Little Lermas!: Aubrey 5 Months!

Ahhh, our baby is turning into a real human : ) I love the point in which newborns turn into infants that start becoming more social and interactive, and less lump like. Uhh, I mean baby like : ) Is that terrible to say!? While we loved her no less in her "lump-like" state, she just gets more fun (and easier in a lot of ways!)with each passing month.
So here's to progress!

Happy 5 Months Aubrey Lynn!

This Month's Highlights:

-The day you turned 4 months old you started rolling over...and over and over and over...non-stop! Front to back, and back to front. You would be on your piano playmat one minute, and the next across the living room rug! You also used this as a means to get across the playroom! Little lady on the go!

You roll over and over and over to constantly watch your big sister!

-The constant, non-stop rolling was our cue to stop swaddling you at night (we had stopped during naps for the last month and a half or so). You did fine with being unswaddled, and if anything you loved having your hands to put in your mouth when you woke up, but you rolled like crazy in your crib. The first night, Mama had to go into your room to turn you onto your back after you rolled onto your stomach and just couldn't get back (and were crying hard!). But then an hour later, you rolled onto your stomach and spent the remainder of the night there! Now, most naps and a big portion of night sleeping is done on your tummy.

-Getting you out of your crib in the morning is one of my most favorite times with you! You are absolutely smiling and oh so happy. You usually just wake up and babble a bit before you realize you are hungry, and it is so much fun to listen to on the monitor. On the occasions that I have to wake you up from a nap (oh heaven forbid!), you are smiling even before your eyes are open! I love how happy of a baby you are becoming!

No, she does not sleep naked : )

-Right as you turned 4 months you really got the hang of reaching for and grabbing objects. by 18 weeks you were able to grab lambie and sometimes even get the paci into your mouth. By 20 weeks you were pretty much a pro at getting it right into your mouth when you wanted it! Hallelujah!

-You hate laying down and always want to be right where the action is. If things are going on around you, your head is popped right up and you arch your back to see things better behind you! I think you are going to be the life of the party in no time!

-With that comes you NOT being a cuddler. At ALL! While your sister still will let us rock her and sing to her hours on end, you want none of it. You barely let us rock you before bed, and most times it ends in "Fine, you are squirming out of our arms and fussing, so we will just put you in bed to fall asleep on your own!"...which is promptly followed by a "Thank you Mama" as you roll over in your bed. Nice.

-You are an extremely happy and smiley baby! You smile anytime we pick you up, play with you, basically just look at you! Easy going baby! That being said, when you aren't happy you definitely let us know! You still let out your Angry Elf scream when you are mad, and you still get pretty fussy in the evening between 4 and 6 just not wanting to sit still, not really wanting to play, and just super squirmy when we hold you.

-You love getting attention, and when you don't it after a few minutes, you let out a really loud scream, not an angry or sad noise, just one that let's us know you are still there. As soon as we look at you and smile, you have the biggest grin on your face!

-The last 2 weeks you are getting closer and closer to becoming mobile (in another form other than rolling over across the room!). You are pushing up on your elbows and sometimes arms, and then get your butt in the air by pushing off on your feet. You move ALL over your crib at night, and I never see you in the same place or position each time I look at the monitor. When I put you on the blanket on the playroom floor you push off on your arms and go up onto your knees and scoot backwards until you hit the wall, or a big toy that stops you. While you aren't crawling or scooting forward yet, I don't think it will be much longer before you do!

-You have really started loving to play with toys, or at the very least hold them, stare at them, and ultimately put it in your mouth! You absolutely love playmats, but also love sitting up in the bumbo and "playing" that way. Favorite toys include: ball pictured below, pink bear rattle, crinkle butterfly, and Sophie giraffe.

Sleeping: You continued to do well at night, with bedtime around 6:30 (sometimes 7 or 7:30pm), and a dream feed at 9:30pm until 20 weeks. Most nights you would sleep til 6:30am or so, with the occasional waking in the 4 or 5 am hour, and occasionally waking at 7:30 or 8:00! At 20 weeks I stopped the dream feed just to see if you could still sleep til 6 and you did for about a week! Then you decided you wanted to get up multiple times a night, so we went back to waking you up for a 9:30 pm feed, and even then you'd wake up at 4, 5 or 6 am to eat. Definitely no consistency yet with you in regards to night time eating, but that's ok.

Naps: The 2 weeks before you turned 4 months you were napping terribly with 30 minutes max, but right at 17 weeks you were getting back into somewhat of a groove. You typically woke up in the morning and stayed awake for about an hour, then would nap for about an hour. You would then be awake for about 1.5 hours, and sleep for 1-2 hours. The afternoon as more sporadic and naps usually lasted 30 minutes. You definitely get crankier and crankier as the day goes on (not a surprise as the naps get shorter and shorter!). Even at 21 weeks, a few days you'd sleep til about 9:30 am after your 6am feed, then sleep from 11:30 or so for about 2 hours, then take another 45 minute to hour nap around 3pm. Other days it was the 30 minute nap/1 hour awake game all day long. No consistency on this sleeping front either.

Breastfeeding: You love to eat and have been so much easier to breastfeed than Bella ever was! This month you were all over the place, and on average you ate 6 times a day (roughly 6:30am, 9:30am, noonish, 3pm, 6:30pm, 9:30pm; after we dropped the night feed you cluster fed every 2 hours after your noon feed to get in 6 feeds so 6, 9, noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm). There were a few you had 5 feeds but you always woke in the middle of the night after those days. And then there were some days where you wanted to eat 7 or 8 times. You eat on one side the first 2 feeds of the day, and then the remaining 4 you usually take both sides. It takes about 7-10 minutes for you to eat, although I feel like half that time is me trying to redirect you b/c you are SO easily distracted these days!

I will say that I LOVE following your cues rather than watching the clock and following a schedule when it comes to you eating. I use my Feed Baby app SO much less this time around, and even when I can't remember what side you should start on, I just guess and it's all good. Supply is not hurting around here!