Vivian turned five months old today! How time flies, especially this last month since we returned from the great trip to Europe. I'll keep this update relatively brief since I only got to her four month update a few weeks ago.
Vivian's biggest thing now is sleep. She doesn't think much of the idea, and we started sleep training. Actually, I should say she is just very particular. I am not sure how much of an effect traveling had, but now even when co-sleeping she wants to be attached to the boob all the time. And she eats more frequently at night, every 40 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. While this schedule has its advantages because she doesn't need to eat as often during the day (when we are on outings or because Theo can strongly object to her eating), it is not at all sustainable. Hence the sleep training. It's been going on for almost two weeks and while she will go six to eight hours without eating, she's only slept one big chunk overnight last Thursday, for seven hours straight. Previously she slept 6-8 straight in her bassinet without any hitches, so the change is pretty massive from my perspective. Now that she is getting more sleep she seems to be back to her normal sunny self. If only I could say the same for the amount of sleep I am getting. Instead of nursing laying down I sit up with her most nights as much as I can. Sometimes I am just too wiped out to even sit up straight. Most nights she wakes up after two to three hours, then every two to three hours after that. She gets fed after six hours, and pretty much whenever after that, and the frequency has dropped back to normal for overnight (ie two to three hours in between feedings). She is being returned to the bassinet after each feeding (except as mentioned above when I crash while nursing laying down) instead of co-sleeping in the big bed.
We have picked out a crib for her but it's on backorder so she's still napping and sleeping overnight in the bassinet. At five months, I guess we really should get on that. If the crib doesn't come back into stock soon we will try ordering one identical to Theo's for her and get it installed.
Vivian has a strong interest in eating, and particularly in Theo's sippy cups full of milk. She will lunge and grab towards food, plates, utensils, and cups. We have travel plans for next month and she is still nursing quite well though so we haven't started solids. It's also less encouraging to start in fall when lots of produce is out of season. It turns out there are advantages to fall babies, too. Otherwise Vivian is very consistent in the amount of time she spends eating each day, coming in at one hour and forty some odd minutes with little variation. I can generally tell if she's gone to bed for the night by how much time she has logged eating. With the new sleep training she gets put down regardless of her eating between 8 and 9 at night. She also seems to prefer cluster feeding every hour before bedtime: at five, six, and seven plus the right before bed feeding. She doesn't ask for it or complain about the absence but it certainly seems to make a difference in how long she goes overnight so I have to remember to swamp her in opportunites.
Vivian is still definitely not a morning person. She wakes up between 8:30 and 9 most days, and when she is well rested and healthy, she wakes up cooing or quietly, which is a switch from Theo. It's also super cute and fun to greet her in such good moods. She rarely stays up long in the mornings if we are home, but if we are out and about she will take a few cat naps (20 minutes or less) instead. She's not quite on a regular nap schedule but I can see it coming in the near future.
As for movement, Vivian is rolling onto her side from her back but not all the way over. She still doesn't get a lot of floor time thanks to her big brother. But she does spend a lot of meals in the exersaucer which she seems to love. She's very into grabbing things and shoving them into her mouth. If they are not satisfying for whatever reason, she will screech about it. She still loves her hippo, her bunny block, and now the plastic fish bath book with fish attached too. She might love more things but I don't rotate toys too often and as noted above there isn't as much floor time as I would like.
She loves music and Theo's new favorite song, Run Baby Run by Caspar Babypants. She loves to be tilted from side to side like a ticking clock or raised and lowered and will usually cackle with delight at both. She is generally sociable when she is feeling well, and still loves to chat. Today she tried chatting with the dog when he was on eye level. Tetley didn't talk back.
I am having a hard time believing the next update will be half a year but Vivian continues to delight her adoring fans with all her antics.
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