Reese’s Five Month Update

Reese is a lot more vocal these days; from squeals, grunts, growls, and jabbering, you name it she is doing it. She has also said a few da da da das,but since we call Grant Papa, we know it is just one of the sounds she is making. Last month she said greee a few times which was another one of her noises.

Reese is still sleeping like a champ which we are very grateful for! She is staying awake for at least 2 hours between naps, and now will smile, coo, and roar in her crib. Grant makes jokes about that we didn’t sleep train Reese, we crib trained her. She seems to like some time to play and decompress in her crib before falling asleep. She also does well sleeping in the pack and play thus far when traveling which is wonderful. We have been bringing our “baby monitor” with us because she will wake up and not cry so we have to keep checking to see when she is actually awake. She still likes to sleep with a hand on her face and sucking her thumb. She doesn’t have a favorite thumb yet,and she will switch from side to side depending on what is more comfortable.

Reese still isn’t teething. We always think oh she is fussy because of teething, or maybe this is because of teething,but so far nothing. She doesn’t drool as much as a few months ago unless she is chewing/gnawing on a toy. She chews her hands, toys, and any food she can get a hold of. Everything goes into her mouth.

We think Reese is good with her fine motor skills thus far. She can grab toys and things and bring them directly to her mouth and doesn’t drop them as much as she used to. She also is starting to show interest in tags, ribbons, and zippers.

Reese definitely reacts to her name, and we have been practicing on asking her where Mama and Papa are. She is getting better are looking at the correct person. (Looking at Grant what we ask Where Papa is) She is also starting to play shy here and there when others talk to her or she sees others. She also LOVES her cousin Alana. Alana could do almost any kind of running or playing, and it would make Reese laugh. Alana is always very sweet with Reese too. She always wants to hold Reese, and tends to check up on what Reese is doing. If Reese is sleeping, Alana will say, “Reese sleeping?.” Then she will go on playing. If I’m nursing Reese, Alana will come in and ask, “Reese eating?.” Once she knows where she is, and Alana can see all is well, she would go on with whatever she is doing. Alana will be such a good big sister to her soon to be baby brother.

Reese understands the question/hand motion we tend to do on asking if she wants to be picked up or held. If she wants to be picked up, she tends to flap her arms. If she doesn’t react we assume she wants to stay in the bumbo, on the floor, couch, exersaucer,etc. Reese loves her exersaucer, and we can definitely tell just playing it in has helped her sitting and standing muscles. I try to give Reese a good balance of my attention when she is awake,but also give her some time where she can play by herself. I don’t see my role as her mother to entertain her 24/7. Reese loves to stand while being supported from falling forward or to the sides. She also is sitting pretty well. If she sees something to the side then she keeps leaning toward it until she face plants. So she isn’t good enough to be left alone,but she is definitely getting there.

She still hates her car seat and now will try and sit up while in it which just frustrates her even more since she is strapped in. Since she can hold on to toys better, I have started giving her a few to play with in the car seat, and that has made car trips a lot better. Also, as all experienced parents know, things that aren’t officially toys are the best kind of entertainers. Lately empty water bottles, straws, and things in crinkly bags are her favorites these days. Reese loves grocery shopping and holding/eating chocolate chip bags,etc.

Reese does great playing on her play mat on the bathroom floor while I shower. She moves around more and more during these times. She can roll from back to stomach, but tends to do a bridge on her back with her legs and prefers to scoot around that way. Once she isn’t interested in the play mat, I will have to come up with another way to shower while she is awake.  Since during nap times is when I work.

Reese still loves taking baths, but isn’t into splashing or the bath toys much yet. She gets excited to get into the tub and likes being able to sit with help rather than lay down. She will get intrigued by the water, so we have to make sure she doesn’t stick her face into the water.

This month Reese had her first cold which really wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. She only had congestion and never a fever. We used our Nose Frida a ton, and it was a life saver, but Reese HATED it during that time. It was necessary that we used it a lot which is why she hated it so much. She would wake up a night for about 3-4 days once or twice a night because she couldn’t breathe through her nose. Which is what she needed to do in order to suck her thumb. So she would be half a sleep and mad, so when we would get her out and use saline spray or the nose frida she was very upset because she was tired and wanted to be sleeping, and couldn’t suck her thumb or nurse well. She also figured out that if she held her breath we couldn’t get the suction part to work, so we kept having to surprise her and catch her off guard to really get the snot out. So once she wasn’t as congested, we were all happier.

Reese was also an ewok for Halloween which meant Grant was Han Solo, and I was princess Leia, more on our costumes and Halloween in another post.

Here is one of the games that Papa and Reese play together.