Jillian is 5 Months!

Wow. For some reason this seems like a big month for her. I'm wondering where the time is going?? Let's see... well, she still hasn't rolled from back to belly... if she could just get her arm under her, she'd flip right over, but she's perfectly content to cry in her crib until her half-asleep mommy comes and flips her back onto her belly. ;-) She's pretty much sitting up (propped on her hands) for 30 seconds or more if she's in the Boppy. She generally wakes up once in the night to eat, although we did have a minor set back last week when she had a cold. Her naps are much, much better lately... she'll sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. One nap around 8:00 AM, the other around 1:00 or so. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, she'll take a little cat nap in her swing around dinner time. If I'm unlucky, I wait to eat my dinner until after she goes to bed. ;-)

She's like a different baby lately. A lot happier, a lot more content, a lot easier to settle. She loves her brother... a single look from him sends her into gails of laughter. :) Her other favorite things are her toes (she is infatuated with them) exersaucer, her clutch cube, her butterfly teether or pretty much anything she can chew on. I really think she's going to cut teeth earlier than Matt did (8 months). She's been drooling like crazy lately.

Still no luck with the solids. I've tried it half-heartedly a few times... plain rice cereal first, then pears with rice, just pears and last night, bananas. No dice. She hates it all and spits it right back out. I'm not pushing it. I'll just keep offering it maybe once a week and hopefully one of these days she'll take it. She won't be on formula forever. :) On the formula front, she generally takes anywhere from 4-8 ounces. Her 8 oz. bottle is usually right before bed and she drinks it half asleep.

She still gets shy and overwhelmed when there's lots of people around. She's very good at letting me know that she's had enough by first burying her head in my shoulder, then sticking that lip out (that kills me), then protesting loudly.

Her favorite people are me, Mark, Matt, and my sister Katy. She absolutely adores Katy. Kate usually stops by the house once a day after work or during a break and Jillian just lights up when she sees her. I love that they have that bond and I hope they always do.

Here are a couple of pictures...

Matt and Jillian on her 5 month birthday

Her first taste of rice cereal... blech! Jillian admiring her toes