5 months old!

Dear Goose,
You are FIVE months old! Time is flying! Your favorite thing these days are your feet, any chance you get you love to grab them and put them in your mouth, You are working on sitting up, you can do several seconds unassisted if you start in a balanced place, but sooner or later you always topple. You are also happier just hanging out on your back. I've been able to have you hang happily in your bassinet on occasion and you'll just play with a toy or your feet and chatter away.

We don't have a 5 month ped appointment, so I don't know how much you've grown, but you continue to eat like a champ and grow in strength all the time. You still don't have a schedule for life, naps are every few hours or so and last anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours on a rare good day. I count one hour long nap a day as a success. You are too interested in the world to want to sleep.

You are full of smiles. When Daddy comes home, you light up. When you see your sitter or your sister, the grin fills your face. You like to be held up high above our heads, you like to be snuggled to our chests, you like to sit on our laps facing out, seeing the world. Every chance you get you stand on straight legs. You are starting to notice that you aren't mobile and it's starting to frustrate you. Not too much, but I can see your eyes following your sister and you can't wait to chase her.

You babble a lot these days, you have a lot to say! If anyone is having a conversation, you want to be part of it. I tell you all the time, but oh man are you adorable!

Oral fixation

Dear Sweet Goose,
I swear you are teething. Every day I run my finger along your bumpy gums, feeling for emerging teeth. None, not even a hint, but I know they are on their way! You want everything in your mouth lately. Not just in an exploratory way, no. You want to chomp! My face is a favorite target, nose and chin seem to be about the right size and texture. Your carrier is also a great source of slobber. We have crinkly books, teething toys of all shapes, textures and sizes, chewy toys, hard toys, soft toys, etc. You really prefer my face and the carrier. OK, then, you know what you want! I try to move the face sucking to nursing when it gets aggressive, which usually satisfies you, too.

You are in an intense MAMA ONLY phase right now. I've cut out of work early twice in the past week to hand with you. Again, I think it's those teeth coming in, you just want milk and snuggles on tap. Happy to oblige, sweet baby girl. Time is flying by, I'm trying to grab fragments of downtime when I can.

You chatter more and more and laugh more freely. Your belly is a little ticklish, I often get some laughs during diaper changes just doing a light tickle. You are getting a little bit closer to rolling from your back to your belly, but get stuck about 1/3 of the way. Your front to back roll is consistent, though frustrating to you, it still seems to surprise you when you end up on your back.

You love to listen to stories with your sister and she remains the one person to consistently get you to smile and laugh. You reach for her, which is a new trick and remains only for her.

4 Month Stats

Dear Goose,
At your four month check up, you weighed 14lbs, 2oz, up exactly a pound from the 3 month. You were 25.4 inches long, placing you in the 81% for height and 43% for weight. The doctor was very pleased with your growth, your strength and your focus. You even gave her some smiles before she gave you your shots. You cried for a moment, then were back to your regular sweet self. (Though later that night you got a little fever and the next day all you wanted to do was sleep)

The newest development is that you're riding in a stroller and in the carrier facing OUT. You LOVE it! You are so happy seeing the world. But it's overwhelming, too; after about 30 minutes of facing out, you're ready for a big sleep.

I swear there's a tooth getting ready to pop up, sometimes I think I can feel it protruding from your bottom gum. You continue to have an intense oral fixation and want everything in your mouth. It's not unheard of to catch you gnawing on all ten fingers. You're also a big fan of pulling on your toes. You go into the classic Happy Baby pose whenever you're on your back, which can make changing your diaper a little challenging at times. The weather changed rather suddenly from summer to fall and taking off your pants gets in the way of leg stretching time.

Loving Sophie and milk. Happy Goose in the park while Mama is at work!