Five Months!

I'm way behind on the monthly updates, so I'll start with last month's. Natalie had her four month check-up on April 19th. I was nervous to take her by myself since Alex had a lot of work to do. It's a 45 minute drive each way, which might as well be an eternity if the baby starts crying along the way. Thankfully, she rode well in the car and got a little cat nap in at the very end. She weighed 14 lbs 1 oz and is 24 inches tall. Both measurements put her in the 50th percentile.

Yesterday, she turned 5 months old! It makes me sad to think that so much time has gone by already and she is getting closer and closer to becoming mobile! I weighed her last week and she was 16 lbs! She has gotten much steadier while sitting, although we still have to support her. Right at 4 months, she would roll from tummy to back, but after a few days, she stopped and I don't know if it's because she has gotten lazy or if it's because she scared herself after rolling over one day, but she will NOT roll over anymore. Maybe she'll master that this next month. She also started giggling, mostly at Layla. It takes a lot of effort to get a laugh out of her, but when we do, it's one of the most precious sounds my ears have ever heard. For a while, Natalie went through a phase where she wouldn't let anyone but me and Alex hold her. It broke her grandmothers' hearts that she would scream and cry when they would try to get in some cuddle time. Thankfully, that stage passed quickly and she has become much more sociable letting complete strangers hold her (ie: the cashier at Hobby Lobby, lol). She loves to pass out smiles to everyone who talks to her and they gladly accept.

Sleeping is still sporadic at night. Lately, she has been waking up between 11 and 12 and then every 3 hours after that. I miss the nights when she would sleep at least 7 hours straight! Alex will be on a business trip later this week, so I plan on working with Natalie on this while he's away. I'm not a huge fan of crying it out, but sometimes it's the last resort and it works.

This child loves to wiggle and squirm and blow raspberries like no tomorrow. She has so much energy and is very inquisitive. Heaven-forbid she can't see what is going on around her and she miss out on some of the action! I wouldn't change any of this because these things are part of who she is and part of what makes her special, but it does make it difficult to sit through a church service. It seems like there are never enough workers to help with the babies in the nursery, so I've never left her back there, especially since she can't sit up on her own and do anything independently yet. So, we juggle her around between grandparents and such and take her out when she's noisy. I don't really like this arrangement because I feel like we're distracting everyone around us, but I don't have any better ideas yet.

I embroidered the onesie she's wearing below for her over the weekend and am happy that it turned out ok after having a bobbin crisis in the middle of it! Now I'm hooked on appliques and embroidery and my machine will finally get some serious use!

Every day I thank God that we have a healthy baby girl. I never want to take her for granted. She is such a precious gift and I still can't believe she's mine. I love you so much, Natalie Grace!