Katje's Corner: Alexis is five months old now.

If there is one word to describe Lexi's fifth month, it would be feet. Near the beginning of January, Lexi discovered she could catch her feet and she hasn't let go of them since. She's been pulling them out of her pajamas, playing with them, gnawing on them, and following her lead most of my pictures for the past month have taken on a foot-fetish angle. I had to take a break on Valentine's Day to ensure we got a proper photo for the occasion.

Having conquered rice, oatmeal and multigrain mush, Alexis has been eating her way through the fruit and vegetable food group. She's had carrots, acorn squash, sweet potato, sweet peas, pears, and bananas. We started with carrots and she took a while to get used to those, but after that she gobbled up all the other offerings. Her favorite part of the meals, besides nursing, is the multivitamin drops. She smiles, starts to squeal, and flaps her arms up and down when she sees us pick up that bottle.

Despite all the healthy food and vitamins, Lexi came down with her first cold three days ago. The poor girl is sneezing and coughing and miserable. Picking her up and cuddling with her no longer soothes her crying; she just cries somewhat weaker and hoarse, and she leaves her arms hanging limp from her sides. After feeding her yesterday, I just sat with her in the crook of my arm, and a few minutes later I realized she was snoring. She hasn't fallen asleep in my arms in at least two months. Poor thing. Thankfully she still has a really good appetite.

We've been going to Baby Sign Language classes on Tuesdays. Alexis doesn't get it right now, but she likes to look at all that's going on in the class. Last week one of the toddlers did something and all the mothers laughed, so Lexi laughed too. Of course, everyone thought that was funny and laughed again, so Lexi laughed again. She's a happy baby even though the class interferes with her naptime.

Lexi's been so interested in what's been going on around her that she stays awake for two extra hours without getting whiny. Taking advantage of her good spirits and interest in her surroundings, I've been using that time in the morning to get out of the house and do errands or go socializing. We were out and about all week last week without shedding a single tear. (Ergo the resulting cold.) We even joined some other mothers for a two-hour walk on the W & OD bike trail on Thursday when the temperature was in the 70's.