Baby AJ: Month 5 Update

AJ turned 5 months last week! Ok seriously, how has almost half a year gone by already?! It's true when they say babies grow up so fast. I just want to cherish every cuddle with him because I know someday he won't want to cuddle with his mama anymore. I'm also trying to soak up this time that he's immobile. I'm not ready to baby proof the house yet!

I say this every month, but so much changes in a month! It's truly amazing how much and how fast they learn. I would say his biggest change was with his hands. He's getting much better at reaching out and grabbing objects, and he can now bring them to his mouth. He also discovered his feet and figured out how to put them in his mouth. Oh and he is getting really good at sitting up with minimal assistance.

Weight: No weigh in this month, but I'm guessing around 17 lbs.

Length: Not sure.
Diaper size: Size 3
Clothing size: 3-6 month and 9 month pants. At the end of the month he started wearing 9 month onsies and sleepers.

Nicknames: Bub bub , bubs, munchkin, munchkin booty, baby boy, little man, grumpster, sweetie, sweetie pie, sweetums, little guy, cranky pants

Health: Nothing new to report here. Still hasn't gotten sick. Fingers crossed!

Sleep: Well, the multiple night wakings continued. We had one really good week over the last month where he slept from 7 pm to 3/4 am and only one middle of the night feeding. But other than that week, we were still experiencing a regression. I would nurse him to sleep around 7 pm and within 30 minutes - 1 hour he was awake again. Then he kept waking up all night long. I think he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep. Luckily, Jack can soothe him back to sleep pretty quickly. Unfortunately though, he still sleeps a lot of the night in his bouncy chair. Who knows when we'll finally be able to retire that thing. He still sleeps in our bedroom and we're thinking around 6 months transitioning him to his crib. We'll see how that goes. Naps are still around 40 minutes long. We are getting better at putting him down not fully asleep and letting him fall asleep on his own. He has even found his thumb a few times and soothed himself to sleep!

Diet: He's still exclusively breastfed. We won't start solids until he's closer to 6 months or older. I started reading the Baby Led Weaning book, but I'm a bit nervous with starting with chunkier foods.

Baby Gear Love:
-Bob Revolution stroller: The weather has been great, and we've been able to take him on some nice long walks.
-Exersaucer: Nice when you need him to be entertained for a few minutes and he doesn't seem to want to sit in his bouncer.
-Winkel: This thing makes it easy for him to grab and helps work on his hand control.
-Sophie: He loves his Sophie. He likes to grab her and then gnaw on her face. :)

Loves: his bath every night, laying on his changing table, sitting up with minimal assistance, standing with assistance, when we blow raspberries on his belly, chewing on his hands, grabbing objects, playing with his feet, being tossed in the air, when we sing and talk to him

Dislikes: being overtired and being left on his back for too long. He wants to sit up and look around!

Milestones: Still no rolling from back to belly. He is getting much better at grabbing things and bringing them to his mouth. And he can sit in a tripod position pretty well now.

Other things of note about month 5: 

-He is laughing more and more. It's so awesome. I love his little baby laugh. Things that make him laugh include: our dog Sadie (he loves when she licks his toes), blowing raspberries on him, tossing him up in the air, bouncing him, pretend "eating" him, when I make "nom nom" sounds at him and open and close my mouth

-He figured out how to suck his thumb, although he doesn't do it all too often.

-He's a little shy with strangers. He does this thing where he'll bury his face in my chest after giving a new person a big ol' grin. It's really cute. He's ok with new people as long as either mommy or daddy is holding him.

-He loves when we take him new places or let him lay outside and look at the trees. I think he gets a bit of cabin fever sometimes. So we like to take him out as much as we can. Even if it's just to lay under the tree in the front yard. The fresh air is probably good for him. When we take him somewhere, he is just so interested in looking at everything.

-At the end of the month, we finally started using his highchair. He can sit up pretty good in it. It's nice to set him in there while I do something in the kitchen and let him practice grabbing and holding objects.

Gosh, I can't believe how much I love this little guy! It really is a love like no other. I cannot imagine my life with out him. I have a lot of worry that something is going to happen to him. I thought I worried a lot when I was pregnant, but it never ends!

I also feel like he's looking a little less like Jack. He does look a lot like him, but not as much as when he was a newborn. My traits are finally starting to show!

Every month keeps getting better and better. I'm constantly telling my husband that I still can't believe that he's our baby and how did we get so lucky. I'm excited to see what month 6 has in store for us.