{five months}

I have no idea how five months have gone by so quickly.

My little sweetheart is growing so fast.  She continues to change at lightning pace....my heart can't take it!

I simply cannot get enough of her toes.  One day, when she's grown, she will ask me why I took so many pictures of her little feet...

Wouldn't you?  Yum.

She is so fun!  She laughs and giggles and smiles often now. 
She also lets me know when she's had enough...

At five months, my sweet Natalie:

*Is still an excellent sleeper.  The girl has known how to sleep since day one.  She goes to bed around 8:30, and will sleep until 6 or 6:30 the next morning.  She naps 3 or 4 times a day, for a total of 15-16 hours of sleep time in a 24 hour period.  Perhaps I shouldn't put that in writing....some will start to wonder why I don't get more done in a day...
*Wants to be upright more and more.  Instead of laying on her back on a blanket, she now prefers to be sitting up.  Her favorite places are her exersaucer, her Jenny Jump-Up, or in her high chair with toys on the tray.  She still isn't a big fan of her bumbo.  She arches her back, and she always spits up a ton when she sits in it....don't know why.
*Eats 5 times a day.  She used to eat every 4 hours, but we're right around every 3 1/2 hours now.  When she started sleeping longer at night, I had to shorten the time between feedings so I could still fit in five nursing sessions a day.  I still love breastfeeding.  However, she has become much more "distractible".  I have to feed her somewhere quiet.  I tried to feed her in the car a couple of days ago, but she kept turning her head to look at the sky, trees, dashboard, rearview mirror, etc.
*Is now "playing" with her toys.  She looks at things closely, shakes her rattles, giggles at her baby dolls, and puts everything in her mouth.  I keep watching for a tooth, but nothing yet.
*Still gets swaddled when she sleeps.  Yes, I know that babies are "supposed" to stop being swaddled at three months.  But my baby LOVES it.  Swaddle, paci, and it's off to dreamland in five minutes flat.  Why would we give that up?!
*Has tons of expressions, and pays more attention to ours.  When I stick my tongue out, she looks at me with this really confused and serious face and can't keep her eyes off of it.  When I make a pouty face, she giggles. :)
*Is rolling like crazy!  She is a PRO at rolling from back to belly, but sometimes gets stuck there and can't get back over.  She will roll to her side and wiggle if she is trying to reach something. 
*Reaches for EVERYTHING.  We call her "busy hands" because they are constantly in her mouth, pulling out her paci, pulling mommy's hair/necklace/camera strap/etc.  She also opens and closes her hand and scratches at things with a different texture, such as the couch pillows or the chair in her room. 
*Likes when we dance and sing songs about her.  Yes, we make up songs about Natalie. :)
*Lights up like the 4th of July when her daddy gets home from work.  *Melt*
*Has an enormous collection of nicknames - including little angel, sugar britches, peanut butter, little lady, baby monster, stinker pants....and all her cousins call her "Baby Natalie".
*Continues to be very flexible and laid back.  She is easy to travel around with and run errands, doesn't mind if we get off schedule a little, and pretty much goes with the flow. 

As she grows, I fall more and more in love with this little girl.  She is my heart, living outside of me.  So happy to be her momma.

I love you, Baby.