Five Months

Ok, I won't say I can't believe he's