Playing with food: cucumber

The other day we had flatbread pizzas with cucumber which gave us something new for Abigail to try.  Here she is checking out the cucumbers:

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend here in Tucson, and really appreciated the three day weekend.  Even though JP still had to study quite a bit, we had time for some nice family walks and Abigail and I got to hang out a lot!

Highlights include:
Enjoying our Sunday walk...

Eating watermelon...

Trying to eat Daddy's feet...

Telling stories with Daddy...

 Reading books...

And waking up after our Monday walk...

What a great weekend!

Playing with food: bell peppers

Abigail has also enjoyed bell pepper sticks to mostly suck on while we eat dinner.  This night she had these to play with while we had fajitas:

Playing with food: banana

I mentioned in my recent monthly update that we have begun encouraging Abigail to follow her natural curiosity and play with food.  We are aiming to follow the new recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months so that Abigail can get all the associated benefits, but since we are getting close, we feel okay with this exploration.  She doesn't actually eat very much but is getting the idea of what to do with food when she gets it in her mouth. 

Plus, it has made for a lot of entertaining pictures!

Here is Abigail checking out one of her favorites so far, banana:

Abigail's Taggie Blanket

I mentioned this in my monthly update but I wanted to expand on some of the favorite ways Abigail likes to play with this blanket, which was a Christmas present from Aunt Steph, Uncle Mike, and Abigail's cousins.

When Grandma Betty was here, she started putting the taggie blanket over the activity mat so Abigail could look at it and grab it. This continues to be a favorite game.  Here it is in action:

She usually eats the tags at the end but this was not caught on camera.

We also enjoy playing "where's Abigail?" with the blanket, which she usually finds very entertaining. She did not smile during this game, I think due to the camera, but she usually does:

Cousins

Belatedly, a few weeks ago, Abigail's cousins, plus their Mom Stephanie as well as Uncle Patrick and Grandma Mary, stopped at our house on their way back to Phoenix from New Mexico.  We were all very entertained by watching Abigail and her cousin Greg check each other out (Greg is two weeks older than Abigail and is in the red shirt):

Greg's older cousins, Allie and Evelyn, also had fun reading some of Abigail's books with Daddy:

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all our favorite mothers!

We had a great time celebrating my first mother's day and just had a nice relaxing day.

Abigail made me a present at daycare:

how cute is that? They had each baby "paint" a picture and then had them add their handprint, plus a cute picture documenting the process.  Then they hosed the babies down in the sink, and Abigail apparently enjoyed the whole experience!

JP got me some great flowers:

And we both got all dressed up for mass and lunch, with a nap and snack break in between:

Hope everyone had a great day!

Abigail: 5 months old

Nicknames:  Abigaily, Munchkin, Sweet Pea, Sunshine, Amorcita, Hijita, Abalone (Grandma)
Temperament: still really happy and sweet, curious and observant, but starting to protest things

Item/Toy We Love The Most:  books, Sophie the Giraffe, the rattle, the activity mat, the rubber ducky song, the taggie blanket
Item/Toy You Love The Most:  food mom and dad are eating, Sophie the Giraffe, books, activity mat, your hands, the taggie blanket, anything you can grab and put in your mouth (still), the rubber ducky song

Things We're Loving Most Right Now: watching you problem solve as you practice sitting and get more comfortable on your tummy, seeing you figure out how to transfer toys, singing to you, having "conversations" with you after you eat, hanging out with Daddy in the mornings, helping you explore your toys 

 

Things You’re Loving Most Right Now: nursing, trying to eat mom and dad's food, sucking on your fingers, trying to eat everything you can get your hands on, watching the birdies in your room, playing on the activity mat, being a flying baby

The most significant thing that happened this month as far as Abigail's daily life is that Grandma Betty, who was taking care of Abigail at our house while I worked and JP was at school, left at the end of April. That meant that Abigail started at her daycare center on April 30th.  She has done very well so far and the teachers like her and remark on how sweet and observant she is. There are only 8 babies and 2 teachers and even though it is sad to leave her there, she seems happy at the end of the day and we feel like she is in good hands! (pictured in her sun hat for outside time at daycare)

Eating: Abigail continues to eat well and is on a consistent schedule of 6 meals a day, waking up once at night to eat.  The very end of April saw her get her first cold, coincidentally around the time she started daycare, and that ended up giving her a few extra nursing sessions when she was sniffly (she is now feeling a lot better).  She has taken a bottle without difficulty at daycare.  Abigail likes to sit in her red chair (pictured above) while we eat our meals and watch what we do.  Abigail is increasingly interested in the table food we are eating every day, and we have begun giving her things to munch on, like bananas or a piece of lettuce, but are trying to stick with nursing only until she is six months.  I will post more on this later...

Sleeping:  Abigail is taking decent naps for us but we stopped swaddling her arms once she began to roll over, which led to some shorter naps for a while.  This has improved for us at home but she is still taking a lot of short naps in daycare, sometimes only 30 minutes. The teachers say this is typical and she should settle in soon. She hasn't been too fussy on the days she doesn't sleep much so we are thankful for that! Her night sleep continues to be pretty good although we have had a few nights of multiple (5+) wake ups that culminate in a 5:00 am wake up.  Luckily these appear to be linked to her cold so we are hoping this is not the new normal...

Playing:  This is such a fun age! Abigail continues to like to look at books with us and is getting very good at turning the pages. She still likes to put most things in her mouth and is now able to transfer toys from one hand to the other, often while she is mouthing them.  She also loves her taggie blanket and has figured out that she can grab the animals on the toy mat while she is sitting up and use them for balance while she reaches for something else. 

She loves to stand up and prefers to be held in a standing position instead of sitting on your lap. She likes to play with the baby in the mirror and to be a flying baby. She continues to like repetitive games with some anticipation, like doing 'itsy bitsy spider' on her tummy and head, and seems like she is starting to know what is coming next.  We have so much fun with her!

Growth:  No pediatrician appointment this month, but Abigail must have grown at least another inch and continues to get fuller cheeks.  We finally finished off the size 1 disposables and moved up to size 2 (we actually exchanged an unopened box of size 1s for 2s since we use the disposables so infrequently).  Abigail is still wearing her cloth diapers on the smallest setting and has been doing well with them at daycare.  She is wearing mostly 6 month and some 6-9 month clothes now. 

Abigail began rolling over this past month, although she does not do it frequently.  Except she does like to roll off the floor bed when she wakes up.  She surprised herself the first few times, but now seems to find it interesting. She has not rolled off in her sleep that we are aware of, and I think she would let us know. 

Abigail can sit without support for brief periods and can sit for an extended period with support. She is transferring toys, talking more, and having a blast! We can't wait to see what the next month brings.

A comparison: