Transition Time I read somewhere that parents fall in love all over again with their baby at about five months. The baby goes through a transition, and the parent-child relationship undergoes a major change. That got me thinking. How exactly has Miss Ella changed over the past five months? The list of changes made me a little sad. My sweet little baby is growing faster than I thought possible. But then again, the changes have been wonderful. I used to have a baby who stayed put in the middle of the bed. Now she wriggles all over the place. Blocking her in with pillows doesn't do the trick any more. But then again, she is discovering her ever-expanding world with delight. It is a hoot to watch her roll over and react with surprise at the sudden change in view. I don't know how she does it, but she can turn herself around in her crib to reach a toy without ever rolling over. I used to have a baby who would sleep on my chest no matter what. Now Ella will only sleep there if she is really, really tired. And when she does, she will occasionally lift her head and look at me with one squinty eye as if to say, "mommy will you please put me in my bed." And while she doesn't sleep on my chest as often, she does sleep in her own crib. And she sleeps through the night more and more frequently. I used to have a baby who rarely made a peep - crying or otherwise. Now whenever Ella is awake she is making noise. She shrieks and yells and has no concept of an "inside voice." Each week it seems that she discovers a new noise that she can make. Last week it was clicking, this week it is raspberries and ba-ba-ba-ba. I love mimicking the noises she makes and seeing her react. We are having our own conversation, only I have no idea what we are talking about. Whatever it is, she thinks it is pretty darn funny. There are other little things I miss, like the way she would chuckle in her sleep and that I didn't need to hold her down to change her diaper or get her dressed. But the daily changes are just as wonderful - she has discovered that she can splash in the bath, she can hold things and put them in her mouth, she recognizes her father and me as the two most important people in her little world. Each day is a challenge, each day is a change, and each day is a joy.