N.G. 0.416

On Monday, Norma Grace was five months old!

She rolled over for the first time on Christmas day.

We had her dedication the Sunday after Christmas.

And her four month doctor's appointment was January 15.  She was 25.5 inches long (88.5%)and 13 lbs, 12.5 oz. (51.3%)  

She laughs.  A LOT.  Mostly at Frazier and Gatsby.  As a matter of fact, if she isn't laughing or crying she isn't making much noise at all.  She isn't much of a talker...I suppose it gets in the way of listening, and she's big on listening.  Sometimes, when she's gnawing on her thumb she does this sing-songy whine.  It sounds a bit fretful to me, but I think it's just her way singing.

Though she is an extremely pleasant baby, she's proven to be a difficult sleeper.  We began some solid foods following her 4 month appointment in hopes it would help her rest better.  She did great eating off of a spoon right away and did so with enthusiasm.  She loved avocado, and banana (which we only did for a day because it upset her stomach) but refused pears and apples.  After a couple of weeks I decided her tummy just wasn't handling even just avocado-breastmilk-mousse well enough for her to be comfortable and it had made zero difference in her sleeping pattern so I abandoned the "solid" food altogether.  We'll see in another month or so how it goes.  I felt like it was too early for solid foods anyway...should've gone with my gut.  I was just such a zombie I was desperate.

She found her hands a few weeks back and still will hold one out with fingers spread in front of her face just staring at it like, "How amazing is this thing?  And it's always here! How handy is that?" (pun intended). She likes her thumb, but she isn't really a thumb sucker so much as a thumb gnawer.  And she always sticks it in sideways.

She grabs at everything now and every time she gets hold of something she really studies it, like she's examining it.  She'll turn it one way and then the other, checking it from all angles.  Just in the last few days she discovered her feet...and it was a short leap from there to the discovery she can pull off her own socks...which she finds endlessly amusing.

She's such a doll.  If we could just get her to sleep through the night...or even only wake once...it'd be perfect!

This girl doesn't miss ANYTHING.  I really think she fights sleep because she's afraid she'll miss out on something.  She has this quiet intensity as she watches everything that is going on- she especially likes to keep tabs on her brother.  She's quite the observer.

My sweet girl, we just can't get enough of you! We had it so good...but then you came along...

...and it just got better!

loveyouloveyou,
Mommy