five months old!

here are a few things about margaretann:

* she can hold her own bottle!
* mama bought her a couple of sleepsacks and she seems to like them a lot
* she's usually taking one really long nap a day accompanied by a couple of micronaps
* we're getting better about sleeping longer at night... last night she went to bed around 9:15, woke up at 4a to eat, fell back asleep, and woke at 8:30.
* (it's fun making up lyrics using the hymn "Peace, Perfect Peace"... 'Sleep, perfect sleep, in this dark world of nighttime, what I wouldn't give if she'd just sleep 'til nine?')
* she's rolling and scooting all over. she even managed to scoot halfway under the hideabed one afternoon when mama thought she was just playing on the floor in her room. margaretann is more closely supervised now.
* she's more interested in toys, and will happily take one from you to taste and handle
* she tastes everything.
* one of her favorite things to gnaw on is mama's knuckle.
* she's pretty easily distracted now... when she's nursing, if she hears something she cranes her neck to look around.
* she's showing interest in the things we're eating and drinking. I'm hoping that translates into a curiosity about tasting and trying food. our pediatrician said he'd prefer she be breastfed primarily for the first six months, so we're doing that and supplementing with the occasional bottle, but we're excited to introduce her to food (especially her Daddy!).
* before falling asleep, she often 'talks' herself down... it's pretty funny to hear.
* she's not really reaching out to us yet, but if you hold your hands out to pick her up she's learning to lean back, arch her back, and cackle like 'yes, PLEASE pick me up!'
* she mostly hangs out on the floor in her room, the living room floor, or in her bouncy plaything. I think she generally likes the floor the most, if you won't hold her. in the kitchen with mama & daddy, she hangs out in the bumbo or in her vibrating chair, and when she's in a good mood the swing is a good place to play and listen to music.
* she very obviously is gearing up to push up on her hands and knees. I'm not prepared for that yet (crawling?? um, there's dog hair everywhere...) but it's fun to watch her try to coordinate her hands and knees.
* I anticipate that the day will come when she'll push me away or think it's gross, so I just bury my face in her neck and pepper her cheeks with kisses as often as possible. because they are perfect and it's only right.

please indulge a few photos. 'a few' being a highly subjective description. happy birthday, sweet girl!