5 months

Dear Ava Sophia,

You turned five months old on February 29th. This month we saw a new little girl emerge! You've been checking off one milestone after the other on your to-do list. Some things you've done only a few times and decided that’s enough. Some things you do constantly.

Rolling from your tummy to your back was one of those things you only did a few times. I'm pretty sure you only did it to get us to stop talking about it. Mommy caught it on video once and that seemed to be it. You just don't like rolling that direction. And that's okay. :)

However, you DO seem to enjoy rolling from your back to your front. Even though it requires much more work, I think this makes more sense to you because it helps you reach your toys. Every time I put you down on the ground, the next time I look you are magically on your tummy. The problem is...once you're on your tummy you don't know what to do (see above). 

You started to sit at four months, and now you have perfected this skill. You like to sit and you do it well. Every once in a while you still topple over and at first you look so startled, but then you smile as if to say, "Let's do that again!"

You are noticing everything these days. You noticed things before, but now things are not just things anymore. Everything is something new to you. Everything is exciting. Everything must be touched, tasted, meticulously examined. You curiously touch every button, spoon, toy, phone, and finger you can get your hands on. You have become so squirmy as you stretch your little baby arms out and reach for everything in sight. I can tell we are going to be in trouble when you start crawling...I think you are going to be a very curious, on-the-go little girl. 

This month you had your first taste of rice cereal. You did great and didn't get too much on your face and bib. I think you liked the idea of eating from a spoon like Mommy and Daddy. But I'm not so sure you loved the taste of rice cereal. You made a funny face, but politely swallowed anyway. We are excited to give you new kinds of yummy food!

At the end of this month we wanted to help you kick your swaddle habit, so we planned an intervention. We set your arms free and tried sleep training. "They" say sleep training is important in order for you to learn to "self-soothe". “They” are idiots. And they obviously haven’t met you. When you started to cry we had to wait three minutes before going to soothe you. When you cried again, we would increase the wait time by two more minutes before intervening. The first night it only took about twenty minutes for you to fall asleep. The next night you caught on to our operation, and that night Mom and Dad probably slept a total of one hour all night, in between you waking up every 30 minutes. I thought I was going to give up right then and there, but I stuck to it and told myself I was going to give it one more night. Thankfully, on that third night you did learn to sleep with your arms free and to soothe yourself to sleep. We have been a swaddleless household ever since. This is by far mine and your dad’s greatest accomplishment-to-date, besides, you know, creating life. It was hard, but so far it has been worth it! :) I feel so liberated knowing that I can just put you in your crib awake and that you will fall asleep on your own after a few minutes. Bid adieu to my aching back from rocking you all night long. :) 

You are also now officially sleeping in your very own crib. I was so nervous and sad to not have you sleeping next to me all night. But, I have to say...it is the absolute cutest thing to see how small you look in your "big girl" crib. You've done great!

Some funny things we learned about you this month:

• You love to sleep with a blanket OVER your face. This scares your mom to pieces and makes her google things about "babies sleeping with blankets," which she then loses great sleep over. So, she made you a tiny little blanket (which actually means she cut a square of soft fabric) that you can put over your face, but won't cause your mom to wake up 50 times a night to go check to make sure you are still breathing and not tangled up in your blanket. :) Phew.
• Your dad is still the one who can make you laugh the most. He can make you laugh so hard and then when he passes you to me, I can do the exact same thing and get absolutely no reaction. I really don't blame you - Daddy makes me laugh, too. :)
• You love to stick your tongue out in the wind, just like a puppy. You must think you are tasting the wind. 
• You love to watch Baby Mozart and Elmo.
• You are starting to recognize when you are being held by someone new. Usually you are okay with anyone holding you after you give them the stare down. But a few times, you have looked at the person holding you, then looked at us and burst into tears. We think it's the cutest thing. 
• You are scared of the blender and of anyone singing in a low-pitched voice. 
• You started chewing on your bottom lip recently.

You are wearing 3-6 month clothes and even some 6-9 month clothes are starting to fit. You just started wearing size 3 diapers today.

You weigh about 17 pounds and you are about 27 inches long. 

We had a fun month! Auntie Kait came to visit for 3 weeks this month and you had so much fun with her! You even took your first trip to the ocean. Next month is already looking fun with a trip to Southern California to see Grandma and Grandpa Webster, Uncle Blake and Aunt Maddie! Can't wait for some fun in the sun!

Here you are at 1, 2, 3 and 4 months:

And now 5 months:

This is really all she wanted to do during this photo shoot: 

We love you, our sweet Ava Bean!