Ella-isms {Month Five}

So...Ella is almost into month six and here I am writing about month five. People were right when they said you won't have time for anything after a baby! haha. This was especially true for us this month. Although we've still been traveling and having fun, we have definitely run into some issues. Sleep being one of them.  It's so hard to know what you should do now to make things easier later because you're just wanting to get through the day, but that has definitely come back to bite us in the bum! We usually rock Ella to sleep and then put her down and that seemed to work pretty well up until now. Because of that, she wakes up startled and doesn't know how to soothe herself back to sleep, which has made for a lot of interrupted sleep. This last month, Ella did not want to sleep anywhere but with me! This goes for naps and bedtime. I know that we didn't want to make this a habit, so every day and night, I would try to put her down in her crib, the rock n play, the bed, the couch, wherever, but we would only get 30 minutes or less for naps and about an hour or so for bedtime, without having to go back in and repeating the process again. Some days, I know that she's super tired and needs to sleep, so I just resort to laying down with her in the bed so that we could get longer naps. Which isn't a bad set up if I wanted to sleep as well, but would I want to this forever? No. Same thing went for bedtime, we would go through our bedtime routine and put her in the crib, but every 45 minutes or so she would wake up until and I would have to repeat the process hoping it would be just a bit longer. We would do this until I was just too tired to deal with it so end up taking her into bed with me. Of course, after coming into bed with me, she would sleep very well! I know there is a reason why some people decide to co-sleep. It's just so easy and the baby loves it so much, but then you're stuck. Both Gerald and I knew this is not what we wanted so we are in the middle of sleep training, which has been one of the hardest thing I've done as a mother. Let's just hope it actually works and we can all sleep better in the long run! More about that next month.

Issue #2 - She has entered the phase of always wanting me to be next to her. If I leave the room to go to the bathroom, kitchen  or wherever, she will follow me with her eyes and notice that I am getting further away from her and then she starts crying. I just let her cry, but she seriously won't stop until I come back. This seems to only really happen when it's just the two of us together at home. and sometimes with Gerald. However, if we are out and about, she seems okay. I know it's just a phase and will go away, but boy is it hard trying to get anything done around the house with this phase. Anyways, we get to start the gym daycare next month, so wish us luck! I'm hoping this will help her get use to staying with other people so that mommy can have a break without having to worry about her crying the entire time I'm away. 

Anyhow, sside from the sleep and attachment issue, we're still enjoying our travels and activities in and around Bakersfield. Ella is still a pretty good road tripper so we are still trying to take advantage of that as much as possible. She's pretty good at napping in the carseat during the day, but if she gets overtired at night, we enter cryville, which isn't fun but she eventually cries to sleep and we make it home and into bed. Like I mentioned before, her naps are super short these days so I can't really do much around the house anymore, so we play a lot. So, even though her naps are short, she's still pretty happy and playful so I'll take that over a tired, cranky baby.  Dinners are usually pretty simple and chores wait until after she goes to bed. Now, I can see why moms stay up late, so they can get things done. Sleep and attachment issues have pretty much summed up our month five. I knew this day would come eventually, so we just trying to cope as best as we know how and hope that she will eventually learn how to fall asleep on her own and learn that it's okay for mommy to be away at times...Until then, we will just enjoy each other's company and live our life. These things will eventually work themselves out, right? ha!

Now, Here are some Ella-isms at Month Five:

Weight: 13lbs 15oz plus some...i really should try to weigh her each month to see how she's growing instead of waiting for our well dr. visits
Height: 25 inches plus some...all I know is that we had to take out the newborn insert in her car seat and move the shoulder strap up one, so baby girl is definitely growing
Features: she started losing some of her hair this month, so I feel like her hair is so thin, she has a huge bald spot in the back of her head from when she would sleep on her back, she now sleeps more with her head to the side so her head is really starting to round out. I was afraid she was going to have a cone head for a while there. also, i feel like she is growing longer and not wider as clothes are usually short on her. she is in the 75th percentile for height
Likes: rolling around everywhere! turning herself around while on her stomach, jumping while standing, especially in the jumper, looking in the mirror
Dislikes: the crib! when she can't see me, starts crying when i'm not around, naps of any sorts unless its in bed with me or in the car, sitting in the carseat if we're out; she rather be worn than in her stroller. 
Movement: rolling over all sorts of ways, scooting around more and more and making some crawling movements, jumping and standing while you hold her, kind of sitting with support- doing very well in her infant seat, grabbing everything with a pretty good hold
Words: she's squealer! has kind of started chuckling a bit but not all out just yet, talking back when you make funny noises or sounds {i like to pretend i'm a little kid sometimes and speak with a squeaky voice and she loves it}
Sleeps: this has been a nightmare this month! she won't really sleep anywhere but our bed. it's so hard to put her down after she has fallen asleep, she will wake up just about every 45 minutes or so unless she is in bed with me, sleep has not been consistent, so I've just been co-sleeping with her this entire month. she does sleep well when she is with me so I can't complain. sometimes too well, she won't even wake to eat. we need to break this habit soon...we have started sleep training so I shall share that experience once we are done!
Eats: still nursing about 5 times a day with one night feeding! although I feel like she is wanting to eat a little bit more, so I started her on a bit of solids this month. I've given her mangos, pears, peaches, apples, green beans and sweet potatoes and so far she's liking it. All purees so far from the pouches. Once she gets a taste for everything, I think I'll start making some food for her!

Hopefully our month six post will have more positives!