The Journey: Month Five

Cinco de Mayo was a special day for me, as it was one year since I found out that I was pregnant! I will never forget that day and am so grateful for all the changes that have come in the past year! We had some friends over for the first time on May 8th for a late Cinco celebration, including tacos, queso and margaritas. The babies played with L's toys while she quietly observed from her swing.
We spent the month shopping at the malls (while avoiding the heat outside), starting music classes, yoga classes, and swimming in our pool. On Mothers day, we started Mom's First School classes that included baby massage, baby gymnastics, and basic swimming. That afternoon we had to get L's vaccinations, which was so sad, but she did great and fell asleep quickly afterwards. The first couple of Kindermusik classes, Lillian would fall asleep half way through class, while the music and instruments were going loud and strong. But the poor baby would just get too tired from all the excitement and couldn't last the full hour class. For Mommy and Baby Yoga class, she tends to sleep on the blanket for part of the class too, but it lets me get a good yoga workout in so I definitely do not mind. I guess the drawback of starting all the classes is that L got a cold, but luckily it only lasted a day. It is just so sad to see her sneezing all the time and constantly sucking out her nose since she hastes that so much. We took her to the doctor on May 25th to make sure she didn't have an infection but all lab tests came back clear. She had grown another pound since her 4 month checkup and 1.5cm!
I started putting Lillian in the Bumbo chair on the kitchen counter so that she can watch me while I cook dinner and clean the kitchen. She started laughing when I play peek-a-boo with her, as she loves hearing the high pitched word and the surprise. I can really say anything in the same tone of voice and she will laugh. She got into a good bedtime routine this month of bath, massage, pj's, eating, and storytime so has been able to fall asleep quickly without crying. During the night, I try to put her pacifier back in her mouth when she wakes up (instead of feeding her) while holding her hands to get her to go back to sleep. Sometimes this works and she will sleep for another hour or 2, and other times she refuses the paci. She has been playing in her exersaucer for longer periods of time, which gives her a good rotation of toys when we are home, as she often gets bored and needs a change of location around the house. She loves when I read her books and tries to reach out and grab the pages. We avoid swaddling or putting a blanket in her crib to sleep anymore because she will just pull it over her face and not know how to get it off. She had rolled over from her tummy to back a couple of times on the bed where it is softer and easier to move around. She learned to put her feet in her mouth by herself this month. She loves to grab everything out of my hands and continues to laugh at her reflection in the mirror. She also loves to sit on our bed and watch me get ready, either putting on makeup or doing my hair. She started blowing bubbles (raspberries) with her lips this months and will just keep going forever when she gets on a roll. She also went under water for the first time at our swim lessons and did so great!
We had visitors at the end of May and it was so fun to take Lillian out and about to show our guests the sights of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. She had her first brunch experience and did great napping, taking the bottle and just watching all the people pass our table. She also stayed with a babysitter for the first time while we enjoyed a nice dinner out with our friends that came in from Nigeria. I was a nervous wreck getting everything ready for the babysitter, but our friends were a good distraction while we were out so I didn't worry (too much) and could enjoy the time away. We had fun at the hotel pool in Dubai and she even fell asleep in my arms while sitting in the baby pool.