Five Months

Our baby is five months old! It's amazing to see how much he progresses each month, and this last month was no exception. Connor is at such a fun stage right now. We've gotten to see the playful, silly side of his personality, and we love it.

He's started scrunching his nose up when he smiles. So adorable!

He's really started playing with us over the last month. This is something that Brian has really been waiting for. Connor laughs when we tickle him, and is particularly ticklish on his stomach, neck, sides, and back. We love his little laugh, which ranges from a screech to a full on giggle. He still loves his little Pooh Bear, and Brian uses it to tickle his stomach and sides. A couple weeks ago Brian was tickling him with it in Sacrament Meeting, when Connor let out a very loud screech. It was hilarious, but also not very reverent. I tried to give Brian a stern look, but failed miserably, as I couldn't help but smile myself. I may have to take the toys away from him in the future...Brian that is, not Connor. Haha! Connor also will surprise me about once a day by laughing at random things. I'll just be talking out loud or saying something to him while I'm changing his diaper and he'll just burst out with a giggle. It's so funny. Then later when I'm trying to get him to laugh, he won't let out a peep. One time I said "ta-da" in a kind of monotone voice after changing his diaper, and he laughed so much at it, and on another day I asked a question and answered it with a "yes," and he thought it was hysterical. Occasionally when I'm playing, snuggling, or cuddling with him, he'll grab my neck in a sort of hug and press his open mouth to my cheek and slobber all over me. It's just the best.

Connor loves to touch his Dad's hair, and Brian so patiently lets him. For the most part, he is really gentle and just softly rubs the top of Brian's head. Every now and then he'll give it a good tug though. I'm not as nice as dad, and don't hold him up so he can reach my hair. Once he gets a handful of mine, it's so ridiculously complicated to untangle it from his fingers. He always seems to find my hair when I'm holding him though. Even if I'm wearing it up and there's only a single strand or two loose, he manages to find them, gets a good grip, and pulls. I guess it's time to get my hair cut again, either that or constantly keep it pulled up into a ponytail or bun.

One of the most endearing things Connor does, is to reach for and touch our faces. When we're holding him or playing with him, he'll reach up with his little open palm and just touch or rub our cheeks or chin. Connor gets fascinated by the feel of Brian's whiskers. He has such a soft and gentle touch, and we love it when he reaches for us. Sometimes he'll rub our faces with his hand, and other times he'll just leave his hand resting there. Occasionally he'll grab a handful of skin and squeeze, which hurts a surprising amount because of his sharp little nails. Whenever I'm holding and rocking him and he starts to fall asleep, he'll just reach his arm up and rest his palm on my cheek. This is my absolute favorite thing, and it just melts my heart. Oh how we love this little boy!

Last month, he really started to reach for and play with things. He has only continued to be full of curiosity and loves to explore his little world. He's gotten very deliberate about the things he reaches for, and targets specific parts or components of a toy that catch his attention. For example, his elephant rattle has some plastic rings on one side, and one afternoon he laid on the floor playing with just the rings for quite awhile--sliding them back and forth and trying to chew on them--instead of picking up the whole toy and holding it like he usually does. He does the same thing with the objects on his jumper toy. It's so fun to watch him target and play with a specific toy, trying to figure out how it works. He gets such a look of concentration on his face. 

He stands up so well in his jumper now. I'll look over and he'll just be standing straight up, and he stays that way for quite awhile. He's grown enough that we don't need the books underneath his feet to prop him up anymore...well almost, it's still just a tiny bit of a stretch for his entire foot to touch the floor. Connor has also discovered the strap at the back of the jumper that holds the seat up and likes to twist around and try to grab it. We love how curious he is.

Also last month, he discovered his toes. At first he was content to just touch and grab them, but soon he decided that he needed to taste them. At first, he would grunt and groan while he tried to pull them to his mouth, but he's gotten so good at it now that it's no problem to pull them right up and into his mouth. 

