Madilyn Rose (Five Months)

Okay, so before this month I thought life was just going by at a leisurely pace, but now my little Madilyn is closing in on six months, I’m starting to freak out a little—where did my little baby go? There should be some serious emphasis on “little,” because she’s just packing on the pounds, which isn’t a bad thing, unless you’re the arm that carries her. I so badly want to keep her little forever and at the same time I’m just dying for her to grow up, because she’s such an awesome little person.

Dear Maddie Roo,
You continue to amaze me with how adorable you are. Your personality can be summed up in one word: delightful. Seriously, people ask me all the time if you’re always that happy, and I love telling them that you are. You really only cry, get upset, or are fussy for two reasons: you’re hungry or your sleepy. I’m also in love with your sweet chunk. Most days you’d rather look around or play instead of eat, so I’m thankful you’re still getting some good, fatty milk.

This month was fun, because you started sitting up on your own! We have to put you in a seated position, but then you stay there. You also love to move around like crazy on the floor; I’m shocked at how quickly you move from place to place—you’re like a little adorable inch-worm!

The very best part of seeing you grow up is watching you with your sister. It literally brings me to tears when I see the two of you interact together. Sometimes you both get into giggle fits and the laughter goes back and forth for a long time. If you’re not giggling at her, then you’re following her around everywhere. I love seeing the two of you together and can’t wait to see what this next month brings!

Love you,
Mama

Hiya Silly McGigglerson,
We’ve had this confab a few times now, and you haven’t changed your attitude, which leads me to believe that your giggles and smiles are taking over your brain. Why? Because, seriously. All you do is smile and giggle and laugh at the universe. 5 am? Chuckles. 9:45 am? Giggles. 5 pm? Coos and laughs.  Midnight? All the above.

Now why do I think your little brain is being taken over? Because, you seem to have forgotten how to sleep at night. It used to be this delightful routine: mama would feed you and you’d sleep. Then. like five hours later, you’d wake up, have another nibble, and be done for the night. Now? I feed you at 7, your mama feeds you at 7:30 because you didn’t go to sleep. Then, you sleep for like 30 minutes. One of us feeds you again. Then you sleep till it’s time for us to go to bed. Then you wake alllllllllllllllllllllllll the way up and decide to start your day. About 40 minutes of rocking later (with you giggling and cooing pretty much the whole time) you fall asleep. Sometimes.

You learned how to sit up this month which is pretty spectacular, but it’s created an interesting conundrum. Your big sister Julia loves holding you, but now that you’re self-stabilizing, she’s having a few issues letting you pivot about all by yourself. I think she’ll get over it, but if you could stop growing up sooooooo fast (you know, for Julia’s sake), I’d appreciate it.

I love you! Love,
Your Papa

Nicknames:
Maddie, Maddie Roo, Sister Maddie,

Likes:
Laughing and playing with your sister, when Mama “munches” on your legs, waking up in the morning (seriously, such an adorable morning baby).

Dislikes:
Being over-tired, not being able to fall back to sleep on your own

Milestones:
Sitting up. You mastered this just a few days before you turned five months old!

Weight/Height: 
No weight check this month, but unofficially you’re close to 16 pounds (and you make our arms sore when we hold you)!

Clothing Size:
Six month. I feel like I just went through your clothes, but I need to go through them again and weed out the 3-month stuff still in there. You’re almost fitting in some 9 month clothes, too. You’re also now in size three diapers.

Sleep:
I don’t even know how to answer this. Some nights you go down so wonderfully…and other nights you’re up till 11. Some nights you’ll sleep around 7-hour stretches, and other nights you’re up every two hours. You go back down really easily (just pop you on the boob), but it still requires us to wake up. Most mornings you wake up in the bed with us.

Random Tidbits:
You’re definitely ready to start eating “real” food, and we’re going to start soon…