5 month update - She won't keep still!

This little girl is on the move! In the last few weeks, she has mastered rolling every which way, turning, then rolling across the room! I can leave the room for less than one minute and when I come back, she's under the coffee table several feet away from where I left her. It's so funny when I come back in the room, I yell, "Where's Grace?!" And she gives me the most mischievous grin!

It's only going to be a matter of time before she's crawling. Any baby proofing tips??

So since my maternity leave ended, I've had many patients ask me how Grace is doing, how she's sleeping (since work starts at 5am and my patients seem to be genuinely worried about me haha), and how I've been able to juggle going back to work full time and being a mommy full time. It's literally 8 hours of being at my job, followed sometimes by a 30 min-2hr nap (if Grace naps this long), followed by another 8 hours of mom duties.

Let me start by saying, it would not be possible without my own mother! She loves Grace so much and enjoys being with her when I'm at work on the days Mathias can't be with her until I get home. She takes care of Grace, gets the diaper laundry done, washes the endless bottles with their tiny ass pieces, helps me get her to monthly check-ups, often cooks dinner, cleans/vacuums, and has recently added weed puller to her growing repertoire. I couldn't get this much done in a day when I was on maternity leave...she puts us all to shame!

My crazy schedule would also not be possible without giving credit to our Moms On Call book. I've mentioned it in previous posts, but this created a daily schedule for us once Grace was about 10 weeks old. It's predictable and allows our household to run like a well-oiled machine. She took to it very quickly and easily, likes having a routine, and has been going to sleep between 8:30-9 every night since then. We don't follow it to a T and have kind of catered it to what works best for us, and to abate inquiring minds...NO, I never used the cry-it-out method.

At 3 months, she started sleeping in her crib in her own room, stopped waking for that middle of the night feeding, and would sleep about 8 hours a night. I have to wake up each morning at 3:30 to get ready for work and I still rarely get to bed before 10:30, so thank you thank you Grace, for allowing me to get my minimal 5hr but much needed sleep!!

And 4 month sleep regression be damned...not in the Hickman house! If anything, she extended her sleep closer to 10 hours. Praise!! The book said it was possible and I have so been looking forward to this. I can only hope Grace's siblings are this easy.

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ICYMI, we also became Hickman party of 3!

Related posts: Birth story / Month 1 / Month 2 / Month 3 / Month 4