Connor now sleeps in his crib at night. The first night (April 11th, 4 1/2 months old) we left him in there, I felt like crying. I checked on him so many times that night. Of course, he was fine and slept so well. That morning, after sleeping seven hours straight, I found him happy as can be looking up at me when I went to get him. The next few nights were not as smooth, and he woke up a few times, but he's gotten used to it now and loves to stretch out. 

Speaking of sleeping, he still wakes up about once per night, around 3 to 4 am. It's not so bad, but at times I long for the days when he would go to bed around 10 pm and sleep until 7 am. He takes one really good nap mid-morning and another in the late afternoon, and he'll go down for a couple catnaps in between. In general, Connor goes to sleep really well, but occasionally (usually in the evenings) he will cry a lot before finally succumbing and drifting off. This is not my favorite part of the day, but walking around and gently bouncing him usually helps calm him and speed up the process. He is just so precious when he's sleeping. 

Connor likes to sleep on his side or stomach. A lot of times I'll go check on him in his crib, and he's sleeping on his stomach with his hands under his chest and his knees pulled up under him. It doesn't look comfortable, but it's one of his preferred sleeping positions. Our active little boy doesn't even slow down in his sleep. We put him down on his back, and sometimes he'll stay like that for a little while, stretched out flat with his hands behind his head and one leg crossed over the other. The boy knows how to lounge! Most often though, he'll immediately roll onto his side or stomach. He rolls and wiggles off and on throughout the night. We hear him do this on our baby monitor, but I didn't realize just how much he moves during the night until last week. I was staying with my parents and Connor slept in a pack and play next to me. I woke up whenever he stirred, and he stirred a lot. It was a bit exhausting for me. I'm glad he sleeps in his crib now!

Connor still loves to feel different textures. He continues to rub, scratch, and touch everything new thing he comes in contact with. He was scratching the sheet in his crib the other night while he was half asleep. My friend Amanda gave us a taggy blanket made of minky fabric with ribbons at my baby shower. I just remembered it this last month and pulled it out. It's the perfect thing for him right now, and he loves to touch and play with it.

Connor continues to make the cutest facial expressions. While we were visiting my parents, he was playing in one of those activity center toys, and he was just so cute that I couldn't help but take some pictures. The range of expressions on his face crack me up. I couldn't decide which ones where my favorite, so I added them all.

     

     

We celebrated Easter this last month, and Connor got a new outfit for the occasion. He looked so handsome in his striped onesie. I took a few pictures of him before church. It was such a busy day that we didn't get a family picture. Oh well, we'll try again next year. We didn't get him a basket because he doesn't really need anything, and he's too little to really enjoy it yet. We attended church where Brian spoke in Sacrament Meeting, and then had homemade eggs benedict for lunch. We ate dinner with our friends the Gee's. It was a wonderful day, and we enjoyed taking time to reflect on our Savior and celebrate as a family and with friends. 

We bought a stroller at the beginning of April. Since we only have one car right now, it has been a game-changer. Now that the weather is warming up and I have a stroller, I have more freedom to get out of the house. It's been so nice. I've loved being able to go on walks, and I think Connor likes being outside too. I can tell he really enjoys the ride, because he likes to look around at everything and eventually will fall fast asleep. It's great for both of us. I'm also able to run a few errands during the day, like pick up some groceries or go to the bank, as both places are within walking distance of our apartment.

One and a half months ago Connor started rolling over, and now he's pretty much crawling. It's been exciting to watch him get closer and closer to figuring out how to crawl. He's developed some pretty creative ways of getting around. He started by just scooting forward while flat on his stomach in an army-crawl type move. Then he would plant his head in the carpet, push with his feet until he was in a downward dog sort of position, and roll to the side while continuing to push forward. A week later he was getting up on his elbows and knees and rocking back and forth. He would then make a quick forward scoot/hop with his knees. He looked like a little bunny. Last night, he started to walk forward with his knees while pulling with his elbows. He's not been up on his hands while on his knees yet, and he doesn't have the rhythm of walking with his knees and hands yet, but he's got some good forward motion going. 

