five months

On Monday Nell turned five months old.

If our baby scale is correct, she weighs 18 lbs, 8 oz.

She has gotten really good and accurate at grasping things.

And on Monday evening, for the first time, she reached out and grasped my face in both hands.  She face-planted against my cheek, her mouth wide open, in what I like to think was a big, slobbery kiss.  She laughed as she did it, and I laughed with happiness, and she laughed some more, and so did I.  She's been giving me those open-mouthed kisses ever since!

She has re-learned her raspberry-blowing skills, which she had formerly mastered but then somehow forgotten.

She hasn't rolled over yet, but we're not worried about it.

Her naps are getting longer all the time - sometimes two hours instead of the 30-minute naps we had grown to expect from her.

And do I even need to tell you how sweet she is?

Nell's Favorite Things at Five Months:

"Jumping" on mom's lap, on the bed, or on pretty much anything (with some help, of course).

Sticking out her tongue, all pointy, and placing it up over her upper lip.

Music, particularly (I regret to say) the music from the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.  It came up on my car CD changer once (I hadn't even remembered it was in there) and calmed her down immediately.  Ever since then it has been the foolproof soothe music on car rides.  I am, frankly, sick of it, but grateful for it at the same time.

Toys!  Nell's interest in toys has really developed over the past month.  A squeaky chicken and her buzzing/rattling bug are a couple of her favorites.  She breaks into a grin upon seeing them, reaches out to grasp them, and then immediately tries to eat them.  Mmm, toys.

Beeps and buzzes and bells, oh my!  When the microwave or timer beeps, Nell's eyes light up and dart around curiously.  And as I mentioned recently, this girl is enamored with buzzing sounds.  As for bells, every time they ring the bells in church during the Eucharist, she breaks into a big grin, mouth wide open.

Her sailboat mobile.  I wish my parents lived nearby and could regularly see how much happiness this brings her.  Every time we go into her room for a diaper change, I show her the mobile and blow on the sailboats to make them spin and bob.  Her whole body lurches with excitement as she looks at them!

Dear Ellen,

You are a real charmer these days, smiling widely at everyone that talks to you and smiles at you, whether a friend or a stranger.  The only exception to this is if you are tired, when you get pretty quiet and observe the world with more reserve.

Everything you see, you want to grab.  And to everything you grab, you seem to say, "get into my mouth!"

You are really into paper right now.  Does paper count as a solid food?  If so, perhaps we could say you've had your first solid food, since you've been nibbling on some of that.  You loves paper - scratching at it with your fingers, crumpling it in your hands, slobbering all over it and working it with your gums.  You sometimes sit contentedly in my lap while I read whatever book I'm working on, and you just scratch the open page, opening and closing your hand so your fingernails scrape the pages.  In church choir rehearsals, I try to distract you from your desire for my sheet music by giving you another piece of paper to play with, but you know.  That impostor paper will not do.  You must have mama's paper, that important paper, and not some cheap substitute.  Oh, you clever girl.

Monday marked five months of having you in our family outside of my belly.  I found myself thinking a lot about how precious you are and how quickly the time is flying by.  There were times when I could have set you down in your little bouncy chair, but chose to carry you in the Moby or the Ergo instead.  Twice I let you nap in my arms instead of in bed as you usually do these days.  I think I just wanted a little extra Nell-time, to hold on a little tighter than usual to our moments together.  

It wasn't so long ago that you couldn't nap by yourself, and that you couldn't be set down in a chair or a swing without crying almost immediately.  I'm glad you're willing to let me have my hands and arms free more often now, but actually, I like keeping you in them just the same.

Lovelovelove,
Mom