5 Months

Dear Madison,

The date is 9/9/09 and you are 5 months old today. I am still amazed by how quickly the time is passing. I feel like I blinked and you are already 5 months old.

On August 26th, we gave you rice cereal for the first time. You're not so wild about it. We've been consistently trying to give it to you, but you just don't seem to like the taste (or maybe lack thereof). On September 5th, we gave you baby food - sweet potatoes! You loved them! It was so funny to watch you kicking your feet and moving your mouth. You'd get so excited. Last night, we tried squash. You seemed to like it pretty well, too (although it didn't get quite the reaction that your sweet potatoes do!).

You are also really funny now with your bottle. You definitely know what seeing your bottle means now - feeding time! As soon as we start preparing your bottle, you never take your eyes off of it. I got so tickled when we were at the lake this past weekend. Grandma was shaking your bottle and held it up over her head so that she could see if the formula had completely dissolved. I was holding you on my lap and I noticed that your eyes were staring upward. I wondered what in the world you were looking at so intently. It was your bottle! You're such a silly girl!

You like to "help" us feed you from your bottle, also. When we give you a 4 ounce bottle, you love to hold on to the end of it. When we feed you from an 8 ounce bottle, you either hold onto our fingers or hold onto the bottle just below the nipple. You love to pull the bottle out of your mouth and try to put it back in.

Everything goes in your mouth! You are using your hands really well now, which makes it much easier for you to get any object you can get your hands on into your mouth. Mommy and Daddy are convinced, though, that nothing tastes as good as our fingers because you try and try to get them in your mouth any chance you get. Last night, Daddy was changing your diaper and you picked up a baby wipe (a clean one) and tried to put it in your mouth. Daddy caught you just in time!

You are making new noises almost every day. Sometimes it sounds as if you are singing. I love to just sit and listen to you. Your very favorite noise is your squeal/scream...you do it so often! You are just such a happy girl! Daddy swears you said "da" tonight, but we tried to get you to make the sound again and you wouldn't...although it really did sound like it the first time!

You're starting to enjoy being on your tummy more and more. You can hold your head and shoulders up really well now. Over the weekend, you even put your knees up under your body and scooted yourself forward. I was so proud of you!

You have 2 "games" that are your absolute favorites. You love getting kisses from your little Pooh Bear. It's so cute that we can tell how much you love him! Your eyes light up when you see him. You also love playing with the baby in the mirror. She's not quite as cute as you, but she does resemble you quite a bit. Her mommy even looks a lot like yours. ;-) You love smiling and squealing at her!

You, sweet girl, are so very loved! Happy 5 months to you!