Happy 5 Months Avalyn!

Ok, so I'm just a little behind... but Avalyn is now 5 months old (as of January 6th)!! I can't believe we have a 5 month old already!! I love it though - it's getting to be a lot more fun as she's REALLY leaping developmentally this month. It's so cool to watch her, as you know things are clicking together now.

Our recap for the past week and half:
We started back to school the first week of January. Bran's been hunting a lot to get it all in before the season's over.... but man, has it been COLD lately!! It's been down to the 20's and 30's at night and not too much higher during the day, so I've been staying in the house a lot. Bran, on the other hand, was actually out hunting when it was SLEETING outside! Brrr!!! Crazy boy! All this cold weather has left my skin as dry as a lizard and I've been moisturizing nonstop. Poor Avalyn has my terrible skin too and has really dry legs and elbows, her face is slightly irritated on her cheeks from eating rice cereal and wiping it off, and my eyelid even cracked and swelled up it was so dry! So, we're ready for the warm weather again!! I even had to go buy some Lansinoh nipple cream to put on Avalyn's thumb because she has been sucking it raw, and the dry heat/weather doesn't help to heal it!! Is it summer yet???

Other than that, it's been the same old, same old. Amber and her boyfriend Chris came to visit on Sunday, the 10th. And then my friend Erica, who I've known since middle school, was in town with her boyfriend Doug, and they came over on the 11th for a visit! AND, my parents were having Ava withdrawl, so they stopped by last night, the 12th, for a quick visit with Avalyn, and then she was off to bed. So, it was a nice time for Avalyn to socialize with 'new' faces (which aren't really new, just anyone besides Bran, myself, and Nana who see her so frequently).

Milestones: She continues to practice sitting up and is getting quite better at it! She is working on rolling from her back to her belly - can just make it to her side and then can't quite get past her hip and shoulders, but if you help her just a little, she can do it... so, we're getting there! She's definitely reaching for things now, and with much better accuracy! Very fun to watch her actually play with her toys! She has found her legs (actually for awhile now) and grabs her knees and legs when she's in her crib or on the changing table. She is WAY more wiggly with her legs too, as if they finally came to life! She kicks and lifts them up a lot, so it's only a matter of time before she really grabs those feet! She LOVES the songs "Pat-a-cake" and "Row Your Boat" and just smiles when I start to sing them! She loves looking in the mirror and getting kisses all over. She grabs my lips when she's nursing with her free hand and yanks on them.. I nibble on her fingers... She's still standing like a champ. Her eating is WAY better than it has been! She eats a lot for 'dinner', opens her mouth to accept the spoon, and doesn't tongue thrust it out much anymore. I finally got my 'making babyfood' book, so I will start that this weekend when we go grocery shopping, so she'll get some veggies next week!! She's screaching and squealing like a wild animal.. very funny at times.. but very loud too! She still eats her hands, thumb, bib, burp cloth, whatever... not quite teething yet, but just in the 'eating everything' stage. And, her new schedule/napping continues to go well - taking 3 good naps a day (two of them at least 1.5 hrs, and the last one usually a catnap of 45mins-1hr) and she's keeping her 3.5-4hr stretch between feedings. YAY! I continue to breastfeed her exclusively and pump at work to keep up the supply - very blessed to be able to do that and continue this for so long! Again, my goal is 1 year, and I'm determined! It has helped me lose all my baby weight, and actually put me 2-4 lbs. under my prepregant weight!! And that's without exercising at all!!!

Below are the pics!!

Sitting up in her crib :)

Playing with her Daddy

Oh my goodness, she's 5 months old!

Have I mentioned that she LOVES the dogs?!!

Her new nose scrunch! Too cute!

Looking at the dogs!

I love this pic - she's such a big girl!

Again, laughing at the dogs!

I love this pic too - such a cute little nose scrunch!

Visit with "Auntie" Amber 1-10-10

Visit with "Auntie" Erica 1-11-10

And, as always, check out all the pics on her shutterfly website: http://avalyngracethompson.shutterfly.com/ You DO need to be a member to view her site, so send me an email if you need to be added.