Five Months Old

Elodie turned five months old on 9/25, a little before I started working again. Sidenote: The short version of that update is that things seem to be going well for both me and her, as of now one week in. I will update more on that later.

I think her growth rate has slowed down a little bit compared to previous months. We didn't have a pediatrician appointment this month, but I weighed and measured her at home, and she was about 16 pounds and maybe 26.5 inches at the five month mark. She looks a little leaner to me, especially compared to her round chubby face from when she was around 2 – 3 months old. Here are some comparison photos I put together:

The first photo isn't exactly the same scale (it's bigger), but you get the idea :)

Getting a little taller and leaner (scale is approximately the same)

Overall, Elodie continues to do really well. We came back from our long Indy trip right after Labor Day, and during my last month of maternity leave, I focused a lot on establishing a good sleep pattern for Elodie. It was really great we had that Indy trip, because Elodie had previously been going to bed and waking up late (~10pm – 9am). I tried to keep her on East Coast time when we got back home, and it worked! She started going to bed around 7pm or 8pm, like a normal baby :).

Working on her sleep schedule meant both of us waking up earlier than we had been used to, and sacrificing a bit of my freedom I had earlier in my maternity leave (for example, I couldn't go to moms walks because I wanted Elodie to take good long naps at home), but I think it was well worth it. By the time Elodie turned five months old, she was regularly sleeping around 10.5 - 12 hours straight at night (like 7:30pm – 7am), and taking three solid naps each day. She is usually able to fall asleep on her own for her naps the majority of the time.

Elodie’s earlier bedtime and sleeping through the night means that Eric and I finally have some relaxing time to ourselves at night! We caught up on lots of TV shows, and we are both able to enjoy some wine at night! :) On the flip side, we can’t leave the house after about 7pm, so we aren't able to go out to eat (except the few times we ate out for dinner at 5pm with Elodie), but we quickly got into a good evening routine together.

Okay, enough on sleep :).

Things Elodie currently loves (at her 5-month mark):

• Sucking on her toes. Elodie started putting her foot in her mouth, especially when I put her on the changing table. 

Do your toes taste good, Elodie?

Looking anxious sitting up

• Library story time. In my last month of mat leave, I discovered the free baby story time sessions that all the local libraries put on during the weekday mornings. I wish I found out about them sooner! Elodie loves to go and smile at all the other babies/kids, and bounce to the songs we sing. I really enjoyed our time at the story times together. 

• Learning to sit up. Elodie is slowly starting to be able to sit up on her own (if we put her in a sitting position). She usually does a tripod pose, and can hold it for a while before toppling over to one side :).

• Sitting in the big girl stroller. We started using the regular stroller seat this month (instead of the bassinet or infant carseat), and she seems to like it. I’m not sure when you’re “allowed” to start using that seat, but she seems to be fine. 

• Drinking from a bottle! She finally turned the corner and now drinks from a bottle just fine, which is a huge relief for us now that she is in daycare! Our daycare provider said that she can down 5 ounces of milk in 10 minutes, and does just fine! When I was practicing her on the bottle leading up to daycare, she started to enjoy holding the bottle with her own hands. She could even feed herself to bottle for a few seconds if I let go :).

Happy in her big girl stroller

Drinking from a bottle on her own!

• Daily walks. During my last month of mat leave, Elodie and I “practiced” waking up early (around 6:30-7:30am). I usually had 1.5 hours before she got tired for her first nap, so after feeding and playing a little, we went on a morning walk everyday. She seems to enjoy walking with me in the Ergo or BabyBjorn carrier, and I really miss those calm morning walks! Now that I’m back at work and leaving early to pick her up from daycare by about 5:45, we have been trying to continue the tradition by taking a short walk when we get home (before her bedtime).

Elodie's current dislikes
I really can’t think of much that she doesn’t like right now… Once in a while, she has a really hard time going down for the night/bedtime, and cries/fusses a lot before finally falling asleep. She also seems to not enjoy putting on her sleep sack, which is the last step of our bedtime routine before she gets to nurse, so I think she’s getting antsy to eat by then!


I’ll leave you with some of her official five month photos!