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Saturday was my Babycakes’ five-month birthday! To celebrate, we napped on the couch until Daddy came home from the gym to find us passed out! Hooray, for milk-drunk, sleeping babes!
Eating/Sleeping:
– He’s still a pretty terrible sleeper. He wakes every 2-3 hours to eat. So all of you who have babes who sleep through the night? Don’t say a word. Cause Babycakes longest stretch has been 4 hours.
– But he is sleeping in his crib! Hooray for small victories!
– When he sleeps, he tends to roll to his side. At first this completely freaked me out, but, hey, at least he’s sleeping!
– He’s still eating about 30-ounces of breastmilk a day. That’s it. We haven’t supplemented with anything. Not even a teeny bit of formula. Hooray for a completely breastfed baby! I don’t pat myself on the back for much, this has totally worked for us as a family. And I’m kinda proud of the fact that I’ve stuck with it — cause guys! — it’s hard!
– He’s still exclusively eating from a bottle. Which is fine because, a) it works for us; and b) he has to take a bottle for the sitter while I’m at work.
– And he’s always holding onto his bottle! Like, sometimes we let it go and he still holds onto it! It’s craziness!
Milestones:
– He rolls to his side! In fact, he completely sleeps on his side these days! It’s totally cute!
– His 3-6 month clothing is still a teeny bit big on him.
– He has officially doubled his birth weight. 14.5 pounds! Less than 20th percentile, but it doesn’t seem to bother our doctors… and it definitely doesn’t bother us! He’s just a little dude. Someone has to average out the curve, right? Right.
– And he’s 24 inches long. The sitter says he looks so tiny for his age, but that he definitely acts like a 5-month old.
– I completely, 100%, love our sitter. She treats us all like family — and treats Ari like her own! I trust her with everything. Not only my Babycakes, but also for advice and updates on how he’s doing while I’m away at work. I love her.
Funny notes:
– We [pretty much accidentally] realized that his thighs are incredibly ticklish. He full-on belly laughs when you tickle them.
– He learned to scream. But not because he’s upset. Just to use his voice. He learned it from another baby at the sitter. So now he’ll be in his Jumperoo and you can hear him screaming for fun from the other room. The first time he did it I ran in thinking something was wrong. But nope. Just being a stinker.
– Yo Gabba Gabba is still our drug of choice. All Ari has to hear is the beginning credits and he will turn over/roll his body/whatever he has to do, to be able to see the TV. It’s completely crazy. But that’s OK. It keeps him semi occupied.
Parental notes:
– Our date day successfully made us feeling like a couple again. We were able to focus on each other without distraction. It was nice to not just feel like a “mommy” for a minute 🙂
– I’m absolutely loving that he loves to snuggle. He just nuzzles himself into my chest/side and it melts my heart into a million pieces!
– And I’m totally not sorry for posting a gazillion pictures. My heart is just bursting with love for this little guy. Ya know, the first couple of months were really rough; but now that we’re adjusting [I don’t know if we’ll ever really be ‘adjusted’ — as soon as we get comfortable with a situation something else starts… like teething], I can’t help but smile and cry with joy every time I think about my Babycakes! He’s so beautiful and incredible. I always thought that I knew what this kind of love felt like, but I really had no idea — at leastt not until the last few months.
omg he is just adorable! I love that photo of him grabbing his toes… so cute! How did you find a sitter you love? That’s what I’m most afraid in the future… our family is so far away and I want to be able to throw in a date night here and there.
Awesome about exclusively breastfeeding!! And I give you SO much credit for pumping. I loathed the pump. HATED it. (Though I did get pretty good at taking a mini-nap while pumping at work.)
Is it going by quickly? I feel like I blinked and my little guy is 18 months this weekend. Sigh.
I totally hear you about the sleeping thing. Unfortunately, I think that breastfed babies don’t sleep as well as formula fed ones do. But I think the benefits outweigh sleeping through the night. Mine doesn’t sleep through the night yet. (I STILL want to tell people to suck it when they say “oh, mine’s been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks.” I truly believe that they either don’t remember that accurately, are lying, or don’t count those sort-of wake-ups where the paci falls out of the mouth or a leg gets caught in the rail,etc…)
Glad to hear that you guys are doing well! 🙂
Momma, I have the utmost respect for you being an exclusive pumper. I don’t think I could do it. Pumping makes me feel trapped and crazy, but I am so glad it’s what’s working for your family and little Ari. You’re a super mom 🙂
Also….happy five months cute boy!!! I so know what ya mean about smiling and crying with joy when you look at them. It’s so amazing, isn’t it??
Ah! And one more thing….ticklish thighs!!!! We just discovered that the other day. I can’t get enough of it!