favorite song is "There she was Just a Walkin Down the Street." These all kind of come together when we do our dance parties. I love my little girl!

Alexa's daily schedule:

5am Bottle

7:30am Wake up

8:30am Bottle

930am-10am Nap

11:30am Bottle

12:30-1pm Nap

2:30pm Bottle

3-4pm Nap

5pm Bottle

7pm Bottle & Bed

Alexa had to go back to the doctor to get a physical for her childcare. Since this one is off post we had to get a new one filled out. I cannot believe how much we go there & she has not even been sick yet. Doctor said she looks good. She now weighs 13lbs 5oz. She went from the 20th% to 28% in just 11 days. She told me that there is no reason to continue to the formula. We are now back to just breast milk :) I am glad I have made it almost 5 months & only have 7 more to go. I really feel I will make it to a year.

We survived another snow storm this week. We had to spend 3 days stuck in the house. Once Friday came around we went out to face the cold weather. Alexa really enjoyed people watching in the PX & shipping birthday gifts to Justin. We are looking forward to our play date this weekend. That's about it for now!

Goals from last week:

*Getting Alexa on a better napping schedule: She takes 3 naps a day. I am soo proud of both of us for meeting this goal. I think she could take a little bit longer naps, but I think she will do that on her own. She does take all of her naps in her crib. Big success with this goal!

*Spreading the daytime bottles to 4hours: Well we are not to 4 hours, but she does go 3 1/2 for a few of them. We will keep working on this.

*Night time routine. Well we are moving in the right directions with this. But for now I prefer to do her bath in the afternoon & we do our books through out the day. So until we start our new schedule of work & school we will just leave this alone.