Occasionally, Connor will wear himself out with all of his rolling, scooting, and moving. He'll stop for a minute and lay his head down on his hands. Sometimes, he'll just lay there on his stomach with his hands crossed or clasped on the floor in front of him. Last week, he started propping his head on one of his hands. It's the cutest thing ever.

I put him in his first pair of shoes a couple weeks ago for church. They were a gift from my visiting teaching companion, Kira. He looks so cute in them. 

Also this month, we've started him on rice cereal. He seemed fairly excited about the whole thing...at least in the beginning. We don't have a highchair yet, so Brian held him in a sitting position on our table. I gave him a spoon to hold while I was mixing the cereal. He was quite happy with the spoon and wasn't shy about sticking it in his mouth or waving it around. I gave him the first spoonful and he immediately spit it all out. The second try was a little better and he gummed it a bit, but again most of it ended up on his face and bib. He wasn't sure what was going on. We've been feeding him a little everyday since and he's gotten much better at eating it. He seems to like it and will open his mouth when he sees the spoon coming. We plan to introduce fruits and veggies shortly. We're super excited to see how he reacts to those.

     

We took him in mid-month for a weight check. He weighed 14 pounds 9 ounces. He had gained a pound in two weeks! It was so much better than the previous two months, where he'd only gained 1/2 pound a month. Adding formula back into his diet was the right move. We are going to keep supplementing with formula for now, but I'm about done with pumping and feeding. Especially, since my milk doesn't support adequate growth. I'm going to hang on until he's six months, but then switch him to straight formula. I've given it a good go, but if it's not benefiting him, then it's really not worth all the work.

Also every week or two, he goes through these phases where he won't eat very much. It's so weird. He'll start fussing and crying like he's hungry, and I'll try to feed him and he'll only eat one or two ounces and then refuse to eat more. The most I'm able to get him to eat at a time is three ounces, and then he'll go four to six hours before he'll even look at a bottle again. Although, he'll eat five ounces when he wakes up in the middle of the night, but I attribute this to him being half asleep. It usually only lasts for two or three days, but he did this for the whole week last week. I know part of it might be because we recently switched up the formula/breast milk situation. The change has been affecting his pooping frequency. He went a whole week without pooping, then five days, and now he goes every three or four, where before the switch he was going every one to two days.. Changing those poopy diapers when they did happen was an adventure for sure. So much poop! So I know his system is adjusting, but that still doesn't stop me from worrying when he refuses to eat. Especially since we're trying to get his weight gain back to a normal rate. And he'd do this before we switched things around. I wonder if he just isn't hungry because he hasn't pooped for awhile, but sometimes it seems that he gets too distracted while eating. There is no recognizable pattern to this problem, and that really bothers me because I can't figure out what's wrong. I'm not sure what to do with him when he gets in these moods. It gets very frustrating at times,  and I feel like I'm a bad mom because I can't figure out what my baby needs or wants and I can't even time feedings right. I try to remember that I'm doing my best and that's all I can do, but I can't help but second guess everything. I'm so relieved each time he starts eating normally again.

Connor's next doctor visit isn't until his six month mark. I still wanted to record his growth, so I weighed and measured him at home. I'm sure it isn't as accurate as the pediatrician's measurements would be, especially his weight because our scale isn't the best. I actually weighed him three different times yesterday, and the results varied widely. I just picked the middle number and we're going to go with that. According to my measurements, here are Connor's five month stats:

• Weight: 15 lbs; 18th percentile
• Height: 26 1/4 inches; 62nd percentile
• Head Circumference: 16.7 inches/42.5 cm; 44th percentile

He still wears 3-6 month clothes, although some of his footie jammies are starting to get a little snug lengthwise. He still fits fine into size 2 diapers. His eyes are still very dark, and mostly blue. They're almost a grayish-blue, although they're starting to get a little more brown in them. His hair is still white-blonde and it's getting longer on top. I love his bangs. He has hair on his left side, but is mostly bald on the right side and the back because he's rubbed it off by rolling around and lying down.

We love our happy little bug so much. He is so joyful and brightens every day with his smiles, laughs, constant jabbering, screeches, and growls. He's just the best thing to ever happen to us!