5 Months Old

Oh, sweet Charlotte. I can't believe its been 5 months already! To me, that's kind of the cut-off between having a newborn and having a baby...4 months still sounds young, but 5 months? That's almost half a year! We're having Elizabeth's birthday party this weekend, and I remember at her party last year, I was only 8 weeks pregnant with you. We hadn't even told many people yet. And now you're here and we love you and you're such an amazing part of this family!

You've made some big strides in the last month. We weaned your pacifier two weeks ago, and moved you into your crib in your and Elizabeth's room. You're handling it pretty well! Night are great - Elizabeth doesn't even wake if you cry most times, and you're getting better and better about sleeping all the way through the night. Nap times are a little different story with Sissy in there, but such is life, right? We'll work it out.

You roll over front to back pretty consistently, but you've yet to roll back to tummy. You're so strong in everything you do though. You have been able to bear weight on your legs for months now, and in fact, its often times your preferred position. You can stand for minutes just holding on to a person's finger with one hand and chewing on the other hand...you definitely have your Pa's and your Mommy's strong legs!

You're drooling so very very much...in fact, your teachers at school tell me at least twice a week that they've never seen a baby drool so much! I think that's contributing to your lingering night-time restlessness a bit, but I'm not in too much of a hurry for those teeth to poke through...I just love your sweet, huge, gummy grin!

When you're mad you're MAD, but when you're happy you're SOOO happy. You seem to live life intensely...you remind me of myself in that way.

Elizabeth, Daddy, and I are so lucky to have you in our lives. You round out our family well. We're loving every minute of life with you, and can't wait to see how you will grow and develop your own unique spot in our lives and in this world. We love you!!