Paisley at 5 months

This last weekend had seen Paisley turn 5 months old. She’s getting much more active, she’s able to communicate more and has even cut her first two teeth! We’ve been out on a few family adventures lately and she has been so easy to have with us, she’s as good as gold and super snuggly. She loves looking in the mirror and we’ve also enjoyed some sensory play too. 

Physical Development

Paisley has been trying very hard to roll over. She can reach her toes and grabs them often and this helps her swing over. She gets most of the way but just needs to work out how to get that last little bit over. She’s so very close so I’m sure that will be in the next update. Today she has also been trying to sit up. We’ve tried helping her sit and normally she just wobbles forward but today she managed to hold her self up on her arms for a little bit. She often protests at being laid down so is mostly sat on or with us. She sits quite well in her high chair unaided. She also loves to stand on our lap and is very strong on her legs.

Feeding

Our little chunk is showing all sorts of signs that she’s ready to start weaning. She often sits with us at dinner time on our laps while we use the LapBaby. She will watch what we eat intently and tries to grab our plates and the food on them. Her toys and anything she holds go straight to her mouth. She’s been breastfed exclusively from the start and has more than doubled her birth weight so I’m confident that we could start weaning her now and have no issues. I’d planned to try and wait until 6 months so that her digestive system and immune system are both stronger but I mentioned in her last update that she was starting to show signs of being ready so at this point if she wants to eat, I don’t think I’m going to stop her.

We plan on doing a combination of baby-led weaning and purees. Ideally I’d like to start her off on a spoonful or two of pureed carrot and then give her some that she can hold too so she gets the benefit of learning what to do with it all herself. I’d love to know if you have any weaning stories, hints or tips. It’s been a whiles since I did it!

Sleeping

Still going strong on this one at night time but she’s easily disturbed when napping during the day. I think I might start putting her upstairs for naps so that Dexter and I don’t wake her when we play. She tends to use me as a comforter to fall asleep and Liam and I have a couple of overnight stays away from home coming up so both Paisley and Dexter will be staying elsewhere. For this reason (and this reason only) I have been replacing my boob with a dummy when she starts drifting off. I don’t want anyone to struggle getting her to settle while we’re away, for their sake but mostly for Paisley’s.

Changing

I gave up on reusable/cloth nappies. I couldn’t get on with them. I don’t know if it was something I was doing or other brands might work better for us but I found she got damp very quickly and it stressed me out so I’m not using them any more. (As requested by Hannah of Budding Smiles who kindly let me try them, these will now be passed on to the local nappy library)

Play time

Paisley is super playful. She loves tickles and being thrown in the air. She loves trying to eat our faces and grabbing our hair/liams beard/or skin/clothes/glasses etc. I remember Dexter used to love books at this ages and Paisley is the same. (She thinks they taste delicious!) She doesn’t have a huge amount of toys and most of what she does have were Dexter’s but she has a couple of cuddly things and one of those triangle activity things and they seem to be enough for her for now.

Dexter let her have one of his brand new planes that he got from Duxford. It’s a Spitfire made of foam so she loves to chew it and he made me super proud when he said she could keep it. She can reach out and grab toys held out in front of her (she’s been able to do that for a while) and has fantastic hand eye coordination. Another reason why I think we are good to start weaning her now.

Adventures

As I mentioned above, we have had a few adventures lately and Paisley has been a dream to take with us. We’ve been to Duxford and she had to wear ear defenders for the air show but she didn’t complain once. She happily fed everywhere we went and slept through most of the noise. We’ve also been to Woburn Safari Park and Wicksteed Park over Dexters Birthday week and again, she was no trouble at all. She just fits into our family so wonderfully well, it’s like she’s always been with us. She’s happy to be either in a wrap and be carried or be in the buggy. She’s had moments that she’s not been happy in the car seat but other than that, there is no extra effort needed for taking her out with us. (Not that we’d go anywhere without her anyway!

Dexter

Dexter is still one of her most favourite people. She talks to him all the time (sometimes he even listens hahaha) and always has a smile for him. I just hope it stays that way. I’m sure they’ll fight as they get older but as long as the fun outweighs the sibling bickering, I’m happy. They both love each other dearly and Dexter often brings her toys or tries to comfort her if she’s unsettled. He’s a fantastic brother and aside from the moments where he really isn’t keen on sharing, I couldn’t ask for more.