FIVE MONTHS

Our little chicken is five months old now! Can you believe it? In the past week I've really started to notice how big she's gotten since she's outgrown her second set of clothes. She's still in the 75th percentile for length and the 50th percentile for weight so her pants are getting a little short. She's finally getting some hair on top and it looks like it's coming in a light brown shade... who knows though, it seems hair color changes drastically in some babies. She's very vocal these days both in the cooing and crying department. Unfortunately she's found a new octave of crying so instead of sounding cute it's now a bit heart wrenching. We've had some regression in the bedtime department and she has given up entirely on any sense of a night time sleeping schedule. We thought that she was teething which would explain the extreme slobbering, fussiness, and refusing to eat but so far it's been over two weeks and nothing has appeared. So we are trying to get by on little sleep right now. I figured out that she likes her feet propped up when she sleeps so we use a rolled up blanket in her crib. So high maintenance. Our friends let us borrow their swing which has helped Finley with a few naps and she seems to enjoy being more upright. Honestly, it almost feels like week 1 again. I just keep telling myself that it's just a phase and it will pass. So if you see me running errands with my slippers on blame it on the fact that I've lost my mind.

But, even with the lack of sleep Finley still manages every day to convince us to keep her. She smiles when she meets new people and especially when Brad comes home. She hears his voice and lights up before he gets into the room. We decided she's a daddy's girl right now but prefers mom when she's cranky or sleepy (or maybe Brad has just convince me of that so he gets off easy). She likes playing with her toys Monsieur Chicken and Waspy. They both make that crinkly noise which seems to be her favorite. She's also quite the mover - I'm always amazed at how far kicking her legs takes her. Also, she's full on holding stuff now. Yesterday Brad was carrying his dinner plate in one hand and Finley in the other and since there were no more hands Finley carried a bottle of BBQ sauce to the kitchen. It's about time she started earning her keep. Where ever we go Finley is constantly adored. I'm telling you, if you want to make everyone's day happier just take a baby somewhere. More than once people have said how they were having a bad day but just seeing a baby smile at them put them in a good mood.

We are now getting ready for the holidays - even if we have been enjoying 80 degree weather here. Thanksgiving is just two weeks away and then it always seems like Christmas is two seconds later. My crafting goals seem to have gotten out of hand. I'm determined to make our Christmas stockings and an advent calendar by December 1st... plus a slew of Christmas gifts for Finley, nieces, and nephews. Yikes... I've barely begun! Even if Finley will only be about 7 months at Christmas I'm looking forward to enjoying it with a child. After all you only have one 1st Christmas!

*** I realize these photos are a little indulgent and the amount is overboard, just remember we don't live very close to any of her Grandparents.