Bridget's five-month milestones

According to Bridget's doctor, she was ready for rice cereal at four months, although Jackie's doctor had advised holding off until six months. Since Renn and I found the latter advice more in line with our philosophy, so far we've waited. We'll let her stay a milkitarian baby a little longer.




At the moment I don't want to hurry her to grow up too fast. It's amazing to look at your child and marvel at how big she's gotten, only to realize you must have gotten older too. 

For some reason, I remember the little milestones like smiling, cooing, laughing, fitting into the next size clothes (every three months!), getting ready for solid foods, and getting HUGE, happening more slowly with Jackie, perhaps because she was my first or perhaps because she was born in the summer when life was calmer. When school started in the fall after Jackie's birth, Renn and I traded off babycare shifts amidst the stress and chaos and so shared in all her first moments.

In contrast, Bridget was born in the school year, just after I'd finished my thesis, leaving me a fulltime mother. (Wouldn't that mean I have lots of time for savoring special moments?) The day after she was born, Renn went to class, Jackie went to the Anderson's and Neves' who babysat her, and I stayed in the hospital with the new baby. That night we went home as a family. The rest of that semester was a fight to prove to ourselves that our choice to have a second child during Renn's graduate school hadn't been a big mistake. Fortunately, we had some friends from our church with whom we traded babysitting and advice and who made everything easier, as did some family members and a friend who came to visit. I took over much of the parenting and Renn successfully earned two As and an AB that semester, while working on research, assistant teaching for two classes and attempting to write his thesis. Now he's completing an extra semester finishing his thesis. It wasn't perfect, but we've survived so far and maybe had a richer experience for the sacrifice.

Still, when Bridget hit 14 pounds, I was shocked and wondered where my little baby had gone. Now she's just more than 15 pounds. Older people tell me that's how motherhood goes in general: It's over before you know it and so you should enjoy it while you can. That's one reason I'm grateful Lara's class on blogging motivated me to start writing down memories before they're gone.

Then on Thursday Bridget surprised all of us by rolling over four times. The first time I wasn't sure if I'd just forgotten I'd left her on her stomach. By Friday it was well established she could roll and then with her daddy watching, complaining about being on her stomach (her own fault), she decided to roll back from her stomach to her back. Sunday evening I caught her rolling from her back to her stomach on video:

I think her fiesty little personality is motivating her to learn new things, along with the fact that she's hurrying to catch up with her big sister!