5 Months: What's New?

Avery is now five months old. Here's a rundown on what's new in Avery's world.

• She weighs in at 15 pounds (according to our bathroom scale). This puts her on the small side on the baby weight continuum, but nonetheless I'm getting one disproportionately large bicep from lugging her around in her carseat.
  
  
• She's been rolling over from front to back for a few months now, though she hasn't mastered getting from back to front. She gets up on her side, but then seems to get confused as to why the room has gone sideways. Or she spots something shiny that she wants to talk to.
  
  
• Speaking of talking, Avery now gives us nearly constant commentary on what she's doing. This was cute at first. But now she has developed this new sound. It's less like a baby coo and more like a squawk. Like something that might come from a dying animal. We captured this sound on video during a recent game of "flying baby." *Warning: This fits into the category of most annoying sound in the world.*




• In a less obnoxious development, Avery suddenly loves to touch her head. When she is concentrating on something, she puts her hand up there as if she can feel her brain working and doesn't want it to pop out of her head. Here she is concentrating on Dr. Seuss. Fox in Socks, I think.
  
  


• She can almost sit up unsupported. She usually makes it a few seconds on her own before face-planting. She prefers to sit in her chair where she can avoid tipping over. And also because she has discovered that if she chucks whatever toy she's holding over the side of the chair, Mama will pick it up. Over. And over. And over. This is a fun new game!
  
  
• Another fun new game she likes to play is one I call "Thanks, but I'd rather stand." This occurs when I'm trying to sit her down on something, like the couch. She refuses to bend her legs to sit and keeps herself standing up instead. Incidentally, this game can also be played when horizontal -- like when she's getting her diaper changed. Here she is demonstrating how much fun this game is.

That's the 5-month report. To see more photos from this month, head to our Flickr page. You need to be signed up as a friend to see them -- let me know if you need me to resend the invitation to do this.