Gabbing with the Gafford's: 5 Months Old

Friday, February 6, 2015

5 Months Old

Dear Natalie Grace,

I cannot believe you are 5 months old! It really does go by so quickly, but especially with you since I am caring for your big sisters. Speaking of big sisters, they are in love with you and vice versa. You smile at them constantly. I think they may get more smiles than Daddy and me. I get you out of bed each morning and the first thing they ask, "Can I hold her?" They kiss on you constantly and try and make you laugh. Naomi's latest to you is, "Natalie, I just love you so much." And she does it in her baby voice. :) They are smitten.

You refuse to lay on the floor for longer than 5 minutes. You haven't rolled over yet but you do try and sit up. You lift your head up off the changing table, your bed and the floor to try and sit up. I will occasionally put the boppy pillow behind you but you soon topple over. You have a large head. :)

You smile constantly and love to laugh. The silliest things make you laugh. I act like a complete moron just to hear your baby giggles. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

You weigh over 19 pounds and you just moved up to 12 month clothes. I think you were in 9 month clothes for 8 days. We love your chunkiness and talk about it daily. You LOVE to nurse and are great at it. You are nursing 7-9 times a day or roughly every two hours. I don't mind since you sleep 10-12 hours a night. Thanks for that, by the way.

You are an excellent sleeper. As I said, you like to sleep 10-12 hours at night. The funny thing is when you wake up you like to be up 1-2 hours before your first nap of the day. Below is a picture of you fussing because you are ready to go upstairs. You take a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. You prefer an early bedtime, 6:30 to be exact. For the first few weeks of your life we were keeping you up and you were an overtired baby. Once we finally figured out you wanted to be in bed early, you became much easier to handle at night. Oh, and you hate night lights and the humidifier being on in your room. You are sensitive to those lights and sounds and want nothing to do with them. You like it quiet in your room. :)

You are loved, little bit. So loved. We are enjoying your baby stages. They seem to be flying by even quicker than with the big girls.
You have a few nicknames and they are little bit, butter bean and monkey. I'm not sure you'll know your real name for the longest time because we all call you by your nickname.

You have strawberry blond hair and look so similar to Nyla. Comparing pictures of the two of you, it's almost scary how similar you two look. We also think you look like Sir. I think the strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes have something to do with it. Your eyes have lightened up in the last few weeks but I hope they stay blue!

I was recently talking to Aunt Ernie about what kind of personality we think you'll have. I'll be honest, I'm hoping you're more even-tempered like your biggest sister, Nyla. Naomi is our blond spark plug but I'm not sure I have the energy for another firecracker in this family. Though, if your red hair stays around, you just might be a firecracker!