Peyton Eve: Five Months

Peyton turned 5 months old yesterday. FIVE months. Time, slow down! We see newborn babies when we're out and about that are so tiny and it's hard to believe that my little nugget was ever that smaller (or smaller in some cases.) She has been growing like a weed and learning new things every day. This is such a fun age.

This month, I put away most of P's three month wardrobe (sad day) and hung up all of her 6-month clothes. She could still fit into her 3-month onesies, but they were definitely pulling at the neck and not as comfortable anymore. We also finished up her size 1 diapers and decided to bump her up to size 2! They're pretty big on her, but we're hoping they keep the poop in a little better. This mama is TIRED of the blow outs every other day! Peyton slept in her size 2 diapers for the first time last night and when I went to get her in the morning, she had peed completely through them, her jammies, magic merlin suit, and sheets...all the way onto the mattress pad. I guess doing less laundry isn't in my cards just yet.

We don't go back to the pediatrician's office until her 6-month visit, so I had to weigh her on our scale this month. Which, as you can guess, isn't the most accurate option.

P at FIVE months

Weight: 13 lbs. 7 oz. 

Birth: 6 lbs. 10 oz.

Peyton Loves: 
Sitting up
Bath time
Bouncing in her activity jumper
Sucking on her hands and toes, especially her thumb
Playing in her playroom
Holding her own bottle
Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss

Peyton Hates:
Being left alone
Tummy time for extended periods (more than 5 minutes)
Waiting for her bottle to warm up
Spending lots of time in her car seat

What's new this month:

1. Peyton sits up all by herself! Okay, she can't actually sit herself up yet, but if placed in the seated position, she can keep herself in the seated position! If you've been reading these monthly post or spent any longer amount of time with P, you know by now that she does not enjoy being on her tummy much. Towards the end of last month, she decided she also doesn't really like being on her back. This leaves standing and sitting, neither of which are easy to do as a 5-month old! We've been practicing sitting up for a little while now and about a week ago, she all of a sudden got strong enough to really hold herself upright. She loves to be seated in front of toys and will play for 10-15 minutes at a time now independently before wanting some attention!

2. P has officially started showing an interest in food. She loves to watch people eat and will try to grab at the bowl or fork if she is sitting close by. I can't wait for the go-ahead from her pediatrician to start giving her something other than breastmilk! I'm thinking we may start with sweet potatoes. Any suggestions?! 

3. Homegirl likes to hold her own bottle and is getting better and better at grabbing it and putting the nipple in her mouth. We still hold her when she gets a bottle, but she likes to be hands on at all times.

4. Peyton's hand-eye coordination has improved so much this month! She rarely ever misses when she tries to grab for a toy or my eye balls. Yes, eye balls. Or lips. Or hair. Crazy girl! 

5. This month, Peyton got into the brand-reppin' business. She reps for three etsy shops, Moon and Back Wishes, Gingham and Grace, and Balakin & Co. We couldn't adore the sweet mamas behind each shop more and have enjoyed working with them so much! If you like shopping small, go check them out!  

bibdana and shoes from Moon and Back Wishes

Headband from Balakin and Co!

Peyton, you are my favorite little human. Watching your eyes light up when you see something you know or try to figure something new out is so exciting. I love your independence and attitude so much. You momma and daddy love you! 

FIVE month photo dump

Listening to GG play the piano! 

As of Late

Ya'll. This month has been crazy busy. I can't believe I'm starting to type up Peyton's FIVE month blog post. Before I jump into another "how Peyton has changed" post, I thought I would catch everyone up on the recent happenings in the Smith casa.

The week between Christmas and New Years, Ryan started a new job! While it has been beyond amazing to have him home with me and Peyton for the first few months of her life, he was really looking forward to getting back in the professional world and starting on a new career path. The only downside to this new job is less time spent as a family of three. I am learning the true meaning of "stay at home mom." Definitely not as easy as I thought it would be (although, I'm not sure why I ever thought it would be easy!) We are adjusting well though and Peyton has really been so amazing these past few weeks- minus a little teething fussiness here and there.

So what else is new?

Do ya'll remember my 101 in 1001 challenge? Really? Me either. My mom reminded me yesterday morning that I have some serious work to do on that little list. As a Christmas gift this year, my parents got my brother, Ryan, and I tickets to the Falcons/Saints game. My brother decided to bring my dad along as his date so my mom stayed back to hang out with P. We drove into the city together a few hours before the game and had lunch at a little restaurant inside the CNN center. Afterwards, we walked to the Dome, making it just in time for kick-off! (We would have been there earlier, but apparently you're not allowed to bring purses into the stadium unless they're clear so we had to walk all the way back to the car to drop my purse off!)

While the game was exciting, the Falcons had a pretty rocky season and ended it with another loss. Fun stuff. At least I can cross something else off my list!

