Anyways, as of December 17th, Britta was 5 months old. She's becoming more and more her own little person, and it's amazing to watch.
Britta Alice,
I am in disbelief that you are already 5 months old. Seriously. Where has the time gone? It is such a joy and pleasure watching you learn and grow, little one. You are such an awesome little lady - loving, sweet, content, happy...you bring so much joy to our family. I hope that as you get bigger you always know that.
We've had a good month...
You celebrated Thanksgiving...
I think Grammy was looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with you from the moment she knew you were on the way. Seriously. The big reason is because when your sister was a baby she was our Thanksgiving centerpiece. She sat in the Bumbo seat in the middle of the table for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was very cute. So Grammy was set on having you be our centerpiece this year.
Unfortunately, Grammy and Uncle C.J. were under the weather a bit on Thanksgiving, so we had to postpone. Thankfully, since Grandma and Grandpa live so close and were hosting, we were able to celebrate with them. We had a very nice evening with the Broste side of the family.
By the day after Thanksgiving, Grammy and C.J. were feeling better and had some antibiotics in them, so we were able to have a second dinner with them. It was a bummer because Uncle Ethan, Auntie Rachell, and your cousins couldn't make it that day, so it was a bit of a quiet celebration. But you, my love, were of course the Thanksgiving centerpiece in the Bumbo. Adorable, of course. We had a great holiday!
You became a rolling pro!
Last month I was posting about how you were learning to roll - tummy to back. Well... this month, you became a rolling pro - both ways.
I forgot how quickly learning can come with you little ones. You had been working and working on rolling. You were doing pretty well tummy to back, but you weren't able to do back to tummy. You'd get most of the way, but then get stuck.
Magna mentioned a couple times that she had seen you go from back to tummy, but I hadn't seen it. But then one night, right as you were turning 5 months, you rolled so fast I didn't even see it. I put you down on your back, looked down for seriously 30 seconds - and then there you were on your tummy! So of course I put you back on your back so you'd do it again - and you did! So fast... just like that! You want to be a mover, Britta Girl. There will be no stopping you soon!
You saw Santa...TWICE! (among other holiday festivities)
This stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas is me and Daddy's favorite time of the year. Lots of festivities and fun. We are big into traditions, especially around this time of year. We've so enjoyed adding you to the mix.
So far we've done some decorating around the house, caroled with our faith group, and met Santa - twice! First, you met Santa at our neighborhood tree lighting. You did not freak out at all (again, you are so chill), but you were totally underwhelmed. The pictures I got were hilarious - Linnea was all smiles, and you had this "who is this guy?" look. Too funny.
We saw Santa again at Bachman's. We discovered an awesome little play there. The show was about Santa and his head elf. You didn't get much out of that, of course. I hope to make this a new tradition - so hopefully in years to come you will enjoy it more! After the play, Santa took pictures with all the kids. Same underwhelmed look from you. I know you'll learn to love him!
I'm looking forward to more Christmas fun with you!
You've grown and changed a lot too...
We're in between well baby visits (your last one was on November 18th, your next one is scheduled for January 20th. As such, I don't have a whole lot of concrete measurement information. I do know this - you are a solid little nugget of baby love! You are sturdy, with lots and lots of baby rolls. You'll hate me for this when you are older...but I quite regularly stand you up when you are naked just to admire the adorable chunkiness. You love being naked, so you are happy to oblige!
You have officially outgrown your 3 month clothes. You're in a mix now of 6 month clothes and - get this- 9 month clothes! I had gotten a few 9 month long sleeve onesies when I realized that you would need them (since Linnea wore 9 month clothes in the Spring/Summer). I put one on you one day, sure that it would be quite big. But it fit! Wow!
We ended up getting size 3 overnight diapers since you were leaking so much overnight. That has helped a lot. You're still in size 2 diapers, but they are getting really small. The next pack of diapers we buy will FOR SURE be size 3s.
As always, you are so observant. It's so clear that you are REALLY paying attention, trying to figure everything out. Generally speaking, you are content to just sit and watch the world around you. Your favorite thing to watch is Linnea. You love watching her do ANYTHING, and she can make you laugh more than anyone else. I love it.
You continue to smile with your whole face and body. You are such a happy baby! It's so fun to catch your eye, say your name, and watch your huge smile spread across your face. Happy girl.
Your hand control has gotten a ton better this last month. You are grabbing for things like crazy, and are much better at getting things on the first attempt. We have to be really careful these days if we have you on our laps at the table. You'll grab at our plates - and start to pull them towards you! I think you are ready for food (though we haven't started anything yet - soon, little one!).
Your eating is the same - consistently 5 oz. each bottle. Just like the last couple months, depending on when you last ate in the night, you sometimes nurse in the morning. You have 3 bottles at Magna's/Grandma and Grandpa's - around 9:00, noon, and 4:00. Then you nurse usually just once before bed.
You're usually ready to get ready for bed by around 6:30 or 7:00. Usually down by 7:00 or 7:30. I have given up trying to figure out your bedtime sleep. I know that it's totally normal, but your bedtime sleep is so frustrating. You are almost always up twice...sometimes even three times. You're usually legitimately hungry...so you're eating a lot overnight. You've also had some gassiness, which I really thinks affects your sleep. You had had a bout of constipation shortly after Thanksgiving. Once you finally "cleaned out your pipes" you had some of the best nights of sleep you've had in a long time - straight through the night. I'm trying to take it all in stride, and know that "this too shall pass," but it's hard. Sleep deprivation is no joke!
Naps continue to go great at Magna's. I'm so thankful for how well she does with you - and how good you are for her! Magna always has nothing but good things to say about you. I'm so glad! I'm learning how to just "go with the flow" on the weekends - recognizing that it's not realistic to keep your schedule the same as it is during the week. I'm getting there... :-)
Britta, I can't believe you are 5 months old. Who told you you could grow up so fast? You are beyond a joy, Boo Boo. Your smiles, your laughter, your silly antics...they all brighten our days so much. We've had a great month. I can't wait to see what next month has in store for us...
Love you so much,
Mama (and Daddy & Linnea too)
