Hibou: 5 Months

Yesterday marked Hibou Marron's 5 month birthday.

Voila, a picture with her dollie.

And, of course, some comparison posts:  Hibou at 4 months.   And Papillon at 5 months. 

Up until now I thought my two girls looked pretty similar other than one being blonde and one being brunette.  But, comparing their 5 month photos, I have to say, they really are their own little persons.  Sisters, definitely, but not identical.  Papillon's eyes are bigger, Hibou's face is rounder. And of course there is the difference in coloring.

I am notoriously bad at settling on nick names. Generally when I call one of the girls by a nick name, its made up on the spot, perhaps never used before and never to be used again.  But, there are a few names for Hibou that I didn't use so much for Papillon.  Most prominently, "Midget" and "Blondie"

Temperament-wise, though, we have a 2nd calm, sweet child on our hands.  She only cries when she's tired or gassy, which are both problems I can fix pretty easily these days.  She laughs, smiles, and is all around fun to be with; but also perfectly content to sit by herself and chew on something (usually her dress).

Hibou at 5 months....

....goes to bed around 7:30 or 8pm. Gets up 2 or 3 times at night (which is perhaps 1 or 2 more times than I would like. but, what can you do) for a quick snack (I am rarely up for more than 10 or 15 minutes, so I can't complain). And likes to start the day around 7 or 7:30. (usually...today it was 5:50am, but, that is an anomaly)

....generally takes 1 really solid nap at some point during the day.  It'll be in the afternoon if we've been out all morning, or in the mid-morning if its a day we are home all day. That nap can be anywhere from 1.5 - 3 hours long.  The rest of her sleep gets pieced together in bits and pieces - in the sling, in the carseat, random dozes in the bouncy - that kind of thing. On days when we are home all day, I think I should teach her to be a more consistent twice-a-day-crib-napper.  But our schedule is such that those days are few and far between and I love the flexibility of her napping habits.

....loves to put anything and everything into her mouth.  Her dress is always soggy, her fingernails always soft from being wet, and Papillon (who we are trying to get to stop sucking her thumb) likes to imitate her little sister by munching on all 4 fingers at once.

.....nurses whenever she wants. Sometimes feedings are an hour apart, some times they are 4. My nursing habits are so much different this time than last and I love it. I haven't once looked at the clock and wondered why she is hungry again so soon (with the exception of middle of the night feedings...when those are 2 hours apart, sometimes I do wonder...)  I just go with it and don't fret about it and its wonderful. I love breastfeeding this time around!

...still no solid foods. I am not a huge fan of the mushed-baby-food stage, so I think we will be putting off trying those until she is at least 6 months. She doesn't seem to be hankering for them at this point, so why rush into it.

....rolls over from tummy to back and is almost there from back to tummy.

...sits in the bumbo all the time. And I confess that that has made me lazy about encouraging her to sit elsewhere.  It seems Papillon was sitting comfortably in the boppy by this point....Hibou will have to start working on that.

...'s favorite person in the world is Papillon. No one can make her laugh like Papillon. And Hibou doesn't even mind being love-tackled.

....gets taken care of a lot by her big sister. Below, Papillon is "checking something" by unbuttoning her dress and intently studying her back.   Papillon will often proclaim "she spilled!" when Hibou spits up, and promptly runs to find something to wipe it up (one day it was a whole handful of napkins from the dining room, another day it was her baby doll's bib). Another sweet Papillon-Hibou story coming in a separate post (cause its cute enough that it deserves its own post!)

Here is Hibou laughing hysterically as Papillon lines up all the stuffed animals next to her for her photo shoot.

Silly Face

Happy Face!

...'s head is still flat.  Until just a couple days ago she would only ever lay on her right side.  Or if she was sitting up, she always looked to the right.  Even if you physically turned her head, she would fight you and put it back on the right.  So, the bad news is that we may take her to be evaluated by the "helmet people" to see if she needs help getting her head rounded out again.  The good news is, in the past couple of days she has shown marked progress in turning to the left - so there is hope!

....she also prefers to be "inside out" or completely arched backwards. Somehow it is comfortable for her.

.....loves loves loves the water.  She loves baths, loves my parents swimming pool. She doesn't mind getting her face wet. And she loves to splash with her feet. She is my little water bug.

Happy 5 months, Hibou!