Mariam Month 5

I'm a bit behind on this because Mariam is 5 and a half months now. 

Weight
  Mariam has her appointment scheduled next week. I'm not sure how much she weighs, but like every month, she's packing on the pounds. I haven't taken her to get her 4 month shots yet. I just hate having them get shots, but she will get them. I'm not against vaccinations, I just delay them sometimes (we are talking a few weeks to over a month max). I have also spread out the vaccines to two visits on occasion because I hate the fact of them getting 4-5 shots in one sitting. See with my first, I did everything by the book, As a first time parent I wasn't about to pretend I knew anything about parenting. I was also to immature to research these kind of things. I let my mother and doctors tell me what was best. I guess what I'm saying is do your research and don't freak out if you don't do everything by the book. Even now with my third baby, there are still things I'm learning or have never come across. 

Health
  Well Mariam got her first little cold at 5 months. I was a little surprised because my other two never got sick until at least 11 months. However I think two things were at play here. Or maybe a combination. Serena got sick two weeks ago with another common cold she caught at school, and then Layla got it, and then Mariam. H and I were the last to get sick with it. (I'm still sick). So this was one strong cold as everybody in the house got it--which has never happened before. Mariam got a runny nose and it would keep her up, so we spent the weekend before last pretty sleep deprived. However that was the worst of it and her nose pretty much cleared 2 days later. I'm crediting the antibodies in my breastmilk helping her rid it quickly. However I couldn't help but think if had I ate healthier this pregnancy like I did with Layla, would Mariam's immune system fought off this cold completely? Probably not but I couldn't help but wonder. With Serena my first, I ate terrible. In fact I think I lived off dollar BigMacs from McDonalds--back when they used to advertise them for a dollar, and Totino's party pizza. (These days you couldn't pay me to eat a burger there...and this was 10 years ago.) I also only breastfed her for 3 months and it wasn't exclusive. She didn't get her first cold till 11 months. It is a fact that even just colostrum or a little bit of breastmilk can really help protect a babies immune system. 

Sleep
  Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all. She still wakes up once a night but it's usually between 4-6 am. She will then go back to sleep till about 9:00 am if someone doesn't accidentally wake her up. She also has a nap schedule of 10:30 am, 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Not exactly at these times, but around them. She goes down for the night between 9-10 pm. 

Clothes
 Mariam is wearing 6-9 month clothes. She's always been ahead early on. Little chunk. I love it! She is so squirmy and curious though that changing her diaper and clothes is no longer as easy as it used to be. 

Diet
  Milk and so far so good with the breastfeeding. She still latches on great and eats about every 2-3 hours. Oh, I did start cereal around 4 months but only gave it to her twice. Since a week ago, I give it to her once a day around dinner. She seems to like it. I'm thinking she's going to be ready for solids soon. She reaches for food constantly.  

Crying
 So much better. If you've read the last few updates, you'll remember that months 1-3 were rough. Really rough. Like "I don't think I can do this" rough. After three months it got so much better and it's continued to get better. 

Milestones
  She is just super alert and her hand eye coordination is great. Since about 4 and a half months, she is just the biggest rolly polly I ever did see. She'll roll from one side of the room to the other. The other day she ended up under the couch little silly. Oh but something exciting I discovered this week is that she can army crawl! I saw it with my own two eyes. She can pull herself forward with her elbows and arms. Slow down baby girl! There will be plenty of time for crawling and walking.

Products I'm loving
 Still loving the Bjorn for running errands. A baby carrier is a life saver if you already have one in a stroller like I do, and you don't want to lug around a huge double stroller. I don't even have a double stroller yet. I have three single strollers and two baby carriers so I didn't want to add yet another one, but I am going to have to get one, because I can't really go for walks during the day if it's just me with the two little ones. I mean I could, but the baby carrier starts hurting my shoulders after awhile. I'm also loving the bumbo my friend let me borrow. Mariam has liked sitting up for awhile, so this little seat lets her do that.