5 Months Old!

Dear Cordelia,

You are 5 months old today! It's been 5 sweet months since I first held you and said hello. Five amazing months that I've been able to smother you in kisses and rock you to sleep each night. Five months of watching you grow and develop into one awesome and beautiful little baby. Hands down, the best 5 months of my life so far.

This month, we drove down to southern California to attend your Great-Grandpa's funeral. You did great in the car and you must have known it was a somber time because you fell asleep on me during the memorial service for the first time in a few months. It was a sweet moment to share with you. You also got to meet your Uncle Scott and Aunt Coco, and we went to your first Dodger game. You also felt sand and put your toes into the Pacific Ocean on one unseasonably warm weekend in San Francisco.

This month, you grew more opinionated about being put down and more enthusiastic about life in general. You have an amazingly contagious belly laugh, and you're super giggly when you're really tired and trying to pretend like you aren't sleepy. You're just like Daddy in that way. This month, you found your voice; you turn heads with your screeching! You also found the M and B consonants. The M consonant is my favorite because it sounds like you're saying mama. Which you aren't, but I like to tease Daddy about it. He can't wait until you find the D sound.  You also drool (and spit up) all the time, which explains why your biggest fan, Lenny, nicknamed you Princess Droolie. I'm pretty sure you're teething, but we have yet to see any results from your hard work. Speaking of drool, you learned to blow bubbles this month, so that's fun.

This month, you are still one awesome sleeper most of the time! We're really quite thankful that you sleep through the night, going down anywhere from 8:30-9:30pm and getting up for the day around 7am. The last week has been a bit rough on the sleep front, and you've been waking up once or getting up extra early, but I'm hoping it's a growth spurt and you'll revert back to your normal routine soon. You have transitioned to 3 naps per day now, but they range in length. You sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, though you're working on a 3+ hour nap right now! Maybe that's because you missed your morning nap to go to yoga with me.

This month, you began sitting up, which is really exciting for you. You love practicing on the bed so you have a nice, soft landing when you fling yourself back. You laugh at yourself once you get over the initial shock and then you want to do it again. You love looking at books and being read to, and you're beginning to want to help turn the pages. It's so much fun reading to you. This month, your favorite books are I Spy In the Jungle, Olivia, and Pat the Bunny. Our favorite books to read to you are, You Are My I Love You, It's Time to Sleep My Love, and the Storybook Bible. Our books are a bit on the sappy side, but you seem to like them too.

This month, you are getting used to sitting in your new fancy highchair. You really love being able to see us eat our food, and being at the table with us. We searched long and hard to get that fun highchair off of Craigslist, and I'm so glad we were patient, you get so excited to sit in it and we love seeing and talking to you at the table. You also love being in your exersaucer, and I'm glad because it takes up half our living space!

This month with you, Cora, has been so much fun. Even if I get some rare time apart from you, I come home so excited to see you (and Daddy of course). You are growing into quite the observer! You talk way more at home than when we're outside, and you love being silly with me, but you are the best snuggler.

Next month, I'm looking forward to seeing what new things you come up with to entertain us. We'll start solid foods next month, so I'm excited to introduce you to all the wonderful flavors that this world has to offer. You are such a fun little buddy and I'm so honored that I get to spend my days with you, watching you grow and loving on you. I know someday you won't let me smother you in kisses like I do now, so I'm learning to cherish long nursing sessions, rocking you to sleep, your belly laughs, and your slobbery kisses.

We love you to the moon and back, Cordelia, I hope you always carry that in your heart.