The Good Life: October 2013

Olivia is 5 months old today!

Last week I finally went through all of Liv’s clothes and packed away the newborn and 0-3 outfits. I can’t believe how little she was! She is growing up so fast! (Side note: I remember hearing my siblings and friends say things like this and, as a non-parent, I just nodded my head and smiled. It is quite hilarious and fun to see myself saying and feeling these exact same things! You all can just nod and smile at me now, I deserve it.)

As I was looking back over these past five months I was trying to remember all the fun, new and amazing things about Olivia and what she brought to our family – and I realized I was already forgetting things! No good. So here I am, in the bloggersphere again, doing my best to record what I remember about these fantastically fleeting five months.

Month 1

Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz

Height: 20 inches

Favorites:

Liv would make the cutest little grunts and moans when she slept. I think that runs in the Lee family, but somehow it’s a little cuter when it comes from a tiny baby.
Snuggling. Liv could sleep all day and all night if we let her. And I didn’t mind.
Her tiny hospital hat that I wanted her to wear all the time!
She looked like a little Japanese boy.

Tough:

We did have a hard time breastfeeding at first. It took about a month but we finally learned how to do it on our own.

Those first few weeks were amazing. My mom came to help me learn how to do all the little things that are supposed to be natural for mothers. She stayed up with me while I fed Livvy, taught me how to give her a bath, and cleaned my house so I could rest and get to know my new baby. She helped me so much, even though I’m sure she was exhausted after the week she spent with us!

Month 2

Weight: 10 lbs

Height 21.5 inches

Favorites:

Her little burps were anything but little! She could belch with the best of them and it always made me laugh.
She would take naps with her hands over her head or covering her face. So cute!
Chris gave her a name and a blessing on July 7^th. She was beautiful!
She started sleeping through the night which made mom and dad very happy.

Tough:

Shots!
We found out she had torticollis, which is basically a very, very tight muscle in her neck that makes it difficult for her to turn her head to the left. We started therapy and doing stretches with her every day to work out the muscle. She was mostly a champ, but every now and then she let us know of her discomfort.

Month 3

Weight: ~12 lbs

Height: ~22 inches

Favorites:

Liv started talking up a storm. She loved to babble and chat with daddy any time of day.
Mom and Dad get to go on their first official date (with baby sitters)!
Her torticollis was getting much better and was able to turn her head both directions.
Liv started to smile!

Tough:

Kara went back to work. Luckily, Liv gets to hang out with her cousins and grandma, but it is hard to be away from little girl.

Month 4

Weight: 14 lbs 2 oz

Height: 24 inches

Favorites:

Liv started to laugh and no one is better at making her giggle than Chris.
She started holding onto objects and having more interest in toys. Her current favorite is this little blonde doll. Liv can’t take her eyes off her!
She started to really chunk out and we are loving her little arm and leg rolls.
We watched her master the skill of rolling over from her belly to her back.

Tough:

She went through this two-week spurt of waking up every hour during the night. Not fun for Kara! But the growth spurt didn’t last for long and she is back to sleeping well again.

Month 5

Weight: Probably about 15 lbs

Height: 24 inches

Favorites:

Baby girl tried her first bite of solid food! She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it and I wish I got some of her crazy faces on camera.
She did her first roll from her back to her belly! This is a new skill so we’re still working on it.
She is starting to enjoy Oma’s bouncer and sitting in the bumbo and high chair.
Her favorite time is bath time. She is all smiles when she gets in the water and loves to kick and splash.

Tough:

Her torticollis is doing much better, but we still need to do a few stretches. However, little girl is a lot more opinionated now and does not like her stretches. It’s a little bit more difficult now, but we know it’s good for her.