Jake and Brenna: Five Months

Natalie has been so fun this month! Her personality is starting to show now that she can do a bit more, and we just love her! No doctor's appointment this month, so no stats. I would say her weight is "heavy!" I'm worried she's getting too wide for her car seat - she's pretty wedged in there, but we're supposed to have about 10 more pounds before she grows out of it. Hmmph, we'll see. Enjoy the tidbits about Natalie and the photos from this month!

She finally rolled over, but we missed it! Jake was at school, and I was in the kitchen. I had laid Natalie on her back, and one time when I looked over she was on her tummy! And she did it again several days later, and we missed that one too. She hasn't done it again since, and she has never even tried to roll from her tummy to her back.
She has been sitting up by herself since just after she turned 4 months, but she is still a toppling hazard, especially when she laughs or sneezes. We have to be right next to her, but she can sit up by herself indefinitely without even using her hands.
I can tell that she knows what she wants most of the time now. However, she still can't tell us what she wants, so she's mostly just upset that she doesn't have it. Her moods ride on her whims.
She becomes very emotional when she is tired; she goes from crying to laughing and back again in the blink of an eye.
She has learned how to whimper. It will probably get old fast, but for now it is pretty funny.
She loves whispering in her ear, especially from Jake. She gets these cute smiles like she feels so special to be in on a secret.
She sucked her thumb...once. She is not really a thumb sucker, so the first time she did it, my first thought was that we had hit a milestone. Then I remembered reading that some babies start sucking their thumbs in the womb. Well, she's tried it, and it's just not her thing.
She has started remembering a few things. She knows our nap time routine. She started crying when I would sit down with her to read a story before her nap (we always sit in the same place). Usually she can't hold out more than ten seconds before she starts sucking on her pacifier and goes right to sleep before the story is even half over.
She also remembers what happens at the end of the Little Piggies. When I get to the last little piggy, she gets a big smile on her face and sometimes giggles before I even go "wee wee wee all the way home." Her anticipation is usually cuter than her reaction to the actual tickling.
She has started grabbing her toes with her hands and pulling her feet into her mouth. This makes diaper changes interesting.
She sleeps on her side most of the time. When she wakes up, she wiggles until she is sideways in the crib and kicks the slats.
She sputters a lot. I don't know how else to describe it, kind of coughing, but not really.
She yells at her toys while she's eating them. She can be so loud!
She is enjoying tummy time so much more! She can really get up on her arms now. She can also get up on her knees, but only if her face is buried in the floor.
She is really interested in our food. She takes special interest when Jake is eating a popsicle; she likes the bright colors. He has given her a lick, but she hates them. Too cold.
She hugs me sometimes when I get her after a nap. She wraps her little arms around me and squeezes. It's one of my favorite things.
She lights up when Jake comes home. As soon as she hears his key in the door, she starts looking for him, and she smiles so big when she finally sees him.
She likes to look at her "friend" in the mirror.
She hates getting her diaper changed on those plastic, drop-down changing tables in public restrooms. She doesn't really cry very often, she usually just yells, but she cries with tears every time I change her on one of those. It's heartbreaking.
She's wearing 9 month clothes.