Five Months
Sweet Baby Girl,
Last month, your dad put his foot down and declared that you were in desperate need of a haircut (he was right – the double mullet was quickly becoming an unflattering look for you). Now your hair is starting to grow back in all over (save for the persistent bald spot on the back of your head) and you look like a little fluff ball.
You still go to bed swaddled, even though I know you’re getting a little old for it. It just seems to calm you down and make it easier for you to fall asleep, even though you wake up virtually every morning and from most naps with one or both arms out. It makes me happy that you’re still my little burrito baby.
Speaking of sleep, we started sleep training just after you hit the four month mark. You began sleeping through the night at seven weeks old of your own accord (I know, I know, brag on, Janssen), but you suddenly became quite difficult to put down for naps or bed, with the time it took to get you to sleep abruptly shifting from about ten minutes to two hours. This was misery. So, despite my former reluctance, we started letting you cry and within about four days, you started going to bed in about three minutes flat. Oh, my life has improved because of this (even though it was so so so much more painful than I’d expected to listen to you cry. I really thought my heart would break in two). It thrilled me to watch you go easily to sleep in a new crib at all three grandparents’ houses while we were on vacation.
Despite a few nights where you woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t want to go back to sleep since you could see us from your crib, you were the most delightful baby when we went home for Christmas. It was so fun to see all your cousins love you and for your grandparents and aunts and uncles to have some time with you.
It’s hard to believe that last Christmas, we were just starting to tell a few select people that you existed and we hadn’t even heard your heartbeat yet. Oh, how a year changes everything. In this case, in the best possible way.
Love,
Mommy
She is the most darling baby. So glad I got to meet her and hold her too! Thank you!
She is darling, wish we could have seen you while you were in town, maybe next year!
oh the swaddling! L sleeps so much better in a swaddle but I dread weaning her from it. she still wakes around 3 or 3:30 for a bit to eat too.
Gah! She is SO cute! I miss her already!
Five months already! And cute as a button. She looks like such a happy baby!
Oh, she's so cute! I can't believe she needed a haircut so early! That's amazing.
*swoon*
and OH! the baby envy.
🙂
What a darling photo! When it comes to swaddling I don't think an age should matter. If it works for them it works! Sorry we missed you when we were in town. Maybe next time!
ADORABLE!
She is adorable!
Hooray for sleep training, huh?? I just might be counting down the days to the four month mark at my house. Especially since my six week old does NOT look like she'll make the dramatic shift from waking every two hours (or more) all night long… to sleeping through the night at seven weeks. I wish!
Oh and I really did swaddle Raymond until he was a year (plus?) old. Although at some point I started leaving his arms out. There is something oh so sweet about a swaddled baby though!
I think I say the same thing every time you post about this little angel, but she is too darling for words.
P.S. I second the notion about sleep training. Didn't do it with our first, but did with our second. Oh, what a difference it STILL makes.
She gets sweeter every month. We are jealous of all the hair. My little one still hardly has any – just a dusting on top.
Won't this be a treasure for her to read these lovely letters from you to her.
So so so so cute. SO cute.
she is just so darn cute! I can see why you love her so very much.
So adorable!
I remember around the 4 month mark Truman just never wanted to nap! It was soo difficult to let him cry for those few minutes. It was much harder than I ever expected. However, when he goes right now..I find my self saying.."Is he alright?? Is this really happening??" 🙂
Last Christmas you were calling meeee and saying, "We just went to the doctor.." And I was all confused.
Dear Janssen,
I was just re-reading these because I've been posting my own monthly posts and I like seeing how Ella changed from month to month, and your mention of sleep-training describes EXACTLY where we are. CB has been sleeping through the night since about 7 weeks too, but now she never wants to go down for naps and it takes much longer to put her to bed than it used to. Gah. I checked out The No-Cry Sleep Solution, but my feeling is that a lot of it is just nuts. (She describes how to transfer your baby to her crib by dancing across the room in the most elaborate way, and honestly, it's just not going to happen. Some good thoughts, certainly, but not really my parenting style.) The crying is so sad, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to try it (for longer than I now do when I just can't talk myself into going in there again just yet.) Sigh.