Our baby girl is FIVE months old! 

Oh how time flies. How far away that newborn-ness seems now, and how curiously bittersweet it is to realise that she will never be that small, or weak, or unaware, ever again.

 

I’m still secretly delighted that she is petite! She feels so wee and small and delicate. She weighs in at a feather light 5.5KG… putting her in the 5th percentile. Yes, she’s quite tiny! In comparison, Hunter and Carter were both around 10KG at the same age – almost double her weight. OMG.

 

100% exclusively breastfed, she nurses 8-9 times a day. Almost TWICE as any times as both boys did at 5 months old! Yet she’s half their weight… so either she’s a bit of a milk snacker, or she has a high metabolism. Who knows.

She will try to ‘eat’ everything in sight, including the soft book in the picture above. But, zero interest in actual edible food. She doesn’t show much interest in us eating, which is also why I’m in no rush to introduce solids.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “only 22 percent of babies in the United States are exclusively breastfed at six months of age.” So this is probably the single most thing I am proud about, as I’ve done this with all 3 kids. It wasn’t easy and was a l-o-n-g journey for me to get here, so I’m really happy I stuck through it and now I really enjoy it. It’s free – what’s not to love?

 

This little girl just kills me when it comes to SLEEP!

Daytime naps – all over the place with zero routine. Can nap for 1.5hrs if the stars are aligned and I’ve won the lottery, but otherwise ‘nap snacks’ for 30mins every hour or so. In short, I get almost zero time during the day alone to myself.

Night sleep – everyone was full of envy that I had two boys that could sleep through the night (ie. I got my full 8hrs of sleep every night) when they were just a few weeks old (!!!). I didn’t think much of it then, as it was just regular life and I took it for granted. Well, guess what? Chloe fully sucks at night sleep! She wakes up…….. TWICE. Kill me now. The only reason I haven’t weaned her off night feeds is because she’s so light/tiny. The only saving grace is that she’s a champion at falling asleep alone in her bed, and will go straight back to sleep after a night feed.

She can now self soothe, but oddly, it’s 3 fingers jammed straight down her throat. No pacifier, no thumb, just these 3 fingers. Go figure.
 

She’s also hitting her physical milestones, which is surprising considering she’s so underweight and born early. I suppose it’s true, what they say about younger siblings eager to keep up with the older kids.

Her neck is pretty strong, so she can sit in tripod for a little while, though still super unsteady.

 

She managed to learn how to flip back-to-front just after she turned 4 months, and has been furiously practicing it since. Mostly because she has some sort of aversion to being on her back. This makes diaper changes kind of tough, and now she can’t be left alone for even a second – this baby is fast. 

 

She looks happy and easy going here, and she IS definitely much cheerier than before (when she screamed 24/7), but she still is a pretty tough baby to please. She’s well known for her demanding behaviour and – argh – those screams, if you don’t abide by her wishes!

I must be a total sucker, because I still keep going back, doing anything to make her smile at me. Her smile melts my heart, because I know it’s rare, and specially reserved for those she loves most!

 

Her #1 favourite position – being carried. AT. ALL. TIMES. Unlike her big brothers, this one simply won’t allow me to put her in the stroller to do something so apparently frightful as to have a meal. In fact, NOBODY is allowed to sit down and have a meal, until someone carries her. And you can’t just carry her sitting down, you have to stand and walk while carrying her.

Frankly, everyone just gives in and does this, to escape her epic screams.

 

Lucky for her, her brothers dote on her. Carter’s teachers tell me he’s always proudly telling everyone about her, and Hunter is really smitten. She’s the first person he dashes to every morning, and he showers her with kisses and coos all sorts of “Oh my darling! My baby love!” to her. He keeps repeating to me “Mummy… Chloe is like a living baby doll! And she’s all MINE!”

She returns his devotion with big sloppy smiles, and her whole body jerks with happiness when he comes to her every morning. It’s super cute 🙂

 

Oh my lil chickadee… just look how much you have GROWN! I love how alert you are now, and I love how you live for cuddles. You have the most intoxicating baby smell and my heart does little flips of joy when you curl up so comfortably in my arms.

I love it when someone else is carrying you, and you quickly seek me out with your eyes and lock them on me. That gaze you give me? It’s pure love.
 
And the feeling is mutual.

 

Compare with Carter at Month 4-5 here.
Compare with Hunter at Month 4-5 here.