Kristin Owen: 5 Whole Months...Slow Down, Baby

Dear Taylor,

I am loving every second with you, doll. You are truly a delightful baby. Your daddy and I comment all the time about how great you are. We love you. But could you maybe slow down a little bit? You are flying through this whole infant thing.

You are really starting to get fun and exciting, though.

Here are some things you are up to:

You love your blankie. It is a soft pink one with your name monogrammed on it. When you are ready for sleep, all we have to do is hand it to you. You put your fingers in your mouth, snuggle your blankie, and drift off to sleep.
You are so so so happy...like all the time. You will smile at anyone, as long as mommy or daddy are near. It is so easy to get you to give us a big ole grin.
You like sitting in your Bumbo seat while mommy or daddy do things in the kitchen. I think you feel like you are helping.
You love music. Mommy is constantly singing to keep you entertained and you love it. You even respond when I dance to the music.
You are always wanting our attention. You get so excited when we look straight at you after having been looking away.
You are still sleeping really great. Lately, you have been sleeping til 6:30 am. No complaints.
Rolling from your back to front and back again has become super easy to you. If you get bored for a second, you will roll to the other side.
You can hold yourself in a sitting position for like 2 seconds before you fall over lunging for a toy. I don't think you are super interested in sitting up on your own yet.
I know it's early, but you are already starting to try to crawl. You will pull your knees in and lift that hiney and try to inch forward. You'll get it eventually, doll.
You can hold onto my fingers while I pull you to a sitting then standing position. Strong little thing. Your face always shows delight when you do it.
You love your fingers. Your favorite ones are your pointer and middle finger on your left hand. But you will suck your thumb and other fingers as well.
Your little fingers are getting super coordinated. You can grab things really well. If it gets close enough to you, you can be sure that you'll grab it and bring it to your mouth.
You love to touch faces. You do this adorable thing where you sort of pull people closer to touch and feel their faces.
You immediately like anyone with a beard...anyone. I guess you have your daddy to thank for that 'trust' in beard people.
You like to nibble on your feet. You can pull your sock off in less than a second.
I am amazed at how smart you are. You interact with people like you know exactly what you're supposed to do. You will carry on a conversation with anyone who will listen.
I can't know for sure, but I think you understand how a mirror works. Zissou walked up behind you quietly while you were looking in the mirror, and you saw his reflection and turned around to find him behind you. Smarty.
You are super observant. You like to carefully watch all that's going on around you. Makes it difficult when I am feeding you, because you'd rather be looking around. :-)
You 'talk' the most to other children, dogs, and stuffed animals. If any of those are right at your face, you will chatter away at them.
You finally understand peekaboo. When I cover my face with my hands, you try and pull my hands off, and then smile super big when I reveal myself.
You've started blowing out and making noises while your lips vibrate (is there a word for that?)
When I pat your mouth, you hum so it makes a funny sound. I've been trying to get you to do that for awhile, and you actually just caught on.
You danced for the first time while playing with Grandma and a blow-up musical snowglobe.
Oh, and my favorite thing. You are reaching for people now. You will hold your arms out real wide and lean towards mommy the most, but you have reached for a few other people.