Zoe Lately - 5 month update

Zoe is such a smiley and happy baby. She gives the best smiles after waking. She has so much hair and looks 100% like a girl to me, even when she's wearing her brother's old clothes. Her hair is starting to curl at the ends, and it's SO cute!

She has started holding her head up super well and can now be placed in her standing toy and Bumbo 🙏 This makes life SO much easier. Laying her on her back all the time was starting to get boring for her and with her reflux issues (which were exacerbated when she was on antibiotics over December and January) having her upright after feedings is best. Her favorite position, though, is being held facing forward.

Before getting sick (she had a cold or two, then RSV when she needed two nights in the hospital due to breathing issues) she was sleeping super well, only waking once around 3am. During December and January she was sick on and off, and this was terrible on her sleep. She woke every 2 hours, and due to her reflux, needed to be upright for 20-30 minutes after eating. Some time after she started feeling better, and her reflux was getting milder again we started to shift her from the swaddle to sleepsack (we went from the Miracle Blanket swaddle to the Halo swaddle size newborn to the Halo swaddle size small, Halo swaddle with one arm out, then Halo swaddle with two arms out, then sleepsack size small). Once she was adjusted to the sleepsack, we moved her to the crib in her room, and returned the Halo Bassinet (we LOVED it for both Elias and Zoe!) to our friends. During these adjustments, I got very little rest. Now that she's recovered, she's sleeping much better, going to bed at 6:15pm (and fully sleeping around 7:30pm) waking at midnight or so, around 4am and then is up for the day at 6am. This is very early for us. We've started switching off who gets morning duty. When it's our turn, we brew a pot of coffee. And that's how I've started drinking coffee again, a habit I broke almost two years ago!

Back to Zoe. She LOVES her brother so much. She loves to watch him play, run around, sing songs, dance and eat. Really, she likes to watch anyone eat with her eyes getting big and wide. On the days I am home with her, she definitely misses her brother while he's in day care. I know because she's pretty fussy like she wants more interaction, and on the weekends the void is filled when she can watch him all day long. He loves her too, and has recently started giving her hugs and kisses. It's the most adorable thing to watch.

Elias and Zoe last week

She loves looking in the mirror, and laughs when you make silly noises or move her back and forth. She loves her changing table and the accompanying mobile. She kicks her heels so hard into the changing pad in order to move the mobile and it works! She hates tummy time, but honestly we (I) don't make her do too much of that because she's getting good neck strength from being held all the time, and now the standing toy and Bumbo. I need to have her do more tummy time so she can practice rolling, I suppose...

She is very interested in toys, and will reach to grab most things and put them in her mouth. She can't hold onto them long though, and often prefers to have her fingers in her mouth instead. Her hands are usually cold because she sucks on them all day long. She's also a drooler, like her brother. We go through 5-10 bibs a day!

Music is also big for her. She loves Beethoven's Fur Elise, Paramore, the Eagles and Foo Fighters. She loves for you to sing "Patty Cake" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while doing all the hand motions and giving her tiny tickles. If she is fussing, it's usually because she has to burp, or she's bored in the position/activity. She loves for you to walk her around the house.

She is eating well. We are breastfeeding every 2-3 hours and then giving her a 7oz bottle of breast milk at bed time (with a breastfeeding top-off), and a 6oz bottle of breast milk at midnight (sometimes with a breastfeeding top-off).

I kept pushing off her 4 month pictures (oops!) and finally got around to them yesterday. Better late than never!