Talking up a Storm

We're almost there!!  I learned that babies "practice" their large motor skills in their sleep before they start showing these abilities while awake.  And Addelyn is no exception to that rule!  Last night I saw her roll over from her back to her stomach TWICE.  It was so surreal - something she has such a hard time with when she's awake and playing she just does like it's no big deal in her sleep.  Amazing.  That being said, I think Addelyn will be rolling all over the place pretty soon :-)

I don't have a video of Addelyn rolling over yet, but here's quite a long one of her "talking"  She's just started to babble, and it's sooooo cute!  The video's a long one...I just couldn't stop taping!  Even though it's a common thing and that every baby does it, I can't help but be amazed and enthralled at every little new thing she does.  This video was taken late in the evening, so she was getting a little tired and crabby (you can tell by the way she can't decide whether to laugh or cry).  It didn't help that she wanted me to pick her up and I was just sitting there looking at her, and at the end she has a bit of a coughing fit.  No, she's not sick, she just takes after me and occasionally inhales her spit then chokes on it... graceful, I know.

And now, more pictures.  Here are some of my favorite recent pictures:

I love these pajamas!!

Addelyn is pushing up on her arms very well now.

Addelyn always loves bathtime!

I think I'll start doing some stats, that way when I have more babies and when Addelyn grows up I can remember how big Addelyn was and what she was doing at this age:

Stats:
Age:  5 1/2 months
Weight:  16 lbs, 11 oz
Length:  26.5 inches
Drinks:  about 5 7oz bottles of milk per day (4 oz of which is formula)
Eats:  4 teaspoons of rice cereal per day
Sleeps: 12 hours/night - 9pm-9am  (usually wakes up around 2am for binkie and 5 or 7am for bottle)
Naps: 2 or 3 1-hour naps/day occasionally a 2-hour nap
Awake for: 1.5-3.5 hours at a time during the day.
Clothes size:  mainly 6-9 month and some 3-6 month
Motor skills:  sitting up almost unattended, rolling over tummy-to-back
other skills:  she just started babbling :-)
words:  no words yet...unless you count mama, but I don't think she knows what it means.
signs:  she understands "milk" and we're working on "change diaper", "help", "out", "up", "fall down", "play", "tired", "night night", "book", "bye bye", and "eat"

Sweet Tooth

Addelyn is officially teething!  She hasn't had too much of a problem with it so far and if it's effecting her sleep patterns at all it's for the better (thankfully).  I noticed a couple of days ago that the mouthing she's always done became a little more...shall we say...urgent.  Still no teeth poking through as of yet, though, and I think it will still be a whle since her gums aren't even hard or swollen at all.

Even though Addelyn's first tooth hasn't come through yet, I think I already know it's a sweet one!  We've gotten our first bag of candy corn for the season and let's say I got a little carried away today.  I was surprised to see that my inability to stay away from the candy corn was reflected in Addelyn's behavior!  Tonight at 30 minutes past her bedtime Addelyn was absolutely bouncing off of the walls!!  It was so funny, I had to get it on video:

This is what happens when a breastfed baby's mommy has too much candy corn...she was like this for a good 15 minutes.

The Saddest Sound in the World

Addelyn sometimes crys in her sleep and it sounds so much sadder than any of her other crys (angry, hungry, scared, tired, bored, hurt etc...) and it breaks my heart.   How can a 5-month-old have such sad dreams when she doesn't even know what it means to be sad?  I suppose it's the flipside of when she has funny dreams and laughs in her sleep.  She started giggling in her sleep at 2 weeks old before she could even consciously smile.  I wonder if there have been any infant sleep-studies that show that the neurons in the emotional centers of infants' brains can activate during sleep before the baby is emotionally mature enough for them to activate when awake...

No picture or video for this subject - I've tried so hard to get the sleep-giggling on video because it's just so adorable, but it's so unpredictable and quick.  The crying can last a little longer, but I don't have the heart to watch her cry like that long enough to record it.  I just have to pick her up and comfort her when she crys in her sleep - even if she doesn't wake up for it, she still calms down once I pick her up and talk or sing to her.

Peace, Love, and Rock and ROLL

                                

PEACE,

LOVE,

ROCK,

& ROLL

It's official.  Addelyn is rolling over!  She started on Tuesday morning (September 6), and was an expert by the following night.  Goodbye tummy-time.  Right now she will only go from her tummy to her back, and she only rolls to the right, but I'm sure once she realizes that rolling is a viable mode of transportation, she'll start rolling all over the place.

I figured out how Addelyn can get around in her walker - I have to put her in it backwards.  The leg holes point forward too much, so she can't get her legs under her if she's in it correctly.  Now that I figured out the trick, Addelyn cruises!  She does have a bit of a problem with steering as you can see, though.  Since she has to sit backward, the pivoting wheels are in the back and it makes steering very non-intuitive.  I think I'm going to do some modifications of the shape of the seat pretty soon.

Addelyn has also started doing "the dive"  If I'm holding her and she sees something or someone that she wants, she will reach both hands out for it and try to 'dive' out of my hands.  Isn't she too young for that???  She's also doing better and better at sitting on her own.  A couple of days ago she decided that she wanted to sit IN her toy box.  She walked up to it and fussed when I offered her the toys or for her to stand by it - then once I put her in she got a big smile on her face and played in there for several minutes.  It was so cute.

Addelyn often takes her morning nap in our bed with me (and sometimes Jake, too!)  I think this may be her favorite place to nap because I'm right there not only to be a comforting presence, but also to replace her pacifier when it falls out, which it does at least a half-dozen times per nap.  When Addelyn naps wit me like this, it's totally normal for us to have a 2-hour nap, and we've even had a couple of 3-hour ones!  It is soooo nice.

We had a long, fun day on Saturday, September 3.  We woke up at Grandma and Papa Sienkiewicz's house and played until mid-afternoon, then went home and played some more.  I think Addelyn was beat...she had a mild fever (99.5) and fell asleep a little early that night - she couldn't even stay awake through her dinner!

Labor day was fun - we went to Lora and John Baughman's house and had a cookout.  Addelyn enjoyed all of her friends and she even got to play with Mia the dog, who is always very concerned when Addelyn crys or yells.  Mia will be a great big sister!  Addelyn played a little in the grass - it was a chilly day, so she got all bundled up and everyone agreed that the hat Tiffany made her was ADORABLE!!!  (and also that it made her look like a mushroom from Mario...nerds)