5 Month Milestones

Greta is now five months old so I want to take a few moments to list her accomplishments.

• 14 lbs 10 oz, 26 in.
• Walks quite well if able to hold onto someone's hands. She rarely steps on her other foot when walking. Previously this seriously impeded her progress.
• On the subject of feet they are one of her favorite chew toys. She enjoys bringing them to her mouth during diaper changes or when sitting in the bumbo. It makes no difference if she's wearing socks or shoes or is barefoot, it's all good. Momma, however, does not endorse shoe chewing so the shoes usually come off during these sessions.
• She loves to talk to us and is especially chatty right after waking up in the morning or after a nap. She squeals, coos, laughs, and occasionally growls.
• She is quite proficient with picking up toys and passing them back and forth between hands.
  
• She is determined to escape her Bumbo and if there is something she wants she'll push off with one leg to try and will arch over the side to reach it.
  
• She rolls from tummy to back all the time. She doesn't mind tummy time as much now that she can get off her stomach when she wants to.
• She averages between 4 and 6 hours of sleep before eating. For a while she was consistently going 6 hours but has regressed lately. I think it's probably due to her learning how to roll as she rolls off of her side.
• She's working on rolling from back to tummy but hasn't quite mastered it. She can get up onto her side though.
• We've tried giving her tastes of a few foods (sweet potatoes, avacado, & water) to see what she thinks about them and thus far anything but milk is yucky. It's hilarious to see her face though.
  
• She's started holding out her arms for us when she wants to be picked up or wants to go to someone different.
• She'll smile at strangers but isn't really fond of being held by people she doesn't know, particularly if she can't see mom.
• We've started using the umbrella stroller for shopping and she definitely prefers this to her car seat stroller but will fuss if I stop walking and she can't see me. I guess she knows I'm there when we are moving but if we stop she's not sure where I've gone.
• She's wearing 3-6 month clothes in separates as long as they aren't onesies, 6 month in sleepers and onesies. She is fast outgrowing most of the 3 month stuff though. I put a few items away each time I wash.

I'm a radio star!

Well, not really a star, but I was on the radio. My chiropractor has a radio call in show each saturday on a local radio station. Because he doesn't get very many pregnant patients he'd asked me to be on there with him to talk about my experience and hopefully encourage other pregnant women to see him if they are having problems. This past Saturday was the big day. I'll be honest and say I was pretty nervous once I was sitting infront of the mic (especially after it fell off when I was trying to adjust it). Once I said a few things I actually felt fairly comfortable. I am glad it's over with though. If you want to hear the broadcast there's a zip file of an mp3 here.

Things I'm glad I don't have to live without

I've been asked quite a few times but pieces of baby gear I couldn't live without. I prefer to say that I'm glad I don't have to live without them because technically I don't need them but they sure make life easier. If anyone else out there would like to post a similar list I'd love to see your must have items.

Bumbo - We use this all day everyday. It is definitely Greta's seat of choice. I sit her in it while I clean and put her toys right next to her and she's happy for a good while. It's also great for taking to restaurants. We stick her on the table and she's able to see everything and feel like she's a part of everything. I also have the play tray but don't really use it. It's hard to put on.


Boppy - Another item that is used all the time. It makes feeding so much easier and it must be comfortable because Greta often falls asleep on it. I really miss it when I am out and about and don't have it with me.


Recliner - I spend a lot of time in the recliner feeding Greta. It is really my seat of choice as it gives great support and the arms are the perfect width for the boppy.





Bright Starts Toys - Of all the toys we have received Greta's favorites are almost all from the Bright Starts line. She loves the crinkly books, fun links, and rattles. Because these are her favorites I bought one of each to keep in the diaper bag.



Fuzzi Bunz & Bum Genius Cloth Diapers - Cloth diapering has been so easy and I love the money we save. I still buy an occasional bag of disposables to have on hand for when she has diaper rash or I don't get the diapers washed in time or for church and each time I make that purchase I'm so glad I don't have to do it very often. (Btw, Publix disposables are not good!)


One thing I wish I hadn't bought - nursing nightgowns.

Warning

Do not wear nursing bra to step class, no matter how supportive and comfortable said bra is. Bra can become unsnapped during workout resulting in loss of support.

Greta Laughs!

For those of you who don't check dropshots I wanted to post a few videos here of Greta laughing. Enjoy!

Greta is so industrious

Or rather...she helps me be industrious. I fondly call her my little task master. During the day if I want to do something other than play with Greta she will be perfectly happy to sit in her Bumbo if I'm cleaning the kitchen or the bathroom or vacuuming, etc. However, if I want to sit down and check my email she will promptly tell me I am not doing what I should. I think she enjoys watching me clean but watching me check email is boring! Oh well, she keeps me doing the things I should.

Ready for swimsuit season

Sometimes I feel like I have a doll. I enjoy dressing Greta up in outfits and for the most part she's agreeable. Today I tried out her new swimsuit to make sure it fitted. I went ahead and ordered it early since we plan to do a Mommy and Me swim class at Sportsclub in either March or April. The bottoms have the swim diaper built in so we won't have to buy disposables. The hat is reversible so it'll go with her other suits and it has an spf of 50+.

Stylin' Burp Cloths

I was given a few embroidered/embellished burp cloths. After using these my plan jane burp cloths were just so boring and given a choice I always chose the pretty ones. My mom had 2 burp cloths embroidered and then sewed ribbon on them so I had a few more pretty ones to use although I still had 12 that I didn't like so much. I decided to get the rest of those embroidered and bought ribbon and fabric to spice them up as well. I contacted various places to get them embroidered and found they wanted around 7 per burp cloth. Oh well, I figured I'd just put the ribbon on them and be happy with that.

Happily, though, my mom bought an embroidery machine a few weekends ago. She had been considering one for a while and after researching the brands decided on a midrange babylock. This past weekend Graham, Greta, and I visited Momma and Daddy. Momma and I spent the better part of the weekend making the rest of my burp cloths pretty. I really enjoyed the design aspect of it. It was fun and challenging to come up with different color/font/spacing combos to compliment the ribbon and fabric. Below is the fruit of our labor.



Scroll down for two new posts I started during the last week or two and finally got around to posting!

Up at 5...why not post a recipe

As I sit here with a non sleepy baby who is chewing on my left hand, I figure, why not share a recipe with all you fine sleeping folks.

I made this on Wed for sister night and it was raved about by everyone but Greta who just wanted milk....silly girl. For the shredded chicken I used Amy's cooking method of a whole chicken in the crock pot. I also decreased the lime juice by 1/2 since most reviews of the recipe said it was too limey. After getting the whole thing put together I wanted it to have a bit more oomph as we weren't having any side dishes so I put a can of corn, rotel, great northern white beans, and kidney beans. It was incredibly easy. If any of you out there decide to give it a try, let me know what you think.