Happy As We Grow: Mr. Man! 5 Months Old

My little big guy is 5 months old! Precious child.

This past month he learned to sit up. He still topples down often, but he can sit unaided anywhere from 10 to 45 seconds. It may not seem like much, but I am so happy and proud! With Autumn, I wanted time to go by sloooowly. I didn't want her to sit up or crawl or anything (sounds crazy, I know). However, with Caleb, I am looking forward to him being able to sit on a blanket and play with some toys outside on a blanket. It will just make life a bit easier I think. Every milestone he meets is so fun and exciting and the best part is that I'm not sad about it at all! Here are some shots I tried to get of him sitting by himself, but it was more of a 10 second kind of day so they aren't the best.

"Mom, this isn't working"

"Hmmm...I think I like sitting up"

He is still all about his fingers and (left) thumb. I go back and forth between what I think about thumbs and pacifiers. The thought of a pacifier seems nice because you can take it away, but with both of my kids I found that you pretty much have to train your child to take a pacifier. A thumb was found so naturally by both of my children and in the early years is such a lifesaver since it is attached. I guess time will tell if thumbs were the way to go! (As in, I really hope they quit the thumb on their own before Kindergarten!)

fingers

thumb

Decisions, decisions.

Before he got sick, he would smile all the time and seemed very chill. He would hang out in his bouncy seat or his high chair for 30 minutes at time. Recently, he has started laughing out loud when you tickle him! So much fun! Would you believe that Autumn did laugh out loud until she was one?!?!?! It's true...she used to suck her air in instead of out. It was pretty hilarious, but I remember how totally excited I was when she started laughing outward :)

I started giving him cereal once a day. It's a month early, but whatever. I waited 7 months with Autumn and 5 with him. It's not an exact science, right? He loves it so that's good.

"Yum, yum, yum"

Let's see, he chews on everything. He especially loves other people's fingers! He will toss his toy aside, grab my hand, and shove it in his mouth! I really don't like it, but I'll admit if it keeps him happy and content, I let him :) Sometimes it actually kind of hurts though. Those little gums are strong! Still no sign of teeth, which is one milestone I'm not looking forward to. Autumn still hasn't got all her teeth in & I was really hoping for a teething break, but it looks like I might not get one unless her last 4 teeth pop up tomorrow! I think she started "sprouting" teeth at 8 months so that gives him 3 more toothless months.

His favorite toys are, predictably, chew toys and rattles. Oh, and his sister. If he is fussy, I will tell Autumn to go talk to him and it almost always works. That is a good feeling! I can't wait until they can really start playing together.

Nursing is going pretty good. He is gaining weight really good. He totally gets distracted so I try to feed him away from Autumn when at all possible. He is totally not even close to sleeping through the night! Earlier in the month he was only waking up once in 12 hours, but then he got a double ear infection and last night he woke up 3 times!! Grrrr! Not sure what to do about that!

He weighs 17 pounds (75%) and is 25.5 inches long (75%)

Now, some fun random pics! I saved the BEST picture for last and I am totally obsessed with it!