Savannah: 5 Months Old – Trav and Erin + 3

Sweet Savannah is getting closer and closer to being half a year old. It’s pretty crazy! We are starting to see her personality coming out, which has been really neat. She is getting so big and learning so many new things!

Savannah’s 4 month checkup was just 12 days ago, and she weighed 15 lbs that day. Today, the scale is still saying 15 lbs, so I’m guessing she’s somewhere between 15 and 15.5 lbs. Not sure how long she is, but I’d guess at least 27 inches (since she was 26 3/4 inches on the 17th). She is still long and lean! I think she’d be gaining weight faster if she didn’t spit up so much, but oh well. Dr. Dudley said the spitting up wasn’t a big deal since she was still gaining weight and that it would probably get a lot better once she starts eating food. Speaking of that, we were given the green light to start giving her food, but I think we’ll hold off until closer to 6 months. I don’t see the need to add something else to our busy days, so right now Savannah is still strictly nursing. She nurses usually 5-6 times a day, which translates to about every 3-3.5 hours. It’s going really well overall! She doesn’t have the best latch; I think she developed some bad habits because of her tongue tie, but so far it hasn’t caused any problems. She is still doing great with the bottle on the days I go to work!

Nighttime sleep continues to be very unpredictable with Miss Savannah. She CAN sleep through the night, but it doesn’t happen consistently which has been frustrating to Mommy and Daddy :) Some nights (like last night…woo hoo!), she will sleep from 8:15 PM to 5:45 AM straight without making a peep. But more often than not, she cries out multiple times a night. I’m not convinced that she’s always awake when she cries though. Sometimes it seems like she’s just crying in her sleep. We will usually try to put the paci in (unless it’s after about 4 AM…then I’ll just nurse her in case she’s waking up hungry), and most of the time she’ll go back to sleep just fine. Generally, if she wakes up to eat between 4 AM and 6 AM, I can put her back down in the crib and she’ll sleep a couple more hours before waking up to start her day.

Naptime is very inconsistent as well. She is taking most of her naps in her crib because who can sleep with Big Sis making all that noise? :) Many times, she will wake up crying after 30-40 minutes, but she won’t go back to sleep even though she’s tired. Other times, she’ll sleep for an hour (or sometimes two!) straight during a nap. It just depends. We are still putting her in the Zipadeezip to sleep, and she has definitely gotten used to sleeping in it. I guess we’ll have to transition her to just a plain sleepsack at some point soon though. She doesn’t seem to have a favorite sleeping position; she will sleep on her back, side, or her belly. I guess it just depends on her mood at the moment ;)

Savannah has gotten a lot more interested in what’s going on around her this month. She seems to be most happy when we are nearby and she’s part of the action. I have noticed recently that she has started to notice our cats, Gabby and Felix, and will watch them for a minute or two at at time when they come in the room. It won’t be long before she’s harrassing them just like Big Sis. Speaking of, Brooklyn can make Savannah laugh better than anyone else. All Brooklyn has to do is get right in front of Savannah’s face and say “HA HA HA!”, and Savannah thinks that is just the funniest thing ever. It’s really sweet. It’s getting easier to get smiles and giggles from her…and especially squeals and coos. She can be pretty loud at times! I think she’s trying to keep up with her big sis :) We’ve also figured out that Savannah is ticklish under her arms and on her belly, so sometimes we can get a laugh or two that way. Savannah’s newest noise this month is SPITTING. She loves to spit and blow bubbles. It’s not very ladylike, but neither was all that grunting that Brooklyn loved to do as a baby. I guess they each have their own noises! :)

As you can see from the picture above, the name of the game this month is “everything goes in the mouth”. Savannah has really gotten better at picking things up this month, and anything she gets her hands on goes straight to her mouth. Blankets, burp cloths, toys…you name it. She can take her paci out of her mouth (and does quite often!), and she has even managed to put it back in her mouth a few times too. She also tries to grab our noses, chins, and anything she can get hold of. She loves to gnaw on her hands and feet as well. Basically, she’s not picky and will “eat” just about anything!

Savannah’s favorite places to be are: in someone’s arms, lying on a quilt on the floor with toys she can gnaw on, and jumping in her doorway jumper. We let her try out the jumper for the first time a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t a huge hit right away. She didn’t really know what to do in it, and she had trouble balancing her body it seemed like. But now she has definitely figured out how to jump, and she can jump pretty high sometimes! The best is when Brooklyn starts jumping beside her on the floor, and they are both just bouncing up and down. So fun!

Savannah continues to get better and better at rolling as well. She can even roll over several times in a row these days. She’s not to the point where she’s rolling all around the room, but she can roll all around on our bed or on a quilt with ease. I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s using it as a mode of transportation :)

Savannah seems to be such a sensitive soul! I’m not sure if it’s just her “startle reflex” that has taken awhile to go away, or if it’s really her personality. Time will tell, I suppose. The other night, I was holding Savannah on the couch, and Travis was sitting on the other end. He laughed at something funny on TV, and it wasn’t a very loud laugh…but Savannah just burst into tears and wailed for at least 2 or 3 minutes. She wasn’t asleep at the time either! Overall, she doesn’t seem to be bothered by loud noise itself (otherwise, we’d be in trouble since it’s rarely quiet around here these days!), but it’s mainly when it’s a sudden laugh, sneeze, or cough that she’ll start crying. It will be interesting to see if that changes in the coming months or not…

Savannah is still wearing size 2 diapers and may be for a little while longer. It helps that she doesn’t have a big round belly, so we’re able to make the 2s work even though she’s a pretty long girl. She is wearing anywhere from 3-6 month all the way to 9 month size clothes. Most of 6-9 month size stuff is really loose on her, but it fits in the length. It’s too bad they don’t make a “slim” version of baby clothes…haha! Her hair is starting to come in a little bit more, so you can actually feel some fuzz on top now :) And those eyes are still as blue as ever, Rae Rae!

Likes: jumping in the doorway jumper, taking a bath, getting attention (especially from Brooklyn), being held, making spitting sounds, and chewing EVERYTHING!