Fifth Month

Dear Sarah-

You are five months old today! Wow. Lots of parents told me that this would go by quickly. But, just like when I was told that having a baby would be like having my heart walking outside of my body or that I would never mind being peed on, spit on, or puked on - as long as it was yours, I discounted what these crazy parents had to say. I put these comments into the sappy, sentimental parent column. Well, it turns out they were right about pretty much all of it - except for the being peed on part. It would be fine with me if you never wet me before your bath again.

Where do I start? I'm sure I've already forgotten a ton of things that you've done in the past month. You've gone from hanging out on your changing pad grabbing your feet to (you'll probably be very embarrassed about this someday) hanging out on your changing pad sucking your toes. Yes. You are a toe sucker. Your favorite flavor of jam is toe. You seem to think that your big fat toe is the tastiest.

Speaking of eating, you refuse to eat from a spoon. We've tried to give you rice cereal a few times now. Each time, you've reacted with a complete and total meltdown. You want your bottle. I have to tell you. You're going to look pretty funny sitting in the college cafeteria clutching a bottle. Hmm... Maybe we've been going about this all wrong. Maybe we should try dipping your toes in the cereal instead and forget about the spoon.

When we aren't making you cry by stuffing spoons in your mouth, you are a very happy baby. You are almost always cheerful and very rarely cry. You still love to hear Itsy Bitsy Spider. Now, you love the part when the sun comes out. I guess you had some mercy on the spider. You've also become aware of the dogs. You adore Lola. When she comes near you, you light up and watch her every move. The other thing that you became aware of is your voice. You had about a week that we like to call your Howard Dean period. You spent that time screaming just like Mr. Dean - over and over again. You did it so loud and so hard a couple of times that you made yourself puke. Of course, we thought it was adorable. Looking back, I'm kind of glad that you seem to have moved past that period. I bet it wouldn't have been so cute after a while.

The other thing that has gotten louder and more plentiful is your laughter. One of your favorite laughter inducing games is what I call "Scare Me, If You Can". When we play this, I look away very seriously and then without warning scream and grab you. The louder and more startling I am, the harder you laugh. Seriously, this would make most babies (maybe even a sensitive adult) cry. You love it. It terrifies me. I think you might have your dad's thrill seeking genes. So, let's get something straight right now. I will never let you jump (Yes, Mike. I know. It's not jumping it's launching.) off the side of a mountain with a hang glider. I can only hope you outgrow this need for adrenaline. I can't watch another Fife step off of a cliff.

In the next month, we expect great things from you. You must roll over (or your dad might disown you). I'd really like it if you ate some cereal from a spoon. Mostly, we'd just like it if you kept smiling and spent even more time laughing out loud.

Love,
mama

This is you today:



This is you before you throw a tantrum: