Month 5

Ethan is now almost 5 months old. I can't believe it. He is super fun to be around now...he smiles all the time and if we work a bit we can get even get a good chuckle out of him. So far the tricks to produce laughing are: exaggerated kissing noises on his belly/chest/cheeks, munching on his hands, funny voices or repeating simple sounds like mamamama, letting him kiss his own toes, playing peek-a-boo with his duckie, and flying him like an airplane. We also discovered that he is a big ham. He LOVES the camera...whenever we point the camera at him he gets a big grin on his face. He can even be in the middle of fussing and when we whip out the camera it's instant smiles. Future model anyone?

The last month he has done quite a bit...he can hold his head up now pretty well. It's quite liberating not to have to cradle his head all the time. We can now carry him in the Ergo - it's a win win situation for both of us because now it means we can take him out more frequently as it is much easier to carry him (he is getting quite heavy now!) and also he gets baoed which he loves. The Ergo plus walking is the one trick which will always put him to sleep.



Having head control also means he is able to sit up. He loves his bumbo which we recently have been using also as chair for his feedings (more about that later). Last week we discovered that he can use his own arms to prop himself up and so he can sit unassisted for quite a long time before toppling over. He can balance on one hand and use the other to swat and grab at toys. In this position he has now discovered his toes and always tries to pull on them and bend in half in order to munch on them.

All Time Favorite Activity - Eating!

Ethan is quite the eater. He eats every 4 hours now plus two to three times at night. We thought that since he was able to sit up well we could (finally!) start him on solids. I have been looking forward to this for awhile and I think Ethan has too. He watches us eat all the time (well, there is nothing much else he can do since he is either sitting/lying down and waiting for us to play with him). His first feeding was the recommended rice cereal. I didn't think he would eat the whole serving...they say babies have a hard time learning how to swallow since it is a such a different feeding technique from nursing. But Ethan loves it! He kept leaning forward to reach the spoon faster and made frustrated noises if we weren't spooning food fast enough. I was so encouraged I spent one weekend whipping up different veggie purees (and I hate to cook!) for him to try out following the recommended 3 day rule for introducing new foods. So far Ethan has tried the following: the rice cereal (yuck face when made with formula, yummy face when made with BM or water), avocado (yucky), and sweet potatoes (yummy). Even when he makes his yuck face he still eats his entire serving. Then again, he also swallows a bit of his own spit-up when we aren't fast enough at wiping it up (yuck for sure).

When we fed him tonight he started munching on his bib in between bites. We would like to believe that he is wiping the excess food from around his mouth. It's starting - as parents we think everything our child does is precious and precocious.

Sleeping

We got pretty excited because for a few days in a row he did one 7 hour stretch at night. Alas, it soon reverted back to 4 hour stretches at a time. As an added bonus he also stopped napping well. =P Since he learned how to roll onto his tummy he now does it all the time. The problem? He forgot how to roll from tummy to back and we often run into his room when he cries only to find that he is stuck on his tummy. For some reason he refuses to lay his head down on the mattress (even when we gently try to for him) - I think it's because we always get so excited when he lifts his head during tummy time so now he thinks whenever he is on his tummy he has to play. Sometimes he only flips halfwaybecause he is against the crib so one arm/leg is on the mattress and the other is gripping the side of the crib and he is arching his back and lifting his head sideways! I feel so bad when I find him on his tummy, esp. when he is so tired and is crying with his eyes shut but still trying to lift his head. I guess we have to work on rolling both ways. This rolling onto the tummy has now become a game I think. He knows we always come to check on him now during nap times because we are worried about him flipping so he always is on his tummy with his head lifted above the bumper watching the doorway with a big grin on his face when we run in. Sneaky!

Christmas

Our first Christmas with Ethan! Mike came over and we had a little family get together. Ethan didn't seem too excited about the presents, but he loves looking at the lights on the tree and tries to grab at the ornaments. I was much more excited than him to open his presents (new toys for us to play with!). Our new game is for me to pile up blocks and he will knock them down while trying to grab one. I get more excited when he creates chaos tho...he just has a bored look on his face. All in all a good day, and we are very excited to see what 2009 brings!

Month 4 Stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 7 ou (43%)
Height: 25.75 in (62%)
Head Circumference: 41.3 cm (25%)