FIVE Months Old

It is getting harder and harder to refer to Norah as a 'baby' these days, because I just don't think a 'baby' is supposed to have this much personality. I much prefer calling her a 'small person'. She turned the big FIVE months the day after Thanksgiving, so we took our requisite monthly pictures at Grandma Geri's house.

The big news this month is that Norah is finally sleeping in her crib. She doesn't sleep there all night, but we are getting very close. She rolls over like a maniac now and has been known to roll herself from one side of her big blanket to the other. She is a champion exersaucer player and can hit the lion, the dog, AND the cat. She grabs everything and anything in her way and I swear she is trying to crawl (she sticks her little baby bum way up in the air and then throws her arms and legs out Superman style). She can sit up unassisted for a few seconds before toppling over.

She is obsessed with other babies and wants to wrestle with them. She has been known to whack one or two at our parent class, so I am having to keep a closer eye on her. She has no use anymore for her swing or bouncey chair and actively tries to launch herself out of her Bumbo chair. I may never get to take a shower again.

She 'talks' all day (and sometimes at 4 am) and is finally showing some interest in Loretta (hasn't tried to wrestle her....yet). Her hair hasn't really made a grand return yet, and so lately it looks as though she has a mohawk. We're going with it. She is obsessed with her feet and sticks them in her mouth every chance she gets. She loves to drink water but doesn't want a bottle or even a sippy cup. She loves to drink from a 'grown up' cup, even though only about 1% of the water actually gets in her mouth.

Our attachment parenting techniques (baby wearing, co-sleeping, etc) seem to be working as she has some pretty serious stranger danger. She is starting to spend a little time here and there with Manju, who we hope will be her babysitter when I go back to work at the end of January (that is if Manju can survive her melt-downs when mom and dad aren't around). She still is loving story time and bath time and has taken to sleeping on her stomach in the crib.

We love her more than we ever thought possible.