Five Months Old!

It gets harder and harder for me to believe every month, but yes, you are growing up! This has been your most memorable month yet and one that has been full of milestones.

Look how darling you are Ava!! At 5 months old you are so much fun! Your Daddy and I can't get enough of you :) This has been a big month for you because you are doing so many new things! Here are some 5 mo. stats:

-You are just now wearing 3-6 mo. clothing comfortably. You still have some 0-3 mo. things that fit, but mostly you've outgrown the first "wave" of your closet!

-You are in size 2 diapers.

-You are sleeping 10 hours at night and napping 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. It's wonderful!

-You are drinking formula now exclusively, in addition to rice cereal and now pears too :)

Your hair is changing too! It's getting thinner and lighter. You still have red hair, but now you have blonde hair growing in too.

Ava, from the moment you were born, you have always been bright-eyed and alert. That has only increased as you've gotten older! You are now so distracted by everything and anyone! You always turn your head to see who is talking and feeding you has now become an Olympic event! We can only imagine what's in store for us when you're mobile!

Speaking of mobile, you started out this month by making your first real attempt at moving on your own! I started finding you this way when I laid you on your activity mat...all twisted up like a pretzel! I knew it wouldn't be long before we found you...

...just like this! Rolled over! One Sunday morning I walked out of your room while you were on your back and I walked back in to find you on your tummy! What a big girl!

From that day on, EVERY time we put you down somewhere, you immediately roll over to your tummy and then sometimes back over again. You are a little wiggle worm and we have to keep our eyes on you all the time!

The weather was so nice this month that we took you on so many walks. However, because you are able to hold your head up and because you are growing up, we tried you in your stroller like a big girl, without your infant seat, and guess what?? You loved it!! You look all around and play with your toys. We can't believe how cute you look though because you're still so little!
Ava, because we has such a cool August, you became the queen of hats! We broke out so many of your cute, warm hats to wear when we were outside. We went to many of Daddy's soccer games and you always stole the show with your hats! Mommy LOVED this! I've been waiting a long time to play dress up with my little girl :)
Like a true Minnesotan, we took you to your first State Fair this month! You were so good and easy. We are so thankful for your go-with-the-flow personality that lets us keep you out late and in a variety of temperatures! We know you're going to love the fair every year. It was so much fun to be pushing you around!
In addition to your bottles, you started your first bout of solids this month with some rice cereal. You weren't sure what to make of it at first, but slowly you have gotten more interested and maybe even happy about it :)
Today however, we gave you some pears and you were a whole new eater!! You couldn't get enough and you wore lots of evidence all over your face, your hands, and your high chair!
Because you are such a mover and a shaker, and we needed something else to occupy you, we bought you the best thing ever....a johnny jumper!
And you are a little maniac in it!

You march, you dance, you twirl and you pick up your feet and just dangle :) We get such a kick out of watching you in this thing! You love to play in it while I make dinner or while Daddy watches you. We think you love anything that helps you keep moving!
Ava you finally are big enough to put your armholes through the baby bjorn! Daddy still loves to take you for walks in the carrier, but until now, you've always been too little to put your arms through the holes! Not anymore though :) Now it fits you just right!
Speaking of your Daddy, you are the light of your his eye baby girl! He puts you to bed every single night and when he comes through the door after work, you get the biggest grin on your face! Mommy loves to see the two of you bonding. You are a very blessed girl Ava to have a Daddy who loves you so much!
After being at Grandma and Grandpa's house all summer, Ryley came home again! You don't know what to think of him, we can tell, but you do love to look at him! You grin when he walks by and if we hold you close to him, you reach out your hand for him to lick. We're so glad you aren't scared of Ryley and we're so glad that Ryley is very gentle around you. The two of you make quite a pair!

We are spending lots of time working on sitting up, but you aren't quite there yet without some help! You do like the challenge though and we think you love to see the world from a whole new angle! You are the happiest little girl Ava, we just love your big smile and your easy temperament. You are the delight of our lives and we're so thankful for how God made you!
But you are still a little nut! You've learned how to arch your back and scoot yourself out of any position you don't want to be in. You are a little stinker when you want to be, but so cute we can't help but laugh at you!

However, as great as all these milestones are, my very favorite thing you did this month was say your first word...MaMa!!! You started out with just a bunch of "ma ma ma ma ma's" but now you have a distinct "MaMa" that you frequently say. I LOVE it. It makes my heart swell! Even when you're saying it so loud my ears hurt :) Now we just have to work on "DaDa" so your Dad feels better about the whole thing!

Happy 5 months Ava Page!

We love you.

You are the sweetest little 5 mo. old around :)