ada charlotte {5 months}

Dear Ada,

I can’t believe that I’m so lucky to have you as my daughter! Every day I look forward to seeing you in the morning and after work. You have so many smiles to give away, and there seems to be no shortage. I love seeing your smile overcome your whole little body, where you can’t contain your joy. You make me feel so happy and grateful to be a dad. I sure love you!

Love,
Dad

Little One,

5 months already?! I can't believe it! It's pretty cool that we've kept you alive for this long 😉 😂

I just find it amazing how much you grow and change as the days go by. One day I'll be doing something with you for the first time, and then a few days later you're a pro at whatever the new trick is. Sometimes I think about how over the next 7 months you'll most likely learn to crawl, walk, eat solid food, and maybe even say a few words. It truly boggles my mind how much development takes place in this first year. I'm excited for everything that is to come, and I'm enjoying each new thing as it comes :)

You are truly a joy, and you bring so much light to our lives. Not a day (or an hour, really) goes by where Daddy and I don't say something about how cute or wonderful you are :) We're so grateful you're ours!

Stats

You are weighing 14 pounds even (25%), according to the bathroom scale :) I read that you're supposed to double your birth weight by 5 months . . . Thank goodness you aren't doubling yours!!
Girrrrrrl, you've got some chunky thighs! Haha they're so huge and cute :) But your waist is pretty skinny in comparison, so we have a diaper dilemma! I'm pretty sure your thighs could benefit from size 2, but the rest of you is just so skinny that you're still in size 1. We'll probably size you up the next time we buy diapers :)

You're still rocking size 0-3 month clothes! Onesies are seeming almost (but not quite) too short for you now, waistbands are bordering on too small, some pants are turning into capris, and some dresses are turning into shirts, but everything still fits for the most part. Not to mention the next size up is still gigantic on you. What am I supposed to do when you truly outgrow these 0-3 month items but still don't fit 3-6 month items?

Notable events

Another first holiday for you! Valentine's Day. We didn't really do anything special with you for Vday, but I dressed you up real cute :)

You got two new cousins this month! Parker (Feb. 1) and Elisabeth (Feb. 16). Parker weighed 5.5 pounds, so you know -- he was half as big as you ever were! When you two first met, it looked like you could eat him for breakfast or carry him around as your very own baby doll 😂 You won't meet Elisabeth until July.

Tricks/Milestones

You are loving standing up. We'll hold your hands or under your arms, and you'll just stand there and smile so big for ages! Makes me feel like you're so grown up!
You officially graduated from your bath swing. I now just lay you down on your back or your tummy (best way to clean your neck folds!!) directly on the tub. You seem to really like it! You've always liked bathtime, but I'm pretty sure you like it more now that you can kick your legs and splash around a bit :)
So this is more like an anti-milestone -- Although you were great at rolling from tummy to back, you literally have not done it this entire month. I think it's because you can now hold your head up pretty much indefinitely while doing tummy time, so you don't see a huge need to roll over. However, sometimes, when you've been on your tummy for a long time, you start crying/whining to be put on your back. Maybe it's my fault you're not rolling over anymore, since I always cave and flip you over 🙈
Another anti-milestone, you haven't laughed much this month, either. Maybe we're just not that funny; I'm not sure. I think you have to be at just the right level of tired/awake or something.
You are pretty close to holding your bottle on your own, but not quite there yet :)

My favorite things

This month, you started laying your head on my shoulder if you're tired. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, it is my favorite thing. I love feeling like you're actively choosing to cuddle with me :)

Physical touch is obviously my love language, because another of my favorite things is kissing you on your cheek, very close to your mouth, so that you turn toward me and kiss my cheek (or just slobber all over it, you know 😉 ). It's super sweet :)
You also talk/sing all the time, and it's so cute! Daddy loves it when I sent videos or voice clips of you being all sing-songy.

Random tidbits

We've had a relatively warm February (45-60 degrees), so we go on a walk together almost every day. I recently took you to the park for the first time and put you in the baby swing. You didn't seem to care too much, but I thought it was super cute :)

You are a super distracted eater. Most of the time, it's just me and you, so you do fine. However, if anyone else is around, even Daddy, you are looking all over the place to see what is going on. I guess I need to expose you to chaos (like being around your cousins) more often so that you get used to it?
Sometimes (I think when you're still tired), you will pull or play with your hair while you eat.
Well, I finally gave up pumping shortly after you turned 4 months. I really wasn't making much milk at all (we're talking like 2 oz./day) and between your non-naps and pumping, I literally had NO time to get anything done. So I'm glad to be done with that :)
You've turned into a thumb sucker! You suck on everything, really, but lately you've sucked on your thumb quite a bit.

You're losing your hair!! 😭 You still have tons -- enough that it's still the number one thing people comment on -- but some of it is definitely falling out. When I bathe you, when I comb your hair, where you lay on your mattress -- hair galore. It's definitely thinner than it used to be. You are also kind of damaging the hair on the back of your head because you move your head so much when you're trying to fall asleep! The texture of that hair is not so smooth as a result.
You definitely seem to have more of an opinion this month! You make it known if you are not happy. Sometimes that is if a toy falls out of your mouth, but it's usually when we're feeding you and we decide you need a burp so we take away the bottle. You start squealing or screaming! Haha I think it's kinda funny :)
You don't cry much -- usually only if you're tired (or if we take away the bottle) -- but there were two times this month when you did cry. The first was when we were at grandma's house one day. Max and Haddie were there, and they were being loud and crazy because they're kids. They were playing with toys and throwing toys, and Haddie really wanted to give you a toy to play with. There was so much going on, that you just started crying because you were so overwhelmed! It was so sad and funny at the same time. The second was when we were giving your last feeding one night. You're almost always tired at that feeding, and it takes the whole time we feed you for you to really wake up and be any sort of alert. So I was feeding you, and then something nearby fell onto the floor. It completely scared you and you just started bawling! Again, so sad and funny. Though mostly sad, because you had your sad-cry face on, which is truly heartbreaking.
You're still sleeping through the night (never had a 4-month regression), and your naps still leave me wanting. Although you do fall back to sleep sometimes, you rarely connect that first sleep cycle to the second. Hopefully you'll learn someday. If not, I tell Daddy that we must have done a trade-off in heaven: We'll accept a baby that is a bad napper as long as she is the absolute cutest baby in the world. At night, you sleep from about 7:30pm until 6:15-7:15am.

Love always,
Mama