Last weekend, Ryan, Peyton, and I made our way down to Georgia Tech to watch the yellow jackets battle it out in the pool and on the tennis courts. One of the perks of moving back to Georgia is that we get to finally attend some sporting events, which we haven't really done since graduating 5 years ago! Before getting to the pool, we stopped for coffee at Einstein's to meet up with my college coach, Marty! It was so great seeing him and introducing him to Peyton!

Once we got to the pool, we found seats and pulled Peyton out of her stroller, only to discover that she had (wait for it....) ANOTHER blow out in her car seat. We were stubborn and didn't want to change her into her non-GT outfit that I had packed, so we spent a solid 30 minutes in the family bathroom washing and drying her clothes under the hand dryer. By the time we finished, we got maybe 15 minutes of viewing time in before little miss decided she was hungry and wanted to be nursed. Just another example of being on baby's time and not your own anymore. Oh well.

We went to lunch at Tin Drum in Tech Square with Ryan's parents and then watched the tennis match for a few hours before leaving to get dinner with Lisa and Andy at 5 Seasons! It was a whirlwind of a day, but so fun to be back on our old stomping grounds!

Well..that's pretty much it for these past few weeks! I'll be back soon with a 5-month update on sweet P. Guys, she has changed so much in the past month, it's hard to believe!

The Holidays 2015

What a whirlwind this holiday season has been! I can't believe it's all behind us already and that by the next holiday season, P will be walking and talking (hopefully!)

Christmas 

Peyton's first Christmas was magical this year. It was so fun to share and create new family traditions as first-time parents.

Christmas Eve doubles as my dad's birthday as well. To make the day more special for him, my family has always gone out to some sort of show and dinner. With the baby being so young this year, we put that old tradition on hold and started something new. This year, my mom, dad, and brother drove up to our house for a fancy birthday dinner and game night! We ate honey baked ham, pineapple casserole, baked mac n cheese, brussel sprouts, and a vanilla bean cake! It was quite the feast!

After dinner, we put P down for the night and played dominos and cards for the rest of the night. It was a very different evening from Christmas Eve's in the past, but I really enjoyed the change of pace and getting to host my family at our house!

On Christmas morning, Ryan and I woke up bright and early (before the baby) to get some coffee started and enjoy a little time together just the two of us (while I pumped.) As we were sipping coffee, we opened our gifts to each other. I don't think we will always do this on our own while P is still asleep, but since we had such a jam-packed day, we wanted to use our time wisely and not feel rushed once the baby woke up to open our gifts. Peyton woke about an hour later, so we paused our gift exchange to get her out of bed, changed, and fed. Opening gifts this year with a 4-month old was fun and kind of non-existent at the same time. As I was wrapping her gifts this year, I got through two and realized this was silly because I would be the one unwrapping them as well. P loved all of her gifts though (wrapped or unwrapped) but played with the wrapping paper from our gifts more than anything else. Oh well!

Once we finished at our house, we got showered up and headed over to Mimi and Gramp's house for the Schoeff family Christmas. We started the event with some brunch. My mom made grits, a pigs in a blanket wreath, baked ham sandwiches, eggnog bread, mimosas, and fruit salad. Basically, we had enough food to feed a small army. Which was good, because we were starving by this time. After brunch, we opened gifts. Peyton got spoiled with her loot this year. That is one loved little girl!

Around mid-afternoon, Ryan, P, and I headed to our final destination for the day, the Smith household! We hung out for a bit and snacked on some apps before beginning the gift exchange again. We all wanted the girls to open their gifts before bedtime, so we started with just gifts for them! Again, P got loaded up with some great and useful gifts from Nana, Pop, Uncle Brandon, Aunt Rachel, and Leah!

The girls got bathed and jammied up (matching jammies from Nana and Pop this year!!) and we took a couple quick pics before putting them down for the night!

Susan made a big pan of lasagna for dinner which was enjoyed after the girls were put down around 8. We then opened our gifts to each other, finishing up around 10:30 at night! What a day! We rounded out Christmas day with some Cards Against Humanity, which we ended up playing until 2 in the morning. Unfortunately for me, P decided she wanted to hang out with me some more around 2:30 and we were up until 4. Boo. That made for one tired mama the next day!

New Years Eve/Day

To ring in the new year, Ryan, P, and I spent the night with Brandon, Rachel, and Leah! We got over to their house around 4 ready to kick off the New Years festivities with the biggest. diaper. blow out. ever. In her super cute New Years outfit too. It was my mistake really... I mean, how many time does P have to ruin an outfit while in her car seat before I stop putting her in them early!?

Once the mess was cleaned up, we were really ready to party. The cousins played for a couple hours before we put them down for the night. For the rest of the night, we decided to compete in an Olympics of sorts, playing Dominoes, Rummy 500, Cards against Humanity, and N64 Mario Tennis. Each place was assigned points and at the end of the night tallied everything up. Hinck was our big winner for the night! We ended up going to bed around 2, praying that Peyton would sleep through the night. Which she did.

It was the perfect way to round out the best year of my life so far! Happy 2016, ya'll!