Whitney is 5 Months Old!

Already!? what?!

Stats:
Weight: (estimating)
Height: (estimating)
Diaper Size: 2
Clothes size: some 3 month onesies still, mostly 6, 9, and even 12 month clothes, depending on the brand.

Our Daily Schedule:
No matter what time Whitney goes to sleep at night, she is up between 7:00 and 7:30 every morning. VERY predictable :) She wakes up, watches her "Your Baby Can Read" DVD while I drink my coffee and wake up, and then we take a walk with Bailey around 9am. When we get home from our walk, she usually plays til about 10-10:30, then takes a 2 hour nap. Most days, Whitney wakes up 45 minutes after falling asleep because she loses her binky. I can almost set my watch to it. :) I give her the bink back and she is out before I even leave the room again. When she gets up, we play and jump and exersaucer some more, read some books, or just hang out. Then she takes another 2 hour nap starting between 3 and 4. When she wakes up from that nap, she gets dinner (a veggie) and time to play with Daddy who is usually home from work by then. Then its bath time, books, bottle, prayers, and bed. :) Whitney is VERY easy to travel with :) We can run errands without any drama or fuss and she loves to shop :) Now that I am working from home part time, I am really appreciating Whitney's nap times! I can get a lot done during those 2 hour naps and then I get to focus on her when she's awake!

Activity:
This was another big month for Whitney! She surprised me one day a few weeks ago. I laid her on her mat on the floor with some toys and before we knew it, she was on her belly reaching for another toy! Whitney started rolling from her belly to her back pretty early (3 weeks old), but now that she's mastered that roll, she decided to roll from her back to her belly in lightning speed! She is SOOO fast, she acts like she's been rollin' forever!
I love that she is "mobile" and is reaching for toys and turning around to look at new things. She notices new stuff all the time, but her favorite pasttime is watching her brother Bailey :) She still thinks he walks on water!
This rolling business is tough to control in her crib at night and during naps, so I am checking on her more and more throughout the night. She loves to toss her binky and then roll to try to get it. Fun games :)
One day last week, I let her hang in her crib, talking to herself in a mirror she has in there. She was on her belly chatting away! When I went back in to get her, she was at the complete opposite end of the crib, proudly smiling and laughing at me as if to say "You didnt know I could do that, didja?" :)
She is starting to wriggle and wormher way across the floor, slowly but surely. She is determined and takes a long time to get frustrated. Whitney is starting to get her butt in the air, but cant figure out the arm situation in addition to the butt/hips part. I am SOOO okay with that! While I love watching her learn new things, I am not sure I'm ready for her to crawl yet!

Sleeping/Napping:
As I said, Whitney takes a 2 hour nap twice a day. She goes to bed between 8 and 9pm, gets up for a midnight bottle sometimes or a 4am bottle sometimes (nothing consistent), and is awake for the day by 7:30am. Some nights she wont wake up at all. Other nights she gets up for binky retrievals several times. And some nights she wants a 4am bottle. It just depends on how active we were that day and how exhausted her little body is. Thankfully, I dont really NEEED her to be on a set, routine sleep schedule since I dont have to get up and head to a job outside the house every morning. I can definitely see now why the moms at daycare were sometimes concerned when their little ones took 4 hour naps during the day. It meant they would be up all night and the next day would NOT be fun! I am so grateful for the time I spend with Whitney in the middle of the night, I will sorta miss it when she stops waking up for some midnight cuddles!

Eating:
Whitney eats 4oz bottles around 12am(6oz), 8am, 12pm, 4pm, Veggie for dinner, then 8pm bottle is 6oz. She is on the low end of the recommended number of ounces per day, but its sometimes a struggle to get her to eat all 4 oz during hte day. The kid LOOOOVES her some veggies though! I was going to wait on the baby food until she was closer to 6 months, but when she was struggling to take 24 oz, I wanted to make sure she was eating enough. Yes, I am aware that she is a CHUNK :), and I love it. And I am glad I made the decision to start foods when we did. Sure, its earlier than most moms start solids, but it is what worked for our Whitney. :) She loves squash the most, but really likes carrots, green beans, and sweet potatoes, too. Peas are on the "will not eat" list, which doesnt surprise me because the kids at the daycare hated peas, too. :)

Personality:
Whitney's personality develops more and more everyday. She smiles at everyone and laughs every day. She is the HAPPIEST baby I know :) She is so good when we're out and about running errands, eating out, hanging out at friends' houses, or entertaining people at our house. She is just so EASY! She has favorite toys and shows. The ball her Aunt Dallas gave her is her FAVORITE, as well as her Laugh N Learn Puppy. She is starting to push his buttons and make him sing on her own and she thinks its GREAT FUN! Thankfully she still enjoys the exersaucer and the jumperoo a lot. And she really gets excited when the theme songs for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the first "Your Baby Can Read" DVD begin to play. The second DVD doesnt get her attention as much yet, but she REALLY gets moving when the first DVD plays! Whitney might be in the beginning stages of teething, but it comes and goes and she's never fussy or complaining. Just gnawing on her fists and everything in sight! She has mastered the binky-to-mouth concept and is really proud of herself when she gets the bink in her mouth the right way the first try. She belly laughs often and is easy to please. She really likes books now, and we finished her "Baby's First Bible" last night at bedtime. She gets excited when we pull out certain books, and she really flaps her arms at flashcards :)
We just feel more and more blessed everyday! Our relationship with T and L is still going nicely. We didnt hear back from them the last time we left them a message, so we called again. I think T was very surprised that I was pursuing the relationship and trying to stay in contact. She was so happy to hear from us and really loves Whitney very much. Eric and I continue to pray that our relationship with T and L will remain friendly and positive. So far, we are happy and are reassured that they are, too.

Pictures:
Proof of her cuteness :)
Whitney Faith Bass, 4 days old:


Whitney Faith Bass, One Month Old:


Whitney Faith Bass, Two Months Old:


Whitney Faith Bass, Three Months Old:


Whitney Faith Bass, Four Months Old:


Whitney Faith Bass, Five Months Old:



The Bass Family, 5 days old:


The Bass Family, One Month Old:


The Bass Family, Two Months Old:


The Bass Family, Three Months Old:


The Bass Family, Four Months Old:


The Bass Family, Five Months Old:


And some outtakes from this month's photo shoots :)
I know I have taken pics of her in the "strawberry SHortcake" dress and outfit before, but I just LOVE her in those colors! I love her in yellow and light blue...but I LOOOVE her in red and bright pink! I wanted to make sure I included that dress in her monthly pics before it doesnt fit anymore. :(