Shortly after her 4-month mark, Miss Connie outgrew her bassinet. We replaced the bassinet with the pack and play, keeping her in our room, but giving her more room. She tends to roll and wrestle around a bit in her sleep. In the past week or so, I’ve been putting her down in her crib at night. She takes her daytime naps in the crib, but this was the first attempt with our night-time routine. The first night she was wonderful and did a four-hour stretch before waking to nurse. She went right back down for another four! The muggy conditions and hot temps last week made it hard for her to stay sleeping comfortably for long stretches, so we have been balancing nursery and in our room—where there is an A/C unit. We have a pretty good routine at night and she does really well with that. Daytime naps are still sporadic, but just recently have been getting much longer! In the past, she would nap up to several times a day, averaging 15-30 minutes—some shorter! This past week we have enjoyed a few 2-hour naps and most are at least an hour.

Other graduations this past month include:

• Bigger diapers. We finally had to move to the next tabs on her diaper shells to increase their size. We use adjustable cloth diapers by Best Bottom and bumGenius brands. A great investment as they grow with her.
• Introducing solids. A couple of months ago, we dabbled with adding organic cereal to her milk to provide more calories, but now she is a big girl. We typically give her a small portion of organic rice cereal once per day and she is getting pretty good at eating from a spoon, though some attempts are messier than others. She also has banana on occasion. Of course, when she is with Papa, she gets introduced to much more! Tisk, tisk, Papa! He has shared yogurt, ice cream, whipped cream, and key lime pie with her (and this is just what I know about!). Everything a growing girl needs, right? I always thought we would wait until she was six months old before we initiated solids, but she is advancing pretty well, doubled her birth weight, and seems to need more calories than breastfeeding alone during the day when I am working or when others are watching her and I am unable to feed on demand. Breastfeeding is still her primary source of food and that continues to go well. Next month I do intend to introduce avocado and sweet potato–foods that are good for growing baby bodies and minds!
• New wardrobe. Our dear nanny helped me tremendously by purging all the newborn to 3-month clothing that filled Connie’s dresser. Those were replaced with the “next box” in her wardrobe. The drawers are now filled with 6-9 month clothing and a few 3-month options that prove to still fit.
• Other interests. She gets distracted during feedings sometimes. She’ll want to look at the computer screen, the dog, turn toward daddy, or just pop off the boob to get a closer look at me. Innocent enough but she often forgets to let go before turning her head!

Eyes: I’ll call them hazel this month. The color is still not clear but they are cool.

Hair: Getting a bit longer and staying brunette

Weight: 16 lbs

Length: 26″ ….so, she shrunk three-quarters of an inch in the past month?!? Probably not. My guess is the tissue paper that covers the patient table got crinkled up under her and caused a misreading during last month’s check-up. This morning I stretched her out on the butcher block island top to get this month’s reading. She’s still a long one, with or without that 0.75″!

Yesterday, Cody and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary. A low-key day which included taking Miss Connie’s 5-month photos, watching the Packer game (thus the Packer’s cheerleading outfit which is a tad too big on her yet), a trip to Oakwood Fruit Farm, and a hike up the hill to reflect on our wedding day.