Miriam Ruth - 5 months old!

Our sweet girl turned 5 months old yesterday.  It is hard to believe she was only born 5 months ago - it seems like we've had her forever, and have gone so many places and done so many things since she's arrived!

Miriam continues to be the light of our lives.  She truly is a genuinely happy baby, and is such a joy to be around.  She smiles, talks and giggles happily almost non-stop throughout the day.  She definitely recognizes Mario and me and always gives us huge smiles and squeals of delight. 

Miriam is pretty much rolling over from back to belly.  She gets all the way over, but can't quite get her arm out from under her.  She loves her new jumperoo, and we call it her "command central" because she looks like she's controlling a spaceship or something while she is in it!  She loves to sit up and be a part of whatever activity is going on, even if it means watching us eat dinner at the table.  Speaking of dinner, she's tried "solid" foods 3 times now...rice cereal twice and (homemade) sweet potatoes once.  She didn't much like the rice cereal, and although she liked the sweet potatoes a bit better, she still didn't love them all that much.  She probably has a sweet tooth like her mama, and is waiting until we get to the good, sweet stuff (bananas, apples, etc.). 

She's working at sitting up on her own, and can balance pretty well on our laps or on her own if her hands are out to steady her.  She sleeps through the night now, although her bedtime is a bit later than we'd like.  (She goes to bed between 8:30-10:00 right now.)  We try to put her to sleep earlier, but she always seems to get a "second wind" right when Daddy gets home, and doesn't go to sleep until we get ready to head to bed.  She does nap really well during the day though, so overall she gets enough sleep.  (Plus, a nice advantage to her going to bed later is that we get a lot of family time together when Mario gets home from work!)  She loves to be outside, and is content to sit outside on the front steps, go for walks or head down to the waterfront, as long as we position her in a way so that she can see everything that is happening! :)

Here are Miriam's 5 month pictures, along with some more pictures of her trying "solids" and pictures of other activities we do during the day...