It's that time again already. Time for another monthly update on sweet Annabelle! Baby girl turned 5 months old on December 9th. How is it possible that she will be half a year old next month? I say this every month, but I really can't believe it!
She is growing into such a fun and sociable little girl full of giggles and smiles. I swear the funniest things make her laugh! Once you find something that cracks her up, she wants you to do it over and over and over again and will reward you with the biggest gummy grin and belly laughs around.
She is extremely animated, and you can usually tell exactly how she is feeling by her facial expressions and the noises she is making (aka grunting or giggling). This month, you could really tell she is starting to recognize those that around her the most and gets excited when they walk in a room. She also just started to notice champ, our dog, and loves to watch him from her play mat or bumbo.
She is still sleeping pretty well most nights (only wakes up once), and is even getting better at napping. On a normal day, she naps for about 45 minutes in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon, and 45 minutes in the evening. Now that I just typed that, she isn't going to nap at all today. :) Baby girl is still exclusively breast feeding for now. We are going to wait until she turns 6 months before starting solids. Her chubby cheeks and cute chunky thighs indicate she is getting plenty of nutrients just from mom's milk.
One of her new favorite things is riding in the stroller like a big girl! She can hold herself up well, but I still feel like the stroller swallows her a bit so I put two blankets on either side of her for support. She loves being able to see out and look around the neighborhood. Luckily, it is still plenty warm here in Texas so we can take afternoon strolls quite often.
Annabelle is still not a big fan of tummy time. I try to entertain her as best I can, but she usually gets tired of it pretty quickly. She is oh so close to rolling over, but usually gets stuck on her side. I think she actually likes laying on her side because it is easier for her to see champ. Normally, once she gets there, she is pretty content to just stay on her side.
Belle also experienced her first basketball game this month. She seemed to be very entertained by everything that was going on around her. Daddy was very proud that she seemed to like basketball just as much as football. The game we went to was at 7 PM, so I was a little afraid of how she would hold up past bed time, but she did beautifully. Minimal fussing towards the very end of the game and went to bed and slept like a champ!
She has almost mastered sitting up by herself as well. She much prefers this over tummy time, so we spend a lot of time sitting on the floor with all of her toys around her. She can usually hold herself up pretty well for awhile and then she slowly starts to lean forward. We started out using her pillow for support, but now she can pretty well manage on her own. The "mute button" pacifier is still her favorite (which is why you see it in almost every picture). :)
Over Thanksgiving, Belle got to practice her modeling skills when we took our Christmas card pictures. She did great throughout the entire shoot, and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. A big thank you to Uncle Greg for taking the pictures and Aunt Meredith, Grandma George, and Grandpa George for jumping around and getting Annabelle to smile!
Last but not least, Annabelle went to visit Santa this month. She didn't seemed phased by him at all, and sat nicely on his lap while we snapped pictures. She was much more interested in what was going on behind the camera than smiling for dad. Oh well, she's precious just the same.
My sweet baby girl is another month older, and I fall more in love with her every day. She truly is the light of my world. I feel so blessed to get to watch her grow up and kiss those sweet cheeks each day.
How old were your kiddos when they rolled over for the first time?
In health,
