5 months

Dear Zoe,

You're 5 months old, sweetness. Time sure does fly when you're having fun! Mommy and Daddy are having a blast with you, baby girl.

This month has been all about tactile development. You love touching things with your hands and especially your mouth. You reach for everything, and you're so curious. Lately, you love touching Mommy and Daddy's faces. It's precious. We love watching you explore! In addition to touching things, you also like scratching new objects and textures. It's really cute.

You laugh so much, Zoe. Most times you laugh at silly things Mommy and Daddy do with you, but occasionally you'll just laugh spontaneously at nothing at all, or at least it seems that way. In addition to the game we play where Mommy thrusts you in front of Daddy's face as he says "boom", you also love it when we lift you above our heads. It's so comical to you. Perhaps you'll like heights???

This month you've become more temperamental. You know what you want and when you want it. And if you don't get it....well, let's just say you make your displeasure known. You LOVE to be held, Zoe. I hate to use the "s" word (spoiled), but I think you may be just that. Having Mommy home with you everyday for the past 5 months to just love on you has made you this way, and when Daddy comes home from a trip he loves snuggling with his baby girl. Actually, we held you a lot in the early days because we had an acid reflux scare, and your doctor encouraged us to hold up upright for 30 minutes after every feeding. (Thankfully you didn't have reflux!) Most recently we've held you a lot because you were developing a flat spot on the left side of your head. So while we naturally love to hold you and love on you, there are also other reasons why we've held you a lot and continue to do so.

You finally figured out how to put your feet in your mouth. Perhaps you're ready for solids? LOL. Speaking of solids, you love watching Mommy and Daddy eat. You literally track the food from our plates into our mouths. Recently Daddy was eating french fries and you grabbed one from his hand and took it directly to your mouth. We didn't let you eat it, of course, but we did let you feel it with your tongue. We'll start solids really soon; however, we're going to try to wait until you turn 6 months to reduce the chance of you developing food allergies.

Oh, we have a confession. Mommy and Daddy put you back in our room. You were doing okay in your crib, but we had guests in town for July 4 so we decided to put you back in our room to ensure that your sleep wasn't disturbed. We both realized how much we missed having you so close, so Daddy decided we should keep you in your bassinet just a bit longer. You seem to sleep better, and so do Mommy and Daddy.

The past 5 months of our lives have been magical, Zoe, and we owe it all to you. You are such a precious little girl. Mommy and Daddy love you so very much, angel. We're excited to see what the next month holds in store for you. We know it will be fun!

My love always,

Mommy

July 4 (the outfit we bought for you didn't fit; you're such a petite thing....you couldn't fit the 3 month size)

Snatching Daddy's Fry