Eden, the 5-Month Old!

Wait...What?? FIVE months??????
Yes, that's right. Eden is five months old. That's like a super old baby now. 3 more babies in my group of friends have been born since her birth date. I don't know if it's because I'm on Addison's "calendar" of when she was born (in May) so she was a essentially a newborn all summer, so I'm replaying my "summer experience" with Addison when she was a newborn. I of course "know" Eden is 5 months old and don't hesitate on her age whenever someone asks me, but it's more a matter-of-fact response. Then, it'll hit me - wait, did I just say she's FIVE MONTHS old?! Unbelievable, my baby girl is growing in a flash. It may also be that this may be our last go at this. With Addison, I knew come hell or high water we would have a second baby someday. Eden, I can't say for sure, so I keep that in mind as she grows up and out of certain stages.
It's crazy when I start looking ahead to how soon she's gonna start doing more things.

Growin' Up, Growin' Out
As Eden grows, she is growing out of her baby items one by one. Last week I did the big re-organization of her drawers and closet. Since she was a month old, I had a box stashed in her room to throw any newborn clothes. But now, I've packed up any remaining newborn clothes as well as the 3-month size. Again, as mentioned above, as I pack up these baby clothes I wonder if I will ever see them again. Because even if we do go for #3 someday - it may be a boy where these little girl clothes will be gone from our lives. It's really quite a bittersweet thought.

Eden can now somewhat roll. It's not a lot and it's more of a gradual movement, with gravity on her side. In recent weeks we have been giving her more floor time, to make up for us maybe holding her a little too often this summer, delaying this type of development. While rolling is still somewhat of a struggle for her, she has made a lot of progress in sitting up. We give her a little support with our hand on her back or else the Boppy pillow around her hips. She typically bends forward and holds onto her feet - it doesn't look all that comfortable to me, but she doesn't seem to mind or complain. I think she enjoys  being upright and being able to look around from that vantage point and have easy access to grabbing onto her toys.
Which, brings me to my next Eden-ism...She is a GRABB-ER! Seriously, this girl grabs anything in site! Almost immediately upon picking her up, she grabs a fistful of my hair and shoves it in her mouth. PLACKH! She is also very skilled at taking off our glasses, hitting the iPad/iPod/phone while we are playing games to mess us up, and grabbing the book we are reading. So, as she becomes mobile - we will have to be very careful!

Sleeeeeep
Ok, I'll say it. Tim & I are sleep-deprived. But Eden isn't the only one to blame! Eden is typically capable of sleeping until 9am, but it's Addison who comes bouncing in our room around 6:30am inexplicably every morning. This is especially difficult b/c Eden is still on a 12am, 2-3am, 4-5am eater through the night. Then I'm at by 6 for work. So, yea. We are tired! 
During the day, Eden is not on a set schedule for naps yet.Typically, she sleeps in in the morning if Addison doesn't wake her up earlier. Then, if Tim goes out and about anywhere, she always sleeps in the car or in the stroller for walks. In the afternoon, Addison has "3pm quiet time" so at this time Tim puts Eden in the swing to get stuff done around the house and she does usually fall asleep for a little while.
Then, bedtime at night can range from 9pm -11pm. We're trying to get better at the scheduled routines, but it's tough b/c we could potentially be doing nothing but getting the girls ready for bed from 7:30-10:30pm...and then when is our 2minutes of relaxation? Yea....So, it gets hard! But we'll figure it out soon.

Eden in the World
Eden has the advantage...or disadvantage, depending on how ya look at it - of being the 2nd child and being out and about in the world much more than Addison was in the first 6 months of her life. Eden is really great out in the world. As mentioned early, when in the car seat in the car or stroller, she almost always falls asleep. We mixed it up at several of the neighborhood festivals and used our carrier instead and she seemed to really like being close to me and being walked around like that.
I'm sure Eden is pretty unaware of her surroundings, but I think the little bit she is noticing and being out in the fresh air is really good for her.

Summer is winding down here, but I'm looking forward to all the great fall activities to keep the entertainment level for the girls up. Eden will have her 6 month portraits in a few weeks and I think by the time I write my next blog entry, Eden will be very different as 6 months seems to be a time for lots of changes.

Til next time!!!