Alisa is 5 Months Old Today

It's frustrating having a baby who spits up all the time! Sometimes she spits up such massive amounts that the burp cloth must be thrown straight into the hamper...because if we wiped it off, it would still leave a large crusty spot when the remainder dried. Alisa loves being on her tummy but that only makes her spit up even more because of the pressure put upon it. It is when she is playing on her tummy (even 2+ hours after eating) that she spits up massive amounts on the burp cloth we laid under her. I went and bought more burp clothes again this week (large ones for over-the-shoulder burping and to lay under her head when she's lounging in the Boppy or playing with the toys on her gym and small ones for wiping her spit-up from her mouth and whatever else it gets on). She was officially diagnosed with reflux a couple of months ago so she has been taking medication twice a day that minimizes her heartburn because it neutralizes her stomach acids. She doesn't cry much anymore when spitting up, so that's a relief because she used to really scream and cry before she was on the medication.

We need to have Alisa work on sitting up more because she is lacking in that area. We bought her a Bumbo chair which is supposed to help her strengthen her back muscles and make it easier to learn to sit. Even with that though she still would rather fold forward and suck her toes.







Check out that string of drool hanging from her foot:



She does sit up straight occasionally in the chair if we put the tray on it:



Without any assistance, she just hunches over or folds all the way forward like this:



Alisa has been gaining weight rapidly over the past month. She gained 1 pound in 5 days (insane!) and has gained half a pound for the past two weeks. She is now just over 15 lbs. The pediatrician says this is fine because she is just over the 50th percentile for weight. She must just be playing catch-up from the weeks she didn't gain any weight during the first few months and was under the 50th percentile.

Her cradle cap has been gone for weeks now. The red marks on her forehead and back of her neck are still there. In her recent attempts to crawl she manages to scoot forwards (and sometimes backwards) a bit so she often makes it off of the blanket we put her on. She has been paying close attention to us when we eat and has also been examining the bottle nipples (she'll touch it with her fingers then put it in her mouth and drink a little, then pull it out and touch it again, etc). We have been feeding her about 1 Tbsp rice cereal about every other day and she has been getting better at eating it. Sometimes it sits on her tongue for awhile if she smiles or just lets her mouth hang open. She hasn't had as many leaky poopie diapers since she's been weaned because her stools are thicker. Many months ago she had at least 3 doozies in one week that got all over her clothes and whoever was holding her at the time. She did make a mess on her outfit today because her stool was runny and came out of the top on the diaper on her back, but it doesn't happen very often anymore.

She still sleeps 12-13 hours every night and takes 3 naps (40 minutes to 2 1/2 hours long) every day. She usually goes to bed between 8 and 9 PM and wakes up between 8 and 9 AM. When she's tired, she begins to talk very loudly. She protests more if she's not lying down because she can't get as comfortable if she isn't lying on her side or stomach. Another way to tell if she's ready for a nap or bedtime (if she's not talking loudly) is to lay her down. If she rolls to her side and sucks her thumb, she's ready to sleep. Also, you can tell by looking at her eyes.

I've been walking with Alisa in the baby carrier almost every afternoon lately. I do this before her nap so by the end of the walk she is very sleepy or asleep.











Savannah and Benjamin came over today:



Alisa and Benjamin had a few special moments where they stared at each other and later briefly (and unexpectedly) held hands. Oh, and Alisa sucked on his toes! She saw them on the floor by her so she reached out, grabbed his foot and brought it to her mouth. She really loves toes because she went after Savannah's too! They also repeated a moment they had when Alisa went to Benjamin's house last week. They were sitting or lying face to face. Benjamin made some frustrated noises and then Alisa started crying. Then Benjamin started crying which made Alisa cry louder and so then Benjamin cried louder and it just escalated from there. We had to pick them up and calm them down while trying not to laugh. I wonder if it will happen again next week when they play.