Katie: 5 months

Who's 5 months, me? Katie is curious about everything these days, at least with her eyes and whatever she can reach with her hands. Not on the move yet, but she's taking in everything around her all the time. Here's her list of 10 for the month:
1. Talking, loudly and a lot! It's so fun to hear her, and she's doing a good job competing with Ellie to be the center of attention. If we don't respond to her in a timely fashion the volume and urgency only increases. Smart girl.
2. SO close to rolling over. She's done it a few times but not with any regularity... just like Ellie at this age. Apparently neither of our girls feels any rush to hit those mobility milestones. I'm much less nervous about Katie's slowness because Ellie certainly made up time (and then some). Katie's still working on it and I'm sure she'll be there shortly.
3. Getting ready to start cereal. We decided not to rush into food even though the doctor gave us the go-ahead at her 4-month appointment. But when we're back from our beach vacation at the end of this week we'll probably get her going on cereal. Pics to come :)
4. Making mealtimes difficult. This girl is interested in anything BUT her bottle when feeding time comes around. I call it "extreme feeding" because Katie whips her head around and is constantly trying to grab the bottle and winds up pulling it out of her mouth... then she gets mad... we're still working on the concept of cause-and-effect with her. (But judging by her chunky thighs Katie is still getting plenty of nourishment despite the challenges.)
5. Speaking of challenges, I'm still carrying on with some nursing and pumping for Katie's feedings. She's getting a majority now of formula... but I'm able to give her some each day and that makes me happy. Hoping to continue in some capacity when I'm back at work full-time, but we'll see how it goes.
6. Grabbing. Katie is great at getting ahold of almost anything in reach these days... towels, clothes, toys, mom's hair. She loves it all.
7. Teething. As you see from the "eating her fist" shot below, Katie is trying to gnaw on a lot of stuff these days. She's got at least one tooth on it's way in. She's had a bit of a rough time with it but hopefully the fussy time is lessening. Poor girl.
8. Smiling! Our girl is happy and smiling most of every day, when she's not asleep anyway. It's impossible not to smile when you see her face light up.
9. "Standing" on her own two legs, with a bit of balancing assistance from mom or dad. Her favorite position is upright since she's trying to see everything around her. I love to see her legs getting stronger.
10. Finding amusement in her big sister. Ellie is a great big sister and often goes to get Katie toys or a pacifier. She also talks, sings and makes weird noises at Katie... which brings big grins to Katie's face. I love watching this sister bond grow.

Only hardcore Katie fans will probably make it through this video since it's very long ... but I promise she does eventually roll over! (She does it on her own but I have to tickle her side to get her to flail her leg back and get the final roll. Cheating? I think not.)