5 months

After her first taste of rice cereal

My dear sweet Libby,

I cannot believe how much you've grown. It's so exciting to see you change. In the past month, you've gotten loads better at sitting up and now you do not want to lean back anymore. The bouncy chair, the car seat, the stroller, the bath tub - all these things were designed for you to recline. But apparently that's not for you anymore. You are a big girl now and you use your strong abs to keep your head and shoulders lifted up.

It's adorable how proud your are of yourself when you accomplish something (like standing up with help) and how much you love praise.

I love your precious facial expressions and how you always wake up with a smile. I love how easily you laugh (you're just starting to be ticklish!) and how much you like to hear my silly voices. You get fussy when putting on shirts, but you turn that frown upside down when I sing you the hokey-pokey.

I especially love how you put your darling little hands on my cheeks when I bring my face close to yours. Totally makes me melt inside.

You've lost most of the hair you had when you were born, but as Daddy so lovingly put it, "it's amazing how something so bald can be so cute."

For nutritional needs, you still subsist entirely on Mommy's milk, but just for the fun of it, you've tried rice cereal a couple of times. I'm afraid more cereal got on your body than in your mouth, but you were a good sport. You've also tried a few small bites of frozen pureed cantaloupe, Dippin' Dots ice cream and mashed banana.

You're now an experienced traveler, having been on 10 successful plane rides (and 1 pretty miserable one). Your sleep schedule has been erratic to say the least, but we can't really blame you. On one beautiful night a few weeks ago, you slept 8 continuous hours and Mommy was so happy! Since then, you have had a hard time sleeping more than 4 hours at a time, which makes Mommy a wee bit cranky, but she still loves you.

As I tell you nearly every day, you're my favorite baby.

I love you, my pretty pretty princess.