Charlotte at Five Months (by Daddy!)

{Note 1/31: Finally posting this five-month update about Charlotte, trying to squeeze it in before she gets to six months. Yes, cutting it very close!}

Over her fifth month, Charlotte has continued her trend of being our easiest child.

A big part of that may be that she is so easily entertained by her older siblings. Nathan and Anneliese race up the stairs to be the first to greet her after naps, and Charlotte usually rewards them with a big smile and lots of squealing. For playtime, we often plop Charlotte in the bouncy seat or bumbo in the bonus room, and she will have a full supply of toys at her disposal within minutes, courtesy of the big kids. Nathan and Anneliese need an occasional reminder to be gentle with their baby sister, but for the most part they do very well, and it's fun to see Charlotte beginning to truly interact with them as well.

Charlotte now has a matching pair of bottom teeth. This has resulted in a ridiculous amount of drool. She has perfected gnawing on all of her toys, including the foam blocks that she got from Santa, several of which now have a nice set of dental impressions all over them.

I'm not sure if we've mentioned it before, but Charlotte is a fidgety eater. Unless she is just exhausted, her legs flail all around every time she nurses or drinks a bottle.  Since I've been helping with some of the night feedings recently (no, she still doesn't sleep through the night), I am learning that her fidgets can be a bit dangerous for a dad in the middle of the night. A misplaced kick has startled me out of a sleepy stupor on more than one occasion!

For me, the most exciting part of the last month has been Charlotte's responses when we are talking to her. She is giggling and babbling back to us. It's nonsense, but it's very intentional.  No da-da just yet, but I'm trying my best to make it her first word. She's still our squeaky girl, but these days the squeaks have been mostly replaced with lots of squealing and shreiking, especially when she's happy.

Happy 5(+) months, baby Charlotte! We love you more every day.