Allyson is now 5 months old and we have had a pretty eventful month so far. Not in the sense that we did much around here because our weekends are pretty boring and uneventful but I always feel like we are somehow busy. Now that Bo is in preschool we have all been rotating various sicknesses – cold, stomach flu, flu, croup, ear infection. I’m hoping that as we get closer to the holidays we will have gotten all of this out of our system and it will be my goal to keep us healthy! Can you believe it is October? I have to say it’s one of my favorite months because it’s the beginning of the holidays, all things pumpkin, perfect southern California weather, and it’s my Bode’s birth month.
Sleeping/Feeding
I’m still breastfeeding Ally but the biggest challenge we’ve had this month is getting her to take the bottle. I slacked off a bit and didn’t give her a bottle for a while and only breastfed so we re-introduced the bottle and it was much harder than I thought it would be. As you may remember from last month, she refused to take it from anyone else besides me and if I was even in the room when someone would try to give it to her she would cry hysterically. We have come a long way and she will now take a bottle from other people and even when I’m in the same room. She usually gets her bottle for her last feeding so I can put her in the high chair while we are all eating dinner. It’s been nice to have her sit with us and she loves to see what everyone is doing at the table. She seems to have a lot of interest in food and we are now only 1 month away from introducing oatmeal and avocado (the 2 foods I plan on starting her with). I had the stomach flu just this last week and was a little concerned about my milk supply because I had a hard time eating food and I was losing weight pretty fast but I increased my water intake and Ally hasn’t seemed too fussy about my milk so I guess we are good to go. I feel like if it isn’t one thing, it’s another thing dealing with my milk supply. I’m so very thankful that we can continue this journey together, and if it ended tomorrow I’d still be so very thankful because I did my best and that’s all I can ask for. No one can tell me that I didn’t strive to achieve the best for my baby.
Sleeping has gotten a lot better; I’d say she has been very predictable with her sleep patterns. We did have 1 week when Ally had an ear infection that threw us off a bit but for the most part she goes to sleep around 630pm, I dream feed around 930pm, and she sleeps till about 530am and then she’s up for the day. Naps have been a little inconsistent lately but my routine has also been inconsistent. She always take a morning nap anywhere from 1-2 hours long and then the rest of the day is hit or miss. Sometimes I can get her to take 3 naps/day and others only 1 nap/day. But the 1 nap/day she typically goes to bed an hour early for the night to make up for lost sleep. Also, the unswaddle transition was so much easier than I thought it would be and CIO too. I’m pretty good at predicting her cries and most of the time when she cries it is because she is tired. I can usually either time her feeding or she will give me the hand to mouth signal that she is hungry. I also noticed that she is a side sleeper, she doesn’t really prefer a specific side; however Bode was always more of a tummy sleeper since he was about the same age.
Miscellaneous
We did not have a well check visit this month but we did go to the doctor a few times. Two times for Ally and two times for Bode because they were both little sick baby’s. Sadly Ally’s first official sick doctor visit was on September 26th for an ear infection where she received antibiotics that she was on for 10 days. They are both healthy now which is good because we have Bode’s party this upcoming weekend and Disneyland next weekend to celebrate my little man turning 3.
Still no teeth, but lots of gnawing on anything she can put in her mouth.
Her new milestone this month was related to separation anxiety. I am with her all day long and I am the primary one to hold, feed, change, pretty much take care of anything she needs. So therefore she started having a hard time with me just leaving her anywhere, even to go to the restroom. So it has been my goal this past month to get her used to others holding her and feeding her. She is doing better but we still have work to do so she can transition smoothly for daycare when I go back to work.
Ally and I did our first driving trip outside of our valley (without Matt and Bode) to go visit Jessica in Sherman Oaks. Her baby girl Samantha was born a few days ago and we can’t wait to go back out and meet her for the first time. I love having friends with baby’s close in age to mine!
Funny Moments
I finally heard my first laugh this month on September 16th. Well to be honest it was more of a giggle. Bode used to laugh out loud when he was this age but Ally is more of a giggling baby. It happens when I either tickle her tummy or under her neck. I have tried numerous times to record it on my iPhone but every time I take it out she gets camera shy. One day I’ll get it and I’ll be sure to post it!
Diaper size – size 2
Clothing size – mostly 3-6 month clothes
Nicknames – Al, Ally, Squish, Ally-Boo, Ally-Bear
5-Month Hair color – brown
5-Month eye color –blue
5-Month Weight – 13lb
5-Month Height – 25 inches
What’s up with Bode?
Preschool is going really well and Bode has made a lot of new friends. From what I hear he is a shy boy which surprises me because he has so much energy at home. This past week he came home with two accident reports at school – 1 for a black eye and another for a large scratch on his nose, such a boy! It’s cute how the teacher apologizes for these accidents but I feel like as long as it’s not causing him to go to the hospital, boys will be boys. I’m just waiting for the day when she calls to tell me he broke a leg or an arm; I don’t think it’s too far off unfortunately the way this kid plays. But amongst all this fun play time he is also learning a lot of new things. He came home one day and shouted “Washington D.C.”, to get my attention of course. I said, “Oh, really, who lives there?” Bode said “Barack Obama”. Now I was impressed and asked him “Where does Barack Obama live?” and Bode said, “The White House”. I have to say this was pretty impressive stuff to hear from my almost 3-year old. He has also been learning a lot with letters each day and bringing home lots of fun art work that we display each week on the fridge. I have to admit, the artwork was something I looked forward to ever since we first discussed Bode going to preschool.
Bode’s 3rd birthday is next week and his party this weekend. We also have plans to visit Disneyland next weekend as long as everyone is healthy.
Nicole Hank 