Every month with Isaac is better and better. Today he turns 5 months old.
Shortly after my last post, Isaac had his 4 month check up. He is our long, skinny baby, measuring at 27" long and barely weighing 14lbs. His head size is in the 50th percentile, weight is 25th percentile, and height he's 96th percentile. He started this past month wearing 6 month size clothes, then 6-9, now he's in 9 month outfits at 5 months old wearing some 12 month outfits. I had to buy him a ton of socks this month due to his growing feet and the fact that he soaks a pair from sucking on his feet during play and nap times.
He's as cute as ever. Looking more and more like a little man than a baby. His dimples and eye lashes are amazing. Much to my delight his baby blues are still blue and aren't showing signs of changing, although my husband seems to think they are. He still has a cute little bald spot on the back of his head, long hair on the bottom which makes it look like a mullet.
This month he had many accomplishments. He's continuing to have the same bedtime and wake up times. If we ignore the chaos of Christmas travels, he fell into a 3.5-4 hour routine, up for 2 hrs or a little more and one morning nap for 1.5-2hrs and one afternoon nap for 1.5-2hrs with an evening catnap. Of course every day is a bit different, but we were shocked this past New Year's weekend when he had the same schedule for 3 days like clock work and it was amazing! We even had to wake him up from his naps so he didn't sleep longer than 2 hrs. Of course that didn't last, but his schedule is close. He remains a great night sleeper and poor daytime napper but he's getting sooooo much better!!
After we got back from our week and a half of travels, we started having him sleep in his crib at night too. This made it my third attempt, and I was committed to not giving in. He went to bed at his normal 8/9pmish bedtime in his crib and then two hours later woke up screaming, not crying, but ear-piercing screaming, I consoled him and eventually had to nurse him to sleep. After I put him back down he slept 6 hrs straight. From then on he's been a perfect sleeper in his crib. Sometimes too good, sleeping over 9 hrs at a time, which makes for a difficult day for naps. Also this month we started putting him down tired but awake - he dictated this more than us, but of course we welcomed it.
Rolling over has been huge for him this month. He's flipping from back to tummy like a champ. For some reason he likes to do it before he falls asleep in his crib and when he wakes up in the middle of the night (in fact, I now think it's because he's wanting to sleep on his tummy instead of his back). He has lots of nighttime antics. We removed the bumpers that came with his crib and didn't have anything up, but he started using the rails to turn himself over and was getting his little legs caught in between, so we went out and invested in some breathable bumpers. I just wish he could flip onto his back more easily and not be stuck there... In time I suppose.
He's getting better and better at reaching and grabbing and turning towards people and things. He loves watching people eat and drink and grabbing for what they have. For Christmas we and his Grammy bought him a bouncer; he hasn't been all that into until this past week since he's finally big enough to touch the ground and reach all the fun toys with his arms. He has a blast in it now although he still doesn't use his legs to bounce much just yet.
I thought I should also share more about his personality and likes and dislikes - I can't believe I haven't done this more before. He's a goofball. One of his favorite games that he invented is flipping his bib over his face, like his own version of peek-a-boo. He's a people person, or as I like to say, he's a ham. He loves attention and loves smiling at people and loves when they smile back at him. He also loves his puppy dog and smiles at Opie all the time. He's smiley, he's happy, and it's wonderufl. If he's had enough rest, he's a pretty mellow baby, up for whatever the day holds. If he's a little off on his sleeping, he's a bit more "needy" wanting to be held and walked around more. He's still sucking on his fingers and shoving whatever he can into his mouth whether it's his hands, feet, or whatever toy he has. He loves his Sophie (teething toy) now. As I've mentioned, he enjoys playing in his bouncer, playing with his toys on his play gym, rolling onto his tummy any chance he gets, playing with his big puppy. He got a cool cowboy/horse toy, that makes noises and moves when you press the cowboy hat, from his Grandma and Oma who found it for him. He absolutely loves when it moves towards him - giant smile on his face, arms outstretched for it. And of course if he gets it, he tries to eat it. ;) I'm not sure whether he's more of an observer or doer - he seems to be a mixture of both in my opinion. He also seems to be both extroverted and introverted, a good balance of both, not sure if that part of the personality emerges just yet, but if I had to guess he's more extroverted since he loves interacting with people so much and soaks up attention. Although he does give a coy shy smile every once in awhile where he'll then bury his head in whoever's shoulder is holding him. He still squeals when he laughs but we're getting more and more giggles and he talks more and more.
Of course being a stay-at-home mom is hard work and has its times of being frustrating and stressful, but I'm absolutely loving it now and feel very blessed to be in a position where I can stay home with Isaac. We have such a blast together. He's also become a good shopping partner and errand runner with me. He does well in his carseat in the car all by himself (someone used to need to sit next to him all the time). He just relaxes and takes in the sights around him occasionally playing with one of the attached toys he has. He does the same in his carseat when being pushed around in a cart in the stores, loves looking around at everything and watching what I'm doing. He's very quiet and again will play with his toys if he gets bored. He rarely fusses anymore unless he's about to fall asleep which will be momentary and then he's out.
Which reminds me! I can't forget to record that this month was his first big trip. For his first big trip, he traveled to IL from TN with us for a week and a half. We traveled over night, an 8 hr drive, so he'd sleep. He did great traveling, we on the other hand struggled a little more, but it went well. Being in so many new environments and having to nap so many different places was hard on the little guy, but he did great overall.
Oh and I almost forgot! We've been trying to offer Isaac a bottle of breastmilk or formula on occasion, not to wean him, but for flexibility, starting to find babysitters, etc. Well he went on a bottle strike last month which was really frustrating, but out of the blue he started taking a bottle again much to my delight since it gives me a bit more freedom. But I'm still breastfeeding 99% of the time, and it will continue to be that way for some time. We haven't introduced solids yet to him because he's already showing food sensitivities to my milk, but we should get to start next month which is going to be fun.
That's about it for now! Thanks to everyone who's been praying for him and for us! The prayers have worked / are working!
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