5 Months

We have been so busy lately! Packing, traveling, unpacking, repacking, and traveling again! Did you follow that? The week after we returned from Colorado, I took the girls down to Dothan to visit my friend Denise, who was one of my college roommates, for 2 days. My best friend Mary met us down there with her three children. We had a blast, but we were all exhausted by the end. There were 7 children under 5 there.

We also moved the girls to their nursery last week. They were both still sleeping in our room in one crib, but they were getting too big for that and Caroline developed a new found love for kicking her legs up in the air and then slapping them down on the mattress which did not make for a very restful or peaceful sleep for Avery. It cracks us up when she does that though, especially when you hear it on the monitor and know exactly what is going on. Anyway, back to the move. We moved the other crib into the nursery that was in our room and moved the nursery chair into our room since all the furniture would not fit in the nursery together. It is so sweet to me to walk in and see both cribs in there together. They have done exceptionally well sleeping apart in their separate cribs. We have not had any problems with it. Also, I have done very well with it. Surprisingly, I wasn't sad to move them. It was just time. Now, our room feels so spacious and grown-up again.

Amidst all of this chaos, the girls turned 5 months! They are growing so fast and changing everyday. It has been so fun to watch how they evolve. Both girls are eating well. They have had rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and bananas. So far, they have loved it all! They are not sleeping through the night like I previously reported. They were for a few weeks and then we regressed. We still feed them at 10:00 or 10:30 and then we usually have to feed them again somewhere in the 3:00-4:30 range with some possible paci reinsertions in between. A couple of times we have tried to drop the 10:00 feeding which hasn't worked out well for us because they usually wake up around 12:00 or 1:00 to eat. They both have had thrush for the last few weeks. I think we are finally coming to the end of it though. On a funny note, Avery developed thrush first. It was two days before their baptism and we had friends coming in town who had never seen the girls. So I called the pediatrician's office to see what I needed to do. They said to try "Gentian Violet" for a few days and then to call back if it didn't help. I put this Gentian Violet all over her lips and mouth as I was instructed to do. In a split second, my baby went from sweet and innocent to looking like a little "goth baby". Her lips and mouth were so dark purple, it looked black. When she smiled at me with her mouth open, it was like looking into a black hole. I was traumatized thinking that I would not be able to get this off of her before the baptism. I discontinued the gentian violet and it finally faded. Thank goodness. I hate that I didn't get a picture of it.

Avery has really become so laid back and mild mannered. She is such an easy baby and brings so much joy to our life. She is full of smiles and is so content. Avery enjoys playing in the exersaucer, the bouncy seat, running errands/shopping.

She is not big on her paci. She only takes it at naptime and sometimes at bedtime. Avery loves her "baby" though! Her "baby" is one of those soft animal head things with a small blanket attached. She likes to have it in her carseat with her and in the crib. She much prefers to sleep on her boppy for naptime instead of her crib. I am working on changing this but it is sooooo much easier to get her to take her nap this way. I literally just lay her down on it with a blanket and her paci and she is out. At bedtime, we can usually just lay her in the crib and she will fall asleep after a while.

I don't know how much the girls weigh but Avery feels significantly heavier than Caroline. Also, she is longer than Caroline.

Avery still appreciates anything soft and plush. She loves to stroke her fingers on the crib bumper which is extremely soft. We love to watch her do this! It is so sweet.

Caroline also brings so much joy to our lives! In the last few weeks, her personality has really started coming out. She has found her feet and is constantly doing toe touches. Literally. She spreads her legs as far apart as she can and then grabs her feet. I will find her doing this in her carseat, laying down in the crib or changing table, or while she is swinging. She loves to keep her legs up in the air. Her latest move is to kick both legs up in the air and then swing them over to the side so that she rolls over on her side. My parents babysat for us last night. I was explaining our new bedtime routine to my mom and at the end of it I told her to not forget to stick around for Caroline's "show". It is so entertaining to us. Braxton and I love to watch her for a few minutes after we put her down. Also, it is always funny to see where in the crib she ends up in the morning. We have found her with both legs propped up on the bumper.

Caroline loves to blow bubbles with her mouth. It is so cute except when she decides to do this with a bottle in her mouth or when she has a mouthful of sweet potatoes. We love to hear her do this on the monitor.

Caroline can be an emotional rollercoaster. One minute, she can be screaming and the next chuckling away. She definitely keeps us on our toes.

She is so sweet and cuddly. Caroline loves to be held and loves to cuddle.

At all times, Caroline either has a paci, some fingers, a toy, or her clothes in her mouth. Even while she is drinking a bottle or eating her food, she tries to put her fingers in her mouth. I foresee some braces in her future.

This was the girls on the night that we moved their cribs. I laid them down next to each other while I finished putting Caroline's crib sheet on. This is how they used to sleep.