Dear Caroline,

Today you turn 5 months old. I feel as if you were just a newborn yesterday – I blinked and now you’re almost halfway through your first year! I am loving every minute right now with you. With my first child, I was continually looking forward to future milestones, but with you I am taking the time to enjoy where we are. You are at a very fun stage right now. You are smiley, talkative, and very animated. You also still sleep a lot, with your thumb in your mouth and you look so adorable.

This month you celebrated your first Thanksgiving. To commemorate the occasion, I got you a little First Thanksgiving outfit with a turkey and a little tulle skirt. You look adorable, and you love to tug on the skirt. One set of your grandparents and your Aunt Mamie came for a visit over the holiday, and they enjoyed you greatly. You also enjoyed having many arms available to hold and cuddle you! A week after Thanksgiving, your other grandparents came for a visit, which meant more cuddles and hugs from more people. You loved it all.

A big thing happened this month – you lost all your hair! It seemed very odd to us at first, but we quickly got used to it and now it seems weird to look at the old pictures where you still had so much hair! You didn’t actually completely lose it – it just seemed that way because it was SO thick before – and in the past few weeks it has been growing back in. It doesn’t look like it has changed color at all. I’ve noticed how very soft your new hair is and I enjoy rubbing my fingers on your head. You still have some cradle cap, but it goes away with a little coconut oil.

You went to the doctor this month for your 4 month checkup. You weighed 14lbs 9.5oz, and were at 25th percentile for height (I forgot the exact height). You are doing great! You are growing so big, and are about to grow out of some of the cloth diaper covers I have for you. Sometimes I think you are so big until someone else is holding you and I get to look at you from a little distance, and I realize just how small you still are. You’re still Mommy’s little baby. :-) Don’t grow up too fast!

Your first Christmas is fast approaching, and you are being swept along with the festivities of the holiday as we do our advent preparations. We usually carry you in the Ergo, or sometimes the ring sling, and we’ve done a lot of mall walking to take in the festivities of the season. People are always saying hi to you, and you usually reply with a grin – though not always! You love being close to Mommy. My favorite is when you look up at me with your beautiful blue eyes, and when I look down and catch your eye you give me the biggest grin!

And your sister. Oh, your sister, how you love her! And she loves you! No one can get a full on giggle from you like she can. If I tickle you, I might be able to get you to laugh, but you will laugh unprompted when you’re around your sister. She still loves to hug you and kiss you, and you don’t mind a bit. She likes to decorate you with stickers, which we all find so silly and you just love the attention. You seem to really become more animated when she’s around. It’s so cute to watch and I hope you two continue to love each other as much as you do now.

You are a little wiggly worm, and we have to be careful where we set you down because you’re likely to wiggle away. You aren’t rolling over a ton yet, but you like to roll from your back to your side, and back again. You like to grab your toes and investigate them. You don’t mind being on your tummy and you can push up very tall with your arms, but you like to be able to see everyone so I generally reserve tummy time for the couch with me sitting next to you (so you can see me), or on my chest. I know it won’t be long before you’re crawling everywhere, so I’m trying to enjoy these last “still” moments.

It’s been so much fun being your Mommy, and I look forward to all the new developments this next month will bring!
Love, Mommy