Five Months Old

Dear Devyn,

Happy birthday, my angel!  You are five months old today.  As I write this, you are lying on a blanket on the floor next to me, happily watching the dog and playing with your toes—both new, grown-up things you do! 

A word about Bella, since I've mentioned her: she seems really fond of you.  She's always watching you and giving you kisses, and it's really fun that you've started to notice her.   I can't wait until you two can really start to play together.

Lately you have been really hungry and you’ve needed more food than I have to give, so we’ve been giving you one or two bottles a day to supplement, and you’re growing so well!  You weighed 12 pounds, 9 ounces this week, which is nearly double what you weighed when you were born!  So your dad and I have decided that we’re going to start you on some rice cereal this week.  And you’ve slept all the way through the night twice this week, without us doing anything different, so while I realize it’s not totally likely, I’m really hopeful that maybe you are teaching yourself to do it without us having to do any sleep training with you.

Speaking of sleep training, I gave up trying to cry it out with you at nap time after two tries.  I decided that I wasn’t ready.  Thankfully, you’re napping much better lately; while you’re still taking short naps, at least you are going to sleep more readily without waking up every time I put you down.  I thank you for that!

I am constantly impressed by the little person you’re becoming.  You enjoy playing by yourself almost as much as you enjoy playing with one of us, and you really need your “alone time” to have a good day.  People think you’re serious, because you don’t smile easily when they wave toys at you or make funny noises; I think you’re just contemplative and aren’t fooled by that kind of nonsense, because you smile easily a lot of the time.  You still love it when we sing songs and play games together, and you are learning to explore your world.  You reach out and try to touch everything you can. Anything I’m holding, you want to hold, too.  We went outside yesterday to pick tomatoes in the garden, and for the first time, you were interested in pulling the grass and grabbing the leaves of the trees when we walked around. I picked some herbs for you to smell and watched your little expression change as you marveled at your own senses.  And as I mentioned, you’ve finally noticed that the dog and the cat move around of their own volition and you want to reach out and touch them, too.

You seem to be just seconds away from crawling every time we put you on your tummy.  You still haven’t mastered rolling over from back to front, but I’m not concerned.  You can scoot and rotate yourself on your back or your front—so much so that I’m never sure what position I’ll find you in if I turn my back for even a second.  It won’t be long and I’ll be in SO much trouble, because you’ll be mobile and on the go.  We've also decided that we had better start weaning you off your "burrito" bundle, since you will be rolling over soon.

Last weekend, I went away for two days and an overnight to attend a writing conference, so you and Daddy were on your own—and you guys did great!  He told me you were a little fussy falling asleep, but I bet you did that just to make me feel better that maybe you missed me.  You are such an independent little lady, and I couldn't be more proud of you.

 In the wider world right now, the Palestinians are going to ask the UN to officially recognize them as a country in order to bypass the peace talks with Israel and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" officially ended, allowing gay people to serve openly in the military.

I can't even find the words to tell you how much I love you.  I love spending each and every day with you.  I love watching you grow and change.  I can't believe it's already been five months that we've been together; time is flying by so fast, and I want to be sure to remember every single thing.

I love you and love you, Miss Baby.

~Mommy