Happy 5 months, Walker!

We missed month 4 because I was on a blogging break, but we will pick up here. 

 

Walker man,

You are already 5 months old.  I think the time flies by quicker with each subsequent child.  Your first 5 months have absolutely flown.  Much more so than either of the girls…and I thought their months were fast!

 

You are 17lbs, in a size 3 diaper, but not far from moving up to a 4, and you are wearing a 6-9m outfit.  Your 6m stuff fits, but your 9m stuff fits, too.  One is on the smaller side, the other on the “room-to-grow” side.  Either way, you’re a big boy!  By far, my biggest child! 

(Amelia, hating every moment…ha!)

You usually go to bed around 6:30pm.  By 7pm, you are a cranky mess if you’re still awake.  This is the schedule you put yourself on…not me!  You sleep from 7ish to around 11 or 12am.  After that feeding, you sleep until anywhere between 3am and 5am.  I always hope for 5am…ha!  Then you sleep until 7ish then doze until 8ish when the girls force me out of bed.  You’re in your crib until the 3a-5a feeding, then you come to bed with me.

 

You’re still in your woombie wrap, but I think we are going to start weaning you from it soon.  Last week, your swing broke.  Yes, the brand new swing.  The motor stopped working.  I was heartbroken, because you took all of your naps in it!  So, you’ve been somewhat forced to adapt and start napping in your crib.  You’ve done better than I expected, but you definitely aren’t napping like you were!  The new motor is on its way, but I figure by the time it gets here, we’ll have you weaned from it so I probably won’t go back to it. 

One day last week (I think around the time the swing broke) I started thinking about how I hadn’t really seen you suck your thumb in a while.  You were crying while I tried to rock you to sleep and I thought…hey…what the heck?  I’ll try the paci that you haven’t used in 2 months.  Holy cow.  You took that thing like it had never been away from you!  You actually used it better than you did 2 months ago and you did great!  You used it until you fell asleep.  It’s been quite helpful since then, because I can give you your paci when you’re upset – like in church – instead of taking you out.  Even though your thumb was “always there” you weren’t great at finding it and keeping it in your mouth, so it didn’t always help like a paci. 

You are generally a pretty happy baby!  You’re really getting attached to your mama, though!  I’ve noticed recently that when I hand you off to someone, it takes just about 1 minute before you start screaming and crying until I take you back.  (I secretly wonder if you’re going to dislike strangers like Amelia does! Ha!) 

(The last time we saw you suck your thumb!)

You love:  MAMA!, your sisters, your paci, eating, playing “boo”, playing on your playmat, watching a mobile or fan, your swing (RIP), going into your woombie at bedtime (you smile huge, like you know you’re finally going to bed!), coming out of your woombie in the mornings (you stretch huge and smile!), Daddy playing with you, your jumperoo, and being held.

You don’t like:  Baby food, being in the car, being tired (you cry…a lot), having a full diaper, sleeping on your back without the woombie, tummy time, mama handing you to someone else, and laying back in someone’s arms.  You totally prefer to be sitting up or standing up!

(With Deda & Pop!)

You’ve rolled over both ways, but you’re much better at going back to belly.  Belly to back seems to take you longer.  You aren’t sitting up on your own, but you can tripod for several seconds before you start to fall…we’ll take what we can get.  You hated baby food the two times I’ve attempted to give it to you.  I think it’s the texture and the unfamiliar flavor.

 

Your first Christmas was so fun!  Caroline helped you open your gifts from Santa and you’ve really enjoyed everything so far.  I know you’ll really enjoy those toys in a few months.  It blows my mind to think you’re nearly half a year old – and how much you’ll change between now and then! 

(Amelia had already fallen asleep!)

Right now you are half bottle, half breastfed.  I really wanted to exclusively nurse to 6 months, but as usual, my body just isn’t having it.  It’s usually around this time that my supply starts to take a dip. I have been through it before so I knew what to look for.  I wasted no time in feeding you a bottle after each nursing session to make sure you’re full.  You usually eat an extra 3oz from the bottle.  You don’t seem to have any trouble going back and forth, so we’ll do that as long as we can! 

I love you so much.  I can’t wait to see what your little personality will be like as you get older.  I know one thing, your big sisters sure do love you.  You think they’re pretty funny, too.  I can’t wait to see you all play together one day!  I also LOVE saying “my son” when I talk about you.  It feels so different to say that instead of “my girls.” 

You make my heart full of joy!  I love being your mother! 

 

Mama