Somewhere between 5 and 6 months

Summer On Its Way Out (Or Is It?)

Ah, the lovely Minnesota weather: You're too hot one day and you're looking for your coat the next. Then it's hot again. Temperature swings notwithstanding, we are in the best two weeks of the year when it is neither excessively hot nor freezing cold with snow squalls. The breeze seemed to carry a hint of fall today, and it once again seems possible that snow will fly soon (even though we're not that far away from being able to fry an egg on the sidewalk). For now, however, we are enjoying those precious few weeks that lead into Indian Summer. This includes going for walks whenever we can. Sometimes Julia is wide awake and enjoys the walk. Other times, well, see below.

Beginning of the walk:

End of the walk:

Here is Julia at 5 months. She is amazing and continues to grow and change dramatically. She goes back and forth between her two major forms of communication: shrieking and making motorboat sounds. She is, by all accounts, still a very happy baby. We don't really know what the heck we're doing as parents, so it must just be in her nature. She rarely fusses and when she does, it's usually pretty brief. Being blessed with a happy baby probably means we're going to have a rambunctious toddler, but we'll gladly take every happy day we are blessed with.

Cloth Diaper Update

We love our cloth diaper system, GroVia. The cloth inserts are basically like thick sweatshirt material that you snap into waterproof covers. The covers are adjustable in size and can go through all the way to potty training (unless Julia tops out of the growth charts). Plus the covers have super cute patterns and are much more fun than regular white diapers. (And we're not about to shell out $8 for a small package of "designer" disposable diapers, such as the recent faux-denim "blue jean diapers" and plaid patterns that Huggies brought onto the market recently. Although I do have to admit that I thought the commercial was cute--darn them!) The best thing has been buying fewer disposable diapers. She still uses those at daycare, but evenings and weekends are all cloth. The GroVia brand also makes a disposable-like insert that is compostable and flushable. If you choose to throw it away, you feel a little less guilty because it won't be sitting in a landfill forever. It's made of plastics that break down easily and the absorbency material isn't some space-age moisture-absorbing gelatinous pellets that will outlast the human race. These inserts are great for travel so you can have the convenience of disposables without having to lug around the soiled cloth inserts.

The High Chair

We finally got a high chair! It is from Ikea and it is an absolute genius invention. No big padded cushion to catch crumbs or spills and it's easy to clean because you can just wipe it down (or hose it down). It also comes apart in a snap (literally--all four legs pop off) so it can easily be transported to grandma and grandpa's house! The best part: It was under $30 for the chair and the tray! She's not eating solid food yet, but sometimes she sits in the chair at the table with us and plays while we eat.

Sleep

We seem to be in "one step forward, two steps back" mode right now. After she was sleeping pretty well and only getting up once per night around 3 and a half months, she then went back to waking 2-3 times per night. On the verge of insanity due to sleep deprivation, I looked around for help and heard of the Ferber method (thanks to Emily for the suggestion!). We started using the method, which involves changing "sleep associations" so that she can fall asleep in the same environment she would be in when she wakes up in the middle of the night. That means you put her in her crib before she is asleep so she can fall asleep on her own. Usually this involves some crying so you have to be strong, but you check on her after longer and longer intervals and believe it or not, it started to work. It also means lights off (we have a nightlight), no music, and no mommy or daddy there with her when she falls asleep. It's normal for kids to wake up a few times during the night when they are between REM cycles. The hope is that when she has these brief periods, she can just look around and say, "Ok, I recognize this," and then go back to sleep on her own. We're not sticking 100% to the plan right now, but she is going to bed a little easier most nights and can put herself back to sleep more often than not when she wakes up at all hours of the night. Actually, the past few nights have gone pretty smoothly and she has slept pretty well! Maybe we're turning a corner? Fingers crossed!!

Toy Catapulting

We have now entered the third phase of toy handling. After the first phase (I can grasp a toy) and the second phase (I have to stick this toy in my mouth to determine whether I like it or not), we are now in third phase: If I can hold it, I can throw it! Usually the throwing is preceded by the banging of the toy on something, but the toss inevitably follows. Maybe we have a softball player on our hands? It's a lot of fun for her. It is not quite as much fun for mommy and daddy. I did buy some of those pacifier clips with a length of cord to keep things fastened to her clothes, and those help a lot. I have taken to clipping as many of her small teething toys to her as I can. Not all at once, mind you--one at a time based on what she's playing with.

May I Have a Sip of That?

Julia seems to be very interested in whatever we are drinking. We went to Julia's cousin Lauren's 6th birthday party a few weeks ago, where Julia had fun wearing a party hat and trying to drink a Grandma's soda. Lauren had a large group of friends over and we were amazed at how much energy the little ones had despite the heat. There was an adorable cake and the kids seemed to have a great time.

We haven't started Julia on any solid food yet, and we're not sure when we will. So far, things are going fine with the food that mom is producing the old fashioned way, but it will be nice when we can start introducing some other items into the mix and actually using the high chair for its intended purpose.

I'm a little nervous about the whole food thing, given the various allergies and intolerances that Tom and I have, but I have been trying to read up on things. Some doctors think that introducing some common allergens earlier, rather than later, may help. So even though I can't eat them, I may be serving up some pureed peanuts in a few months! Just kidding. We're going to just play things by ear and try different foods one at a time with a few days in between to make sure she can tolerate them. With any luck, she'll have a normal childhood (as normal as our child could be) and won't have to be a bubble person who can't eat anything.

We went to Grandpa's birthday party a few weeks ago as well, and Julia had fun watching us eat cake. I think she is starting to get more curious about food, and she was very interested in the low country broil (corn, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, onions and secret southern spices all cooked together--YUM) we had at the birthday celebration. Tom tried to feed her a sausage, just as he did with his niece Lauren when she was a baby (he was just joking), but Julia has that look in her eye and she might just lean forward and chomp whatever she can, so it's a good thing he didn't hold it out there in front of her for too long! I don't want her first solid food to be andouille. Although that would be pretty hard to eat with no teeth!

There is not too much else to report right now. We are looking forward to a trip in a few weeks through Chicago and then to Michigan, where we will visit both sides of the family. Then Tom will attend a work conference while I push Julia around Ann Arbor looking for more U of M apparel for her to wear. She grew so quickly that she hasn't had much of a chance to sport her Wolverine items, and I'm afraid there is a Badger outfit that may still fit her. She has already outgrown an entire box of clothes, and I'm sad to say that there were some items that she never had a chance to wear. We're now starting to stare the 6-9 and 9-month sizes down because she is just about out of the 3-6 and regular 6 month outfits. It is also annoying that sizes vary so much from one manufacturer to another. I have no idea what to expect for this winter, but luckily we received a large pile of hand-me-downs from both sides of the family so we should have plenty to choose from!

So that's the news from Lake Wobegon, and I'm off to bed!