Out of the Woodworks...: 5 months!

5 months old yesterday. Geez, it goes by so fast! A cafeteria lady commented on Carter's newborn photo on my badge at work and I said "I need to change that out, he's so much bigger now". We got to talking about babies at 5 months old and I was saying how fun he is and she was like "5 months? You think that's fun, just wait until they're a year! They just keep getting more fun!". I feel like I've heard that a lot recently. I love everyday with him and he's just getting more and more interactive. In some ways I hate that he's not the little newborn snugglebug and those days are over, but I'm LOVING his smiles and laughs and "raptor voice" (as Caleb calls his high pitched screeching talk) that surround us these days. There's no 5 month check up, so not sure of his height/weight. He's still in size 2 diapers and primarily 6 month or 6-9 month clothes. Here we go...

EAT:

He still loves to eat and being back at work with kiddos with feeding diffficulties, I am very thankful Carter loves to eat. He's eating 5 ounces every 3ish hours via level 2 nipple. We still nurse most of the day when I'm at home.I do pump in the mornings, so he gets a 5 ounce bottle in the morning and a 7 ounce bottle for bedtime. We will probably experiment with increasing his bottle amount to 5 1/2 or 6 ounces here pretty soon and see how he does. He is spitting up less these days, no complaints on that front! We are holding off on starting baby food to closer to 6 months, per our pediatrican's recommendations. I do want to start working his spoon feeding skills (can you tell what I do for a living?!), so I think I'm going to start putting him in his highchair and giving him milk via spoon just for fun :).

PLAY:

Oh, and play he does. He loves his hands and his feet and will play with them all.day.long. If you put him on his back on the floor he will immediately grab for his feet and try to put them in his mouth. Wherever he is, he is always trying to get his fingers or his whole hand in his mouth. I don't feel any teeth, so I'm not sure if it's just oral exploration or getting ready to teethe, but the boy is putting *everything* in his mouth and drooling like crazy. In the past week or so he has been rolling tummy to back more often. I'm not saying every time he gets on his tummy, but maybe 70% of the time he'll now roll over to his back? I've been "therapizing" him by making him bear weight on his arms on his tummy (can you tell I work wtih pediatric PTs and am constantly seeking their advice?) which has really helped. Now to "prop sitting"--the problem with this is he should be using his arms to help him balance (prop his arms on his legs or tripod in between his legs on the floor) but he always wants a hand in his mouth, so it's face plant! Haha, he'll get it :). He's still our little social butterfly. We put the highchair at the kitchen table, so he now sits and joins in on the breakfast and dinner conversation. I think pretty soon we'll be putting the big swing in the attic, as he's getting too big for the swing. We got the walker out this week--he still hasn't quite figured it out, but it's nice to have a place to stand and play while Mama works in the kitchen! His favorite toys right now are....anything he can put in his mouth--hands/feet, clothes, dad's paper plate when he's eating, and of course the little crinkle toys and rings that easily fit in the mouth. He is starting to look more at books, so we're pulling out the "touch and feel" books--he'll attend for ~3-4 minutes before he's off to something else. On the talking front, he's my little jabber baby. He started this high pitched screech that is a happy sound (raptor voice) and it cracks me up. He's starting some reduplicated babbling--so far I've heard consonants /g/, /m/, /p/, and /n/ although Caleb constantly is working on /dada/. He's blowing raspberries and when you blow them back his face lights up. He loves to look in the mirror, so we've got in the habit of looking in the mirror in the game room after naps and he goes from sleepy baby to bright eyed with a big 'ol grin--I think he knows he's about to eat :).He still LOVES to sing (actually, for us to sing to him)and his favorite song continues to be "He's got the whole world in his hands", although "Texas Fight" is a close 2nd :). He still loves to be outside and is enjoying longer runs more these days which is nice for both Mom and Carter. It's been so pretty lately we've done lots of blankets on the front yard, walks, and even went to the Arboretum last week just to sit on the blanket and people watch. Carter is easily amused just sitting and watching people walk by. He particularly loves to watch other kids and had a blast watching his cousins play the past 2 weekends. He also started going to gym daycare and although he just sits in his carrier while Mommy works out, I think he really enjoys just watching the other kids play. Atleast he doesn't look like he's been crying when I go to pick him up :). I will be interested to see what he thinks of his first time in the pool AND the beach/sand this weekend for uncle Stephen's wedding! I feel like I'm saying everything he loves here....I will end this section with what he doesn't like: naps (I think this is a love/hate relationship--he hates to sleep, but oh how he needs it!), tummy time (although he's much more tolerant), being left alone, taking food away when he doesn't think he's done eating, riding in the car for longer than an hour and nobody to entertain him, rocking/cuddling/snuggling when he's sleepy (he really just likes to be put down and left alone which is counterintuitive for some of the grandparents!).

SLEEP:

Okay, I know I've blogged about this in the past but this month was "lalalalala'"---that is angels singing if you couldn't hear it :). Yes, after the 4 month appt he is now sleeping, unswaddled, for 11-12 hours every.single.night. Praise the Lord! He's a happier baby and let me tell you--Mommy is such a happy lady!! So, we've got the nighttime sleeping down which is golden, but we are still working on naps as he's my little fighter during the day. Seriously, I can put him down at night between 7 and 8 and he will gladly go right into his crib, turn on his side, suck those fingers, and be asleep before I get down the stairs. During the day he continues to fight it. I'm not sure if it's that we still don't have a structured schedule and the boy just needs structure or what, but he's fine when I put him in the crib--the second he sees me walking out it starts. Sometimes it's just a little fuss but other times (ie: this past Sunday) it is screaming at the top of his lungs to the point that he can't calm down madness. I've tried doing a structured nap schedule (ie: 9 am, 12 pm, 5 pm) but he's just different every day as far as how long he sleeps and what he's needing. Sometimes he'll nap over 3 hours and sometimes he'll nap 30-40 minutes and be done. So, I'm up for any advice here. I think he will be off at the beach, but when we get back it's time to figure out naptime.

Things I'm loving at this age:
-his big 'ol smiles--whether it's first thing in the morning when we come get him out of the crib or the random lady talking to him in the grocery store line, he just gives the biggest smiles and I love it!
-waking up in the morning with the sweetest little talk in the crib
-how he just follows his Daddy around with his eyes. he LOVES Caleb and when the door shuts in the afternoon and he hears Caleb's voice he just lights up! Daddy's home!
-his wobbliness. although we are working on sitting, he cracks me up how he just falls over
-how he can be so mad but as soon as he gets undressed to get jammies on or in the bath all is right in his little world
-his "raptor voice"
-his wide open mouth mouth kisses
-the sweet way he turns on his side and sucks his fingers to fall asleep. our little angel baby.

Here are some pics from the past week as well as the traditional 5 month couch photo shot: