The Zipps Family: 5 months

Happy 5 months to me!

Avery turned five months old about a week ago. She is getting more and more personality every day! Here's what we've been up to...

Eating- We're back! We started solids back up last week. She is eating oatmeal and loving every minute of it. I almost feel bad that I stopped because she really seems to like eating from a spoon (or just eating in general!). As I was feeding her this morning, she kept opening her mouth while I was still getting the cereal on the spoon. She was ready for more! Now that she is getting more solids, she sometimes only eats 5 times a day instead of her usual 6.

Sleeping- We are finally back to normal in this department. Hallelujah! Avery has been doing so well. She goes to sleep around 8, wakes up around 4:30-5:30 to eat, then sleeps until around 8. She is STILL being swaddled. I just can't make myself wean her from it yet. I can't even think about going back to no sleep again. She is on the brink of rolling in her swaddle so I'm sure that I will be breaking her of this habit soon. It makes me nervous just thinking about it!

Firsts-

-Avery started doing some rolling this month. She has rolled several times from her belly to her back and is so close to going from her back to her belly. Her arm just seems to be in the way. She's been moving around so much more than she used to.

-She is also much closer to sitting on her own. I have to force her to sit down because she will lock out her legs to stand. She would so much rather be standing than sitting. Hopefully she will figure out that she can do a lot more from the sitting position!

-Sitting at the dinner table. This is a huge one for us! We can finally eat together as a family now that she has her own chair to sit at. It is so nice not having to entertain her while we hurry and eat.

-Making all sorts of noises- She has started making some crazy high pitched squealing sounds. At first I thought that she might be mad but nope. She's just talking! She also makes some noise that sounds like she has a lisp. She will stick her tongue out a little bit and try to make a noise.

Favorites-

-We have realized that she loves being naked! We have stripped her down before bath time and let her play a little bit. If she is fussy, she will instantly turn into a different child. It is really precious to watch her.

-Shopping in the jogging stroller- I used to take her shopping in her carseat but she hates this now. She wants to constantly be looking around.

-Playing peek-a-boo

-Looking at herself in the mirror

-Shelby and Grace- she is on the lookout for them and is completely focused on them if they are in sight

-Being outside- she still loves this even if it is cold outside.

Watching dad plant some flowers

Dislikes-

-She has started having some stranger anxiety. We have noticed that she gets really shy around new people or even people that she knows but isn't around all the time. She refuses to smile until she gets comfortable. The other day, Avery was meeting some family members that she hadn't met before and apparently had too many people looking at her. She burst into tears. She warmed up after a little while but she kept making sure Mom and Dad were nearby.

-Teething

-Clogged tear ducts- Her left eye remained clogged but we have good news in this department! It got really bad about two weeks ago but then finally cleared up. Thank goodness! She was getting really sick of having me wipe her eye multiple times a day.