Claire - 5 Months

Claire, you are 5 months old! Where is the time going? You are growing so fast!

This morning you weighed 19.4 lbs on our scale at home. You are still eating every 2 hours during the day. At your 4 month visit, your pediatrician said that was very often for a baby your age and encouraged us to feed your more at each feeding so that we can space them out a bit. So far, I haven't been able to make that happen. You love to eat often...and I just can't hear you cry out for food and not feed you. So every 2 hours it is. 

You are in size 3 diapers. Most of the clothes you've been wearing are starting to get tight, so we'll be retiring another set of adorable baby girl clothes soon. Sigh...I would love to have a baby boy at some point, but I sure hope we have at least one more girl so we can see all of these sweet clothes again!

Here's what else you're up to:

- You are rolling all over the place! Once you rolled over the first time, you started doing it constantly. If we put you down on your gym mat, you will inevitably roll off or get your legs caught around the bars. I think you'll be crawling before long! You roll around a lot in your crib and sometimes it causes you to wake up. It makes me very nervous because you sometimes sleep on your stomach. Your pediatrician says that as long as are rolling yourself there, it's okay. 

- Over the last couple days you've started sitting up!! You can't sit unassisted for a long time without falling over, but you are definitely getting stronger. This really opens up a whole new world - today you sat in the grocery cart for the first time! Definitely easier than lugging that heavy infant cart seat into a cart! In fact, I just ordered your convertible car seat - I think you will like it a lot better!

- You're starting to mimic sounds we make. You have the sweetest little voice and I absolutely love hearing you talk!

- Lately you've been fussier than usual and your sleeping has been totally erratic. You were sleeping through the night but for the last few weeks, it's just been completely unpredictable. Daddy and I feel a little bit like we have a newborn again! If we lay you back in our arms when we're putting you to sleep, you will try repeatedly to sit up. It amazes me how you are already fighting sleep at such a young age. I think there are several factors at work here: this all started around the time when I stopped working, so your routine changed. Since then we've gone out of town and had company. There's a pretty well-known 4 month sleep regression and you recently went through wonder week #19. You're also showing all the signs of teething. When we saw your pediatrician a few weeks ago, she couldn't see/feel any teeth yet, but I think they're still causing you a lot of pain. We started Orajel this weekend and it seems to help a bit. I am SO BLESSED that I'm not having to get up and go to work every morning...you were such a great sleeper when I was working and I'm very thankful for that.

- You are so interested in food. You watch every bite we take like a little hawk! I'm very excited that we can start rice cereal and regular foods next month! I know you're going to love it!

- Your current nicknames are Claire-Pie, Tiny Tiger and Sweet-Sweet. 

- You got to go on the annual Strutton pilgrimage to Rockport for the first time this month! It was a great trip. While we were there you went in a swimming pool and to the beach for the first time. Since then you've been in the water a couple more times and I think you really like it! At first, you were very nonchalant about the whole thing, but didn't seem to mind it at all. Then this weekend in the baby pool at Pinky & Papaw's house, you kicked your legs and smiled so big in the water. I think you are going to be a water baby! Makes perfect sense, considering you're an Aquarius.

Claire Campbell, you are so precious to us! I love you more than words can say, and look forward to all of the fun adventures to come!

Love,
Mama