Five Months

It’s been five months, now. Five months since I went into the hospital, not knowing what to expect, and left the hospital with this little tiny lump of baby that I was expected to provide for, 100%. Five months, and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing.

But so far, things seem to be off to a good start.

You are officially a stomach sleeper, despite my best efforts to keep you on your back. In fact, you seem to do everything on your stomach these days, with an automatic roll over every time I lay you down anywhere, so I guess that whole crawling thing is probably a lot closer than I’d like. You’re officially a thumb sucker, and while you’ll still take your pacifier every once in awhile, you kind of seem a little over that whole thing. So my surefire way of soothing an inconsolable baby is now a thing of the past, which kind of limits our public outings a little bit. On the other hand, it’s a lot easier for you to find your thumb than your pacifier in the middle of the night, so midnight wake-ups have been a lot less frequent. You have a definite bedtime, and heaven help us if we don’t stick to your dinner at 7pm, bath at 7:30pm, bottle at 8pm schedule, because much like your mother, you are not pleasant to be around when you are tired and hungry. You are surprisingly opinionated for someone who can’t talk yet…you definitely know what you like, and you will let us know when you are not happy. Your angry baby screams are not to be messed with, that’s for sure.

You’ve started to entertain yourself for short periods of time, especially when you’re hanging out in the exersaucer. You like the monkeys and the dragonfly the most, probably because those are the easiest parts to chew on. You’re still mesmerized by your feet, which is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, except when you put those feet in your mouth. Your dad finds that hilarious. Me? Not so much. We’ve officially started the solid food route, and you’ve enjoyed two different kinds of cereal, along with sweet potatoes and bananas. Your dad can’t stand bananas, so that’s all on me, but I think he’ll have to take his turn when it comes to the turkey and vegetable combo jar, or even worse, the baby food beef. I’m not sure I’ll be able to stomach that stage. We’ll work our way into vegetables next, and while you don’t know it yet, I’m sure you’re not really looking forward to that move. You have a strangely independent streak in you when it comes to eating, and you seem very determined to feed yourself. You grab onto the spoon when I’m trying to feed you, and it’s hard to walk the line between pulling the spoon back hard enough so you don’t shove it down your throat and not pulling it back so hard that you let go and it ends up on my shirt. I have a feeling this is just the first of many instances where I’m going to have to walk a fine line with you. You keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.

You are generally a happy baby, especially in the morning. You smile at just about anything mommy and daddy say, and you can fly into a fit of giggles over the simplest games. Your giggles are amazing, by the way. Your giggles make me laugh, which makes you giggle even more, which makes me laugh again. You love constant attention, and it causes some problems come nap time. The biggest problem? There is no nap time. You usually take a decent nap in the morning, but in the afternoon, there are just too many other things you’d rather be doing. We’re working on it, though, because cranky baby is something we like to avoid if we can.

You love taking baths. You still love to be naked, because it means easier access to your feet. Seriously, sometimes it’s the only way to calm you down. You love Jason Mraz, possibly because I listened to him a lot when I was pregnant with you. We have his episode of Sesame Street recorded for you, and when he sings with Elmo, you like to dance along. You love your Pooh Bear rattle/blanket, and your seahorse and your glowworm both still have a special place with you. You smile and grab at my face when I come in for kisses. You like to hold onto my hands when we’re playing. You hide your head in mock shyness when daddy talks to you. You watch me like a hawk when daddy is holding you, and you do the same to him when I’m holding you. You like to pet the dogs. I’m pretty sure you and Riley are destined to be best friends down the road.

You grow and you change and you surprise me every day. I don’t know what I was expecting when I went to the hospital five months ago, but I know you’re better than anything I could have hoped for. Happy five-month birthday!




Just chillin’