five months with alice

Posted on 16. Oct, 2010 by Princess Lasertron in alice, baby

Dear Alice:

I can’t believe that it’s already been 5 months–you’re like 22 weeks going on 22 years! I feel like my little baby is growing up more and more each day–every time you roll over and over and over and I find you on the other side of the room, every time you notice something new for the first time, every time you make a new sound or react to something in a new way…where is my tiny little infant going!!


You’re still an amazing sleeper–usually about 2am to 1pm. I like to go down for the night between 4 and 5 am, and I tend to wait for you to wake me up each morning (afternoon?). After you eat for the first time, you either go to sleep or lay next to me and chat while I take another snoozer. It’s such a nice little morning routine. After you roll over and start slapping my face and going “Hooooo? Hoooooooo?” I wake up and read you my e-mail and tweets in bed. You love watching me scroll through them on the screen.

This month you started trying a few solids. About three weeks ago you became extremely interested in what people around you were eating. You notice that we are putting things in your mouth and sit, fascinated, watching us, or sometimes trying to grab our silverware or food off of our plates. We started offering you little bites of baby-consistency things we were eating, and you would usually push it out of your mouth with your tongue. The first thing you actually ate was an Italian spiced lentil stew made by our friend Isa, and I was shocked that you ate it, that you liked it, that you begged your dad for more.

I had been thinking for a long time about your first food–I pictured myself pureeing fruits and veggies, mixing them with milk, creating ice cube trays of gourmet little bites for you to try, mix, enjoy. And it ended up being lentil stew.

Since then you’ve had sweet potatoes hand-picked from Black Sheep Farms mixed with apple juice, applesauce, some baby cereal (although I’m not sure you really like that), and bananas with some cinnamon. No adverse reactions yet. You don’t eat much but you love trying things. I hope that I don’t pass my food issues onto you–you seem like a very adventurous eater like your father!

One of my favorite things about you is that you spread your fingers out wide and physically shake every time we show you one of your favorite toys or something that you want to grab. It’s like you’re saying “Holy shit I totally forgot about that awesome awesome super duper thing! It’s Christmas! I love my life!!!!”

You are also teething now, but it’s not going as badly as I have heard from other parents. It could be that it hasn’t started full-force yet, because you only fuss a bit and there hasn’t been too much full-on crying about it. Maybe just a few days. Your first little tooth has broken through your gums and it’s not one of the bottom two, but one of the lateral incisors. I can’t wait to see your crooked little toothy smile!!

Other new developments and things of note…
…Your favorite toys are your little friend (your Sally), your zebra (Zoila, named after the housekeeper on Flipping Out), your crinkly frog, and your light-up rubber duck.

…You are rolling over both ways–slowly from your tummy to back, but much more often now.
…You are so much more vocal now than you have been in past weeks. You are squealing, giggling, making little “asking” noises when you want something, and taking turns speaking when we chat together.
…I’m proud of you for beginning to fine-tune your fine motor skills. You are getting really good at grabbing things and playing with things in your hands, and not just bringing them directly to your mouth.

…You are, like, completely unable to be amply entertained. No amount of attention is enough for you. You’re extremely social and want to be engaged all the time.
…You’re kind of a non-napper.
…You love chewing and tearing magazines.

…Grandma bought you a walker that you like to sit in. Your feet don’t reach the floor yet, so you can’t scoot, but you love being upright and able to see everything. You also have a doorway jumper that you love bouncing in while I work on my laptop next to you.
…You like feeling your little nubby tooth with your finger.
…You’re learning how to make noise and love banging things with your toys, wooden spoons, spatulas, whatever.

I started a medication this month and it makes me very tired. I’m a little nervous that I’m going to pass side effects on to you, but you haven’t shown any change in behavior yet. I feel like you have been sleeping a bit longer, but your dad and grandparents say they can’t see a difference.

Overall you’re a very happy baby. Very happy, flexible, and adaptable. You like chatting but you’re equally observant and thoughtful, almost somber at times. We love you so much, little bear.

xo
meg