baby girl: 5 months

While I could go on and on about how big MacKenna is getting (she is!) and how fast time is going (way too fast!), I won’t since those are obvious.  But, I do have to tell you how much I am absolutely loving this age!  Just in the past month, I’ve watched my little girl go from being an observer of the world around her to being an active participant.  She continues to amaze me every single day and I am loving watching her discover the world around her.

Accomplishments + Milestones

Although MacKenna found her hands + voice last month, she has definitely learned how to use them both to her advantage this month.  She has started grabbing everything we put in front of her (which of course goes straight to her mouth) and will now lay and just “talk” to her toys.  She absolutely loves to hear herself talk and I found her range of babbles and loudness incredibly amazing.

She is now playing in her exersaucer for almost 30 minutes at a time every day.  We went from not understanding what to do in the exersaucer at the beginning of the month (which lead to frustration) to being able to press buttons, grab bars, and spin things on her own.  She’s still too short for it, so we are putting a pillow underneath so she can touch.  She hasn’t figured out the whole bouncing or spinning around part of it yet, but I’m sure next month will be a different story.

She still has not rolled over from her back to her tummy yet but she gets closer and closer every single day.  I really don’t think you can get much closer than she is, but her arm gets in the way and she can’t figure out how to fix that problem.  We help her out every once in awhile when she’s that close, but I know she will be able to do it soon.  And while I’m so excited about that milestone, it scares me that she’ll actually be somewhat mobile!

As I’ve mentioned before, we started supplementing with formula a few weeks ago.  She is only getting 1 bottle of formula a day at the babysitter’s, usually her last bottle of the day there.  While I still wish we didn’t have to supplement, it has been so nice not to have to worry about if I’m pumping enough every day.  I actually lost an entire day about a week ago after I forgot to stick my milk in the fridge after I came home from work (and also after I had already spilled 2 ounces of it during the day).  I had quite the meltdown (that stuff is liquid gold!), but realized it wasn’t worth my tears.  Plus, with spring break coming up next week, I’ll be able to catch up a little bit with my stash.

We haven’t started any sort of solids yet since I still don’t think she’s quite ready, but we’re starting to see her notice what we’re eating and showing chewing motions.  I think we will probably still wait until she’s 6 months before starting anything and start her off with oatmeal and then vegetables.  (Other moms:  I read Cooking Light’s First Foods cookbook and LOVED it!  I definitely recommend it and am so excited to start using it!)

What We’re Working On

• Definitely the rolling over thing.  She’s just so darn close and I’m excited for that next big milestone!
• Getting her to sleep through the night again.  The 4 month sleep regression hasn’t been horrible, but I miss the nights when I got a sound 6 or 7 hours of sleep.
• Practicing “eating” with a spoon.  I haven’t done this yet, but I plan on doing it before we actually start her on any solids so she understands what this new thing is coming at her.  I don’t remember who recommended doing this, but THANK YOU!  I can’t wait to actually feed her something that doesn’t come from my body!

Mama’s Miles

From my frequent running-related posts, I think you all know that running is going really well!  This past month, I ran 94.6 miles (averaging 23.7 miles/week), my longest run being 10 miles, and my fastest run was at 7:40/mile pace.  I am definitely seeing increases in my speeds and I could not be happier!

I will also be running my first race postpartum tomorrow!  I cannot wait!  It’s a pretty big race downtown so my chances of placing are pretty slim, so I’m just planning on running for time.  It’s a 5 mile race and I am hoping to run it in under 40 minutes, which I think is definitely doable given my average paces the past few weeks.  I will have a race recap up on Monday morning!

Random Tidbits

• Number of doctor’s visits this month:  1 – her 4 month checkup, where the doctor just kept telling us how amazing MacKenna is (have I mentioned that I LOVE our pediatrician?!).  Luckily, we haven’t had any sick visits and she seems to be fighting off anything that she might come into contact with.  Neither Matt or I get sick very easily (mine are usually allergy related) so hopefully she just comes from a line of good genes!
• Current weight:  as of her doctor’s appointment in late February, she was 11 pounds 3 ounces – Pea. Nut.  I will weigh her again on Sunday.  She’ll probably be over 12 now.
• Clothing size:  Like I said, she’s a peanut – we’re still in 0-3 months.  She’s starting to fill them out pretty well, so it’ll only be a few more weeks before we bump her up to the 3-6 months.  And in case you were wondering, she’s a size 1 in regular diapers (we used them to see if it would help with the diaper rash – instead, it resulted in a HUGE blowout and me putting her back in the cloth).
• Current concerns:  None really.  She still has pretty bad dry skin and some nasty diaper rash that I think is really just chafing from the cloth diapers since it’s on her inner thigh.  (Anyone interested in a follow-up on the cloth diapers?  We are still going strong!)  I’ve been putting Vasoline on her almost every night and am buying some different lotion for sensitive dry skin that will hopefully help.

MacKenna never ceases to amaze me on a daily basis.  She learns so much every day and I am just so fascinated with her physical + mental growth.  Sometimes I just stare at her in disbelief that she is my baby.  How did we ever get so lucky?!