Makenzie is 5 months old!

 Makenzie is now 5 months old. We are really enjoying how big she is getting and all the fun things she is learning to do. At the same time we wish she would slow down and be a baby forever.

Here are the top 10 highlights of Makenzie being 5 months old: 

1. We had a couple of visits this month from her Nanny and Pa. One one trip they even brought Aunt Jen and the girls, Caity and Lindsey, with them.  It is so nice that they live close enough to do day trips to come visit the girls. They both just love hanging out with them and I love to see them building such strong relationships with all their grandparents.

2. We are preparing for Kenzie's first Halloween! We found this adorable costume at a great price so I couldn't refuse. I just hope we have a cool Halloween this year. In Vail at Halloween time you just never know if it will be shorts and t-shirt kind of weather or the bundle up, freezing cold kind.

Kenzie showing off her costume to Nanny and Pa.

3. She moved up from the infant bath seat to the 'supported sitter' seat. She loves her new seat because now she can face her big sis and can reach to take all Morgan's bath toys. 

4. Morgan introduced Makenzie to one of her favorite new things to play "Do.c Mc.Stuffins". Morgan found one of Kenzie's toys that is a purple hippo and decided it looked like Hali and then she found an old beanie toy she had to be Chilli. I just love watching the girls together and seeing how much more they interact with each other every day. 

5. Makenzie was able to start using our jumper.oo. She really enjoys getting in this for a few minutes each day while I am preparing dinner. She has definitely figured out how to get it to bounce!

6. Makenzie started solids!!!! We started first with rice cereal, then oatmeal cereal, and this week she started sweet potatoes. It took her a few days to get used to them, but now she loves her solids; especially the sweet potatoes. The photos below are of her second night trying solids. David wasn't home from work yet so Morgan asked if she could be the photographer. I love the pictures taken from Morgan's perspective, so funny. 

7. Makenzie is sitting up! At first she was sitting up with a little support from the bopp.y pillow, but very quickly she didn't need it. Makenzie now loves to sit and play and doesn't want to spend much time on her tummy any longer. She enjoys playing at Morgan's old lights and sounds mirror. 

8. Makenzie took her first trip to the zoo. Over fall break it is kind of a tradition for us to gather up a group of our friends and head to a morning at the zoo. It was a beautiful morning and was great to finally see the new elephant exhibit.

My girls ready for the zoo!

The whole gang that joined us that morning

 

 Sammy, Morgan, Erin, Ian (holding) Maci, Ben, Makenzie, Paige, Lucas, Seth, and Parker. 

9. Makenzie is continuing with her PT and may be receiving a helmet in a month or so. At the beginning of October I took Makenzie in to Han.ger (the same place that does all Morgan's bracing) to get her head examined. They measured all different angles on her head and said that while she does have a mild case of plagiocephaly they think we should helmet it so it doesn't get worse and so she doesn't have any side effects. Right now the back of her head is slightly off, but the biggest concern is that her left side (ears and face) is slightly more forward than her right side. If her head continues to grow this way and the left side continues to move further forward compared to the right that could lead to vision issues in the future. Which is why it is good we are catching things early and we can fix it with the helmet. She would probably wear the helmet for 3-6 months. Once we get insurance approval we will go back to get her head remeasured. At that time they will either make the helmet or say that her head has improved enough on its own that she no longer needs it. 

     In the meantime we are continuing working with PT on her toricolis. Makenzie is making great gains and thus far is keeping up with developmental milestones! Yeah! She has learned how to roll, but mostly just rolls from her back-to-tummy. Once on her tummy she hardly ever rolls off. And as I said before she is sitting on her own too.

Morgan and Kenzie are co-treated at the same time most weeks. That makes our lives so much easier.

10. Makenzie got her 5 month old photos taken. She didn't have a great morning nap that day, so she wasn't in the best mood, but we did manage to get a couple of cute shots. 

Look at all those knee rolls. I love a chubby baby!

*Eating: Makenzie is still breastfed but has started on solids. She eats every 2-3 hours during the day still and gets her solids at dinner time with the rest of the family.

*Sleeping: I don't know what happened this month, but I want my baby that loves to sleep back. Makenzie has slept like a newborn this whole month and I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D!!!! She has been up to eat 3 times a night and has been waking in between. We think most of the problem started at the start of our fall break when Makenzie learned to roll. She would roll over in her sleep and wake herself up and be totally confused as to why she was on her tummy. Then two nights after this started we took our trip to Philly. While in the hotel she slept in a pack-n-play (not exactly comfy), continued waking herself by rolling over, and we didn't want her waking Morgan so I would feed her right away. We think this started a REALLY bad habit. Once we returned from the trip she bad sleeping habits continued. This past week we have really be trying to work on it, but she is still getting up to eat 2 times a night. I think I may break out the old Nap. Na.nny tonight and see if we can use it for a night or two to break her of these bad habits. We will see.

*Likes:
*To sit and play
* Eating her solids, especially sweet potatoes
*Being tickled. She giggles the cutest little laugh, but like her big sis she can only handle so much   before she starts with the hiccups.

*Dislikes:
*Loud, unexpected noises.
*Anything that goes fast, she does not seem to be the same thrill seeker like her sister. She doesn't like to be lifted in the air above your head or zoomed in a laundry basket like her sister loved/loves.

Can you see how unhappy she is about this. Morgan used to and still does love this game. Kenz gets totally freaked out.

*Some cute random photos from this month: 

Makenzie's first taste of sweet potatoes.

Playing hide and seek!

I put Makenzie down in the middle of Morgan's room with the train toy while I folded laundry.

She scooted herself back and  back until she ended up under Morgan's bed.

I love to watch Makenzie play and see how she interacts with her toys. She is no longer just swatting at toys, she is definitely exploring and learning.