5 Months Plus

 This little angel turned 5 months last Sunday. Can you believe it? He is SO much fun to be around. He is a happy, smiling, content little guy. He is very alert, loves to look around, reach for things, and shove things in his mouth. This month he has made some fun discoveries.

1. Rolling over. He has been doing it for a while, but it really clicked while we were visiting Ryan in Wyoming at the beginning of May.

When he rolls over while playing on the play mat, he tends to get stuck against the bar. He has recently learned that he can avoid that with some clever maneuvering.

 He is good at scrunching his knees up underneath himself, as well as stretching out and kicking like crazy. I think he will love crawling.

This was the first evidence I had that he was indeed capable of rolling ALL the way over. (Most of the time he stays on his belly until he gets tired and then cries for me to roll him back again.) He started in the middle of the play mat, face up. He lifted his legs and bum up into the air and up and around the bar. Then he rolled, and rolled again. He even looks like he is saying "Tada!" 

 About a week and a half ago, I was doing dishes in the kitchen and had Pierscen on the blanket. I could hear him talking and cooing, but when I came to check on him, I couldn't see him. He actually started where Dodger is in this picture. Yes, I think he can roll just fine. (He has only mastered rolling to his left. Hasn't realized it works both ways yet.)

Then just two days ago, I was warming up some milk for him and put him on the blanket. He was mad as a hornet that his food wasn't ready right then and decided to let me know about it. As he screamed, instead of flipping over, screaming, flipping over, screaming, he instead did one continuous slowmotion roll across the floor. It was sad, but pretty humorous. He made it about one more roll in this picture before getting stuck and mom came to the rescue.

Funny thing - twice now when he has been REALLY angry and letting the world know about it, Dodger has sat next to him and softly began to howl. He will keep howling until you make eye contact with him or come and pick Pierscen up. I really think it's Dodger way of letting us know (in case we couldn't hear Pierscen ourselves) that little P needs some help. It's pretty cute. We made a video of it, but it's on Ryan's fancy iPod and I don't know how to find it. If I ever figure it out, I will post it.

 2. Feet! They haven't made it to his mouth yet, but he still loves to grab and examine them.

3. Mr. Serious. This last month, Pierscen has adopted a range of serious faces that totally crack me up. They tend to show up when he is getting tired. I will try to make him laugh, and though the corners of this mouth might twitch, he will refuse to smile. He will either push his lip out into a tiny pout, or suck it in almost like he is biting his lip to keep from smiling. It's so stinking adorable!



Look at that face!!! I cannot get enough of it. That is totally the look of, "Mom. This is not funny." Doesn't he just look like he is about to bust up laughing? But he won't do it. I love it.

Another funny thing is that he takes bath time very seriously. It is rare you can get him to smile during his bath. He loves bath time and it makes him relax, but he saves all the smiles for the towel afterwards. As soon as he is wrapped up in his towel, he is laughing hysterically.

4. Sleep. He is sleeping SO much better! A few weeks ago we stayed the night at my in-laws because our basement apt smelled like gas really bad. (The gas stove had been left on upstairs by a grand kid.) We opened the windows and a left a fan running. Baby P actually slept through the night! It was amazing! Since then, he has slept through the night several times. If he does wake up, it is usually just once. Last night was impressive. He went to sleep around 7:30, but I figured he would take a short nap, wake up and eat, and then go to bed for real around 9:30-10. Instead he slept until 3:15. I fed him, changed his diaper and put him back down. He didn't wake up again until 9 am. Wow! Keep it up little guy! It all changed when I started letting him fall asleep on his own. I really didn't think that it would work, but most days, he falls asleep way better on his own than if I try to rock or walk him to sleep. I know moving and being in a new environment is likely to shake things up and I expect some rough nights, but goodness - considering he was waking up every 1-2 hours even a month ago - life is so much better!

5. Food. No, we haven't started solids yet, but he has discovered that he is hungrier than he used to be. Before, he was typically only averaging 4 oz a feeding. He always seemed content and happy after these feedings, but then he was still eating pretty often. I started offering him more and now he ranges from 6-9 oz a feeding. It has been wonderful for all of us. He doesn't want to eat as often, and he is gaining the weight he needs. Although we haven't gotten an "official" weight on him lately, we have weighed him using the home scale where I step on with him, pass him off, weigh myself, then subtract the difference. I am 90% positive he has finally hit the 15 pound goal his doctors set for him. I am thrilled! (And if anyone is curious to know, I finally gave up breastfeeding. I still pump, which doesn't hurt nearly as bad. Most of the time it doesn't hurt at all. I don't think my production will stay up very long, but that is okay. It is so much better for us now. I don't stress and cry thinking about feeding him and this way I can measure how much he is eating. Life is leaps and bounds better than it was.)

I snapped this picture two days ago after a 7 oz meal. I was having an awfully difficult time keeping his shirt over than Buddha belly! I also love the little smirk on that face.

Pierscen is the best kid in the world. I am so lucky to have him. Tomorrow is a big day for all of us. About two more weeks of crazy, and then our new life can begin. :)