Five Months!

Christmas has come and gone and Penny is another month older! She got so many nice gifts and our house is filled to the brim with toys! She loved opening presents! She thought wrapping paper was pretty much the greatest thing on earth!

Weight: About 16 lbs according to our home scale
Height: Unknown
Head Circumference: Unknown

Biggest Accomplishment This Month: Sitting up! She's pretty pro at it now, but she often forgets that she's the one holding herself up and throws herself back or straight forward onto her face.

Biggest Struggle This Month: This kid hates napping! She's supposed to be getting around 16 hours of sleep a day right now and we're lucky if she gets....12? 13? Most of her naps are only 20 min long, which would be fine if that were enough sleep for her, but then 15 min later she's crabby and rubbing her eyes again. She also has had a cold for the past week that she can't seem to kick. I didn't know so much snot could get sucked out of a little baby's nose! But since we've put the humidifier in her room it's been helping her sleep a lot better.

Mommy's Favorite Moment: She's starting to learn how to "kiss". She'll grab the sides of my face and pull me in and plant a big, open mouthed, wet one on my lips. It's pretty adorable.

Mommy's Least Favorite Moment: This whole week with her cold, though especially last weekend, has been rough. She's just not her normal self and while she has bouts of playfulness, she's generally just cranky. I just feel bad for her since there's not much we can do for her but clean out her nose (which she hates!) and get her lots of fluid. We tried giving her water for the first time a couple of days ago and she took it right out of a big girl cup, so that's something!

Daddy's Favorite Moment: Penny and Daddy's day of fun! Mommy had to work 9 hours last Saturday and it was their first full day together by themselves!

Daddy's Least Favorite Moment: Getting sick for the first time

Five Month Developmental Milestones According to What to Expect in the First Year (highlighted in green Penny has accomplished, highlighted in red she hasn't yet):

"By five months, your baby...should be able to:

*hold head steady when upright

*on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms

*pay attention to an object as small as a raisin (but keep such objects out of baby's reach)

*squeal in delight

*reach for an object

*smile spontaneously

*smile back when you smile

*grasp a rattle held to back or tips of fingers

*keep head level with body when pulled to sitting

...will probably be able to:

*roll over (one way)

*bear some weight on legs

*say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonant combinations

*razz (make a wet razzing sound)

*turn in the direction of a voice

...may possibly be able to

*sit without support

...may even be able to:

*pull up to standing position from sitting

*stand holding on to someone or something (for short periods of time)

*object if you try to take a toy away

*work to get to a toy out of reach

*pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other

*look for dropped