Life Unexpected: Our Journey to a Family: 5 Months!

Five months!! It has gone by so fast and when I see other newborn babies it makes me wonder how a baby can grow so much in just a few short months! It's exciting though to enter new stages and watch as Wren learns new"tricks"!

WREN DANIELLE (5 MONTHS!)

Miss blue eyes!

SLEEP
Wren has officially moved from a rock n' play in our room to her crib in her own room! The first night went really well and she slept pretty good. I only had to go give her pacifier back a few times toward morning. She had been taking naps in her crib during the day so I think that helped her transition. The second night though I was so worried about her for some reason and kept checking on her all night!! Jesse kept telling me just to move her back into our room because she was too young but we got through it and she has continued to sleep in her crib. She usually sleeps great and only needs a paci back a few times more toward morning. Recently though she has had some really rough nights waking up almost every hour due to a cold and stuffy nose. It makes for some long nights but I hope soon she will get better and begin sleeping better.

DEVELOPMENT
We went to the doctor today just to check out Wrens cold and make sure there wasn't any RSV or ear infections since we will be going to Wisconsin Dells next week. She weighed 16 lb. 7oz. so she is up about a pound from last month. It's a good thing we went too because she has a double ear infection which could be much of the reason she isn't her normal self lately. Her cold was just a cold though so we are glad its nothing worse! She is on antibiotic for her ears so hopefully she will be a little more chipper soon! At least this doctor visit didn't include shots :)

It seems like Wren is really growing up because she has been learning so many new things. On December 24th Wren rolled over on her own for the first time! Of course we took videos and cheered every time she did it! She rolled from her belly to her back. She has been so close to rolling the other way for a long time and finally today she did it! While we were waiting for the doctor today she was laying on her back on the table and suddenly rolled toward me. Luckily I caught her or she would have rolled off the table and then I realized she had rolled from her back to her belly for the first time! (that I saw anyways) She will have to keep gaining strength because a lot of times she tries to roll that way but cant quit get over but now that she has done it once I'm sure she will be rolling all over the living room before I know it! Speaking of strength she should be getting some serious abs! She loves to lay on her back and lift her head up and pull her feet to her face and chew on them or her socks. It has become her "go to" position. This means socks are almost a lost cause. I thought they didn't stay on well before but now she is always pulling on them so they definitely don't stay on! She has also been doing better at grabbing toys and holding them. She tries really hard to put her paci in her mouth herself and sometimes she succeeds but she still isn't able to put her paci back in while in her crib during the night. I'm hoping that's something she learns very soon!

Warming her feet by the fireplace! (Her new favorite position)

Nom, nom, nom, love eating socks!

Wren has been wanting to sit up and be able to see things but doesn't have the strength and balance to sit up by herself, which is one of the problems with her becoming discontent. I decided to get out our high chair and give that a try because she can be strapped in by the shoulders so she won't fall forward. She did like that if I put toys on the tray and she can play and watch me work. Wren has had an interest in watching us eat food so we decided to let her try some a few weeks ago. First we cut up some apple and put it in one of those mesh bags so she could just suck the juices out. She absolutely loved it!! Problem is she doesn't have good enough grip and control to keep it at her mouth so she would get frustrated and want help holding it to her mouth! Since we had the highchair out we decided to try some baby cereal. I think she went through a growth spurt and seemed very interested in food and even started drinking up to seven ounces per feeding. So we decided to try the rice cereal first. She made some funny faces and even gagged a little at the texture. She would eat it sometimes but never really seemed to like it that much. Then I got out some of the squash we froze from our garden this summer and tried that. She definitely liked it more than the rice cereal but still didn't seem to have a real interest. So we decided to wait a little while to begin feeding her baby food every day or in place of a bottle. Wren also went back to drinking 6 ounces every three hours instead of seven so she must be done with the growth spurt for now. I did feed her squash again the other day and she ate the whole bowl so maybe now she is ready to give it a go. I think I will try feeding it to her after her morning nap each day and see how it goes if she continues to want it or decides she just likes the bottle for now!

Loving the juice from the apple

New flavor = YUMMY

Not so sure about the rice cereal

More on her face or in her tummy???

Such a big girl in her high chair!

"Look mom, I can even grab my feet
when I'm sitting in here too!"

PERSONALITY
Wren is a squealer!! She gets so loud and the older she gets the more she squeals! She can also have an attitude making her very touchy at times. The slightest inconvenience can cause a major fit of angry squeals and cries. Thankfully she gets over it after a little bit though! She definitely has a little drama in her :) It can be frustrating at times but also pretty cute. She is pretty good most of the time but way less content mainly because she can't move around much and get where she want's to go. She wants to be held or have me sitting right by her entertaining her with toys or giving them to her every time they get out of her reach. Thankfully she still loves to sleep so that gives me a break from the squeals and constant need of attention so I can get some things done around the house. Her recurring colds are also a big part of her discontentment so the times she gets feeling better we, for the most part, have our content little girl back!

THINGS WREN LOVES
As she always has she loves her sleep and some days takes really long naps during the day as well as sleep all night. Other things she loves are attention, toys, bath time, being held, when we sing to her, and also a new one is cuddling. The older she gets the more she enjoys snuggling with Jesse or I after she wakes up, before bed, or after she finishes a bottle. I love the cuddles so I'm glad she is starting to enjoy it more too! Wren has also really started to notice Myli and will try to grab her hair if she is nearby or she will watch her walk around the living room. Good thing Myli likes the attention of having her hair pulled (gently) so they get along great! Oh and as I said before she loves to eat her feet!!

Always love bath time!!! Looking very chunky here but I
think mainly because of how she is looking at the camera!

THINGS WREN HATES
Usually I would say tummy time but because she can roll over from her belly to her back she is a lot more content when I lay her on her belly to play! She will even stay playing on her belly for awhile before she rolls over. I think because she knows she has the option to roll over she doesn't mind being on her belly as much. Sometimes I even have to roll her from her back onto her belly after she rolls herself over because she can't get her toys and starts crying. We only have a few more months to get rid of her flat head so the more tummy time the better! She also hates having her nose wiped or sucked out but what baby doesn't hate that? Things will be much better once this cold season is past and she isn't constantly snotty or stuffed up!

FUN THINGS WE DID THIS MONTH
Earlier in the month Wren's new little cousin was born! She weighed only 5 lb 4oz! She is still so little!! It made Wren seem huge. It's exciting Wren will have another girl cousin her age to grow up with :)

Baby Emerson and Wren!

Such sweeties!

Next came lots of Christmases!! To start off we had the big Zimmerman family Christmas with Jesse's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Zimmerman!

Gift exchange :)

Then we headed up to Minnesota with Jesse's family to be with his mom's family for their Christmas! Wren was able to meet her Great Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt for the first time!

She also enjoyed swimming at the hotel hot tub (it was about the temp of bath water so don't worry) on the way to Minnesota!

Floating!

Daddy time

Next we had my side's family Christmas! She got presents from grandma and grandpa and did a gift exchange with her cousins! Lots of siblings and cousins make for a fun time at Christmas!