Gwyneth Month 5

This month went by so quickly! I can't believe Gwen is already 5 months old... sometimes I wish time would slow down a little bit with her.

We have had some wonderful sunny weeks this past month. I love sitting out back with all the kids and soaking it all up. We bought Gwen a swing and tied it up to one of the posts on our patio so she can swing, and I can have my arms free to play with Lucas or Millie. She really loves observing everything outside, and enjoys the fresh air, so we've taken advantage of every sunny day possible.

We also had another month of illness in the family. Gwen has had a crusty eye off and on, but since I went in for the same thing, and it wasn't "true" pink eye, I've just been cleaning hers and spraying her nose with saline spray. We've been sick for so long, I've forgotten what it feels like to be a healthy person. I'm praying that the stuffy noses and coughs will disappear for a good long while once this virus is out of our systems!

Gwyneth and our puppy Millie seem to have quite a bond forming already. It's interesting to see the dynamic between Millie and Lucas vs. Millie and Gwen. The puppy sees Lucas more as a peer, and tends to try to rough house with him a little more, while she views Gwen as a baby and will just lay next to her and let her kick her or "pet" (more like pull) her. Gwen is fascinated by Millie and laughs at her when she's playing around the yard, and reaches for her whenever she's laying nearby.

Best Friends

Millie is so gentle with her

One of the known issues with a puppy is her desire to chew. We'd been keeping a good eye on her, but one evening, she chewed through the swing cord without us knowing it! I was devastated! The swing was the only other place Gwen would nap besides my arms. I relied on it in the mornings so I could get breakfast made and clean up the house a bit. I thought I could solve the problem by popping some batteries in it until Daniel got home to repair the cord, but the batteries weren't strong enough to swing my 16lb baby, so it ended up just burning the motor out. So, we've started encouraging solo naps a little earlier than I expected. Gwen is handling them pretty well, most days. I have to lay down with her in our spare bed until she's asleep and then creep out while she's sleeping, but it at least gives me some time to shower or clean up the house. I know sleeping in the center of a bed isn't the safest option, but she's not rolling over from her back to her front consistently enough for me to worry about her rolling off the bed just yet.

Not thrilled that the swim isn't moving

Speaking of rolling, she has rolled over from her back to her belly 3 times! It's pretty infrequent, and it seems to always happen when Daniel walks out of the room. The first time, he left for work, and within 2 minutes, she had rolled over. The other two times, she rolled over while Daniel was putting Lucas to bed. I tried yelling for him, but every time I did that, she'd get startled and would stop. I think she's just trying to perfect it before she lets daddy see it.

Gwen is such a daddy's girl already. I really love watching them together because she gives Daniel such big smiles and it's especially adorable when he comes home from work and she lights up. I know we're going to be in trouble as she gets older and she bats her pretty eyes at daddy wanting something.

Daddy's Girl

She has really taken to the jumperoo! It reminds me a lot of Lucas jumping when he was her age. She is a little different, though, because she actually enjoys playing with the toys attached to the jumperoo, while Lucas would just jump until he fell asleep. She is so interested in everything surrounding her now, and she is constantly trying to grab at items on the floor, or in our hands.

Jumparoo time!

One thing she's constantly grabbing at are our plates when we're sitting down to eat. She is so curious about our food, and gets this look on her face almost like she's saying, "I can't believe you're not sharing with me!" We still have one more month to go before she will be introduced to solids, but I'm excited to see the look on her face when she finally gets a taste of what we've been eating. (Well, pureed forms of veggies aren't exactly what we eat, but you get what I'm trying to say, ha ha!)

Teething is still going strong, but no teeth just yet. She's just drooling a lot and chewing on everything she can get her hands on! She's also started sucking on her thumb occasionally, and since she doesn't take a pacifier, I'm secretly hoping she'll use her thumb as a soothing mechanism to fall asleep. I know thumb sucking can be difficult to cut as a habit later on as she gets older, but sometimes I'm just desperate for a break from nursing her to get her to relax. We will see what happens.

Thumb in mouth and sleeping

Our neighbor is taking a photography class and asked if she could use Gwen as a model to practice taking pictures of babies. I love visible memories of life, so I jumped at the chance to get some professional looking pictures of my girl. She was so patient with Gwen, and got a couple good shots, too!  The pictures turned out beautifully, and I have some awesome pictures of my girl at 5 months old.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Jarvis

My beautiful light-eyed girl (We still don't know what color they'll turn out)

Well, that's about all that has happened this last month. This upcoming month will be exciting since we have another visit in store! I'll be sure to write all about it next month!

5 months old!