Weight/Length: about 6.7 kg and 65.5 cm; 14.7 lbs and 25.78 inches. She gained right around a pound during the last month. She’s got a lean little torso and the chunkiest baby fat legs!
Medical Issues: Probably about a month ago now, we noticed that Nora had a little bump in her right eyebrow. Just before noticing the bump, I had tripped walking down the stairs with her and she bumped her head on the bannister. There was a little bit of crying, but it could have been much worse. We didn’t think that the bump was a result of the fall because it is in a different place than where we thought she hit, isn’t red or sore, showed up days after the accident, etc. However, when we went to the doctor, he of course thought the bump was a result of the fall and wasn’t worried about it. Since the eyebrow bump is still there, I’m convinced that the two aren’t related, and it may be some type of cyst or something. It doesn’t seem to bother her, though, so we’re going to ask about it at our upcoming appointment. Praying that it’s nothing serious and just disappears on its own one day soon!
Sleep: Nora naps 2-3 times a day just depending on how long each nap is. Sometimes she goes to sleep all on her own and others she needs to be nursed in order to calm down. There’s really no rhyme or reason, and we just do whatever it takes. So far she can still nap in the stroller or the baby carrier no matter where we are, and I love it. Definitely allows us much more freedom instead of having to be home for every nap and bed time.
Fortunately, we seem to have gotten over the waking 45 minutes into bedtime, and she’ll usually let out a cry or two but stay asleep. She still wakes in the night once or twice. The easiest thing to do is just feed her, and she goes right back to sleep though occasionally we’ll send Luke in to see it he can get her back to sleep without feeding her. Eventually, we’ll have to break the eating during the night habit, but for now, especially with our big move coming up that will surely disrupt any type of “schedule” that we have, this works for us. It’s easy to get really frustrated with this because after a string of wakeful nights, the lack of quality sleep catches up to you and I just feel exhausted. However, I need to remember that she’ll only be little for so long and savor the fact that only I can comfort her this way.
Clothes: She’s mostly in 3-6 month clothing, but both 3 month and 6 month pajamas still fit. We don’t have very many warm weather clothes until we make it back to Molly’s hammy downs and online orders that are waiting on us at my parent’s hose. Hopefully we can make it for a few more weeks with what we have!
Diet: She’s still 100% breastfed and eats every 3-4 hours. We’ve tried giving her tiny sips of water and little baby pieces of mushy foods like banana and carrots. She seems pretty interested but isn’t quite sitting on her own yet (though she’s really, really close) so we haven’t really started any solids yet. I’m definitely looking forward to it, though! How fun (and messy!) it will be!
Baby Gear: We couldn’t make it anywhere without our stroller and the Bjorn. Also, she’s playing more and more in the exercauser but seems to be outgrowing the baby playmat and the swing.
Milestones: She is rolling from back to tummy all the time now. Every time I lay her down on a blanket, she flips over, and I’ve found her in the crib on her tummy several times now too. I really think she’s starting to think about crawling though she’s not made too much progress yet. She’s so close to sitting up and can balance on her own for a pretty good amount of time. She tends to lean forward a lot so she still needs to build a little more core strength to really be sitting on her own. Lately she’s been so much more vocal, and her sounds are so very sweet. I swear she said hi the other day, and I think she may have picked up “dat” after hanging with Cousin Molly! 
Likes: Music especially Daddy’s guitar and Mama’s singing. Her favorites are Bicycle Built for Two and Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. She also likes glowing screens, bath time, and anything that I have in my hands. She wants to hold it too! And she’s obsessed with her feet!
Dislikes: Loud noises that startle her, bottles, pacifiers. being tired.
Nicknames: Chicky, Neeny, Neeny Bopper, Nori and Nor
Mama’s Thoughts: Nora is such a calm, pleasant baby. If she’s crying, it’s because she’s sleepy, hungry or having tummy troubles. Other than those few things, she’s always happy. She’ll play on her own in the crib or on a blanket for sometimes up to 20 minutes, which is especially helpful when her naps are short, and I need to get something done. We take her all over the place! (she even went to Dublin this month!) She just goes right along with us and makes everything more enjoyable!
I don’t know if it’s making it to the 5 month mark and starting to really get the hang of things or the change in the weather and the promise of Spring or a combination of the two, but everything just seems better this month. I’m so looking forward to getting outside more and more with Nora, teaching her new things, moving back closer to our families, and all that is just around the corner! We are so thankful for this sweet girl and love her so very much!
