Five Month Update

Dear Samantha,

We’ve reached the five month mark! You spent the last few weeks checking off a number of your developmental milestones, including the completion of that roll you’ve spent the past couple months attempting. You torqued your little body around until you at last made it from your back to your tummy, where you could finally view everything from right side up, push up a bit with your arms and then… wail because you realize that being on your tummy sucks.

And so went this month of frustration, this period where you are too small to do the things you really want to do like sitting up by yourself or crawling and too big to be content hanging out flat on your back on the floor. It seems to be made even worse by your supreme fascination with your big sister, that ball of fire who races from room to room leaving a trail of stuffed animals in her wake. I’ve heard before that second children try to do everything sooner in order to keep up with their older siblings, but I was not prepared for a five month old baby who so clearly wants to LET IT BEGIN! LET IT BEGIN! To run, dance, draw, and join the tea parties. To drink chocolate milk and eat Lucky Charms. To do anything that doesn’t require a Bumbo Seat to keep you upright.

Fortunately, we were able to appease you a bit with the green light from your doctor to introduce solid foods. Your first couple attempts with rice cereal were clumsy and reminded me of Lana’s first meals, but by feeding number three you were downing the cereal like a pro and trying to grab the spoon out of your father’s slow, slow hands. It took only a couple of tries before you were polishing off an entire package of baby food at each sitting. Your favorites so far are prunes (Lana calls it your chocolate), pears, applesauce, and sweet potatoes. You’ll tolerate squash, carrots, and green beans. You will frown, gag, and refuse to open your mouth if we dare come at you with peas.

Speaking of refusals, what do you have against giggling? Mommy’s love nothing better than the sweet tinkling sound of their babies giggles, you know. WHY WON’T YOU TINKLE FOR MAMA? I did, at least, get to enjoy a couple of authentic giggles for the first time this month. The first one happened while I was getting you ready for bed in your room. You let out a dainty little sneeze and I responded with an AHH CHOO of my own. That struck you as giggle-worthy just long enough for your father to rush into the room and share in the delight of the moment. I spent days after that making sneezing noises like an allergic crazy woman, but got nothing more than a patronizing chuckle out of you. That’s your typical response now when something amuses you -- a quick chuckle that sounds like an old man reacting to a joke at his local Kiwanis Club.

You may laugh like an old dude, my dear, but you’ve got the most precious smile that is all baby. It lights up your whole face and melts my heart every single time I see it. I love you so, so much my precious Samantha Claire.

Love,
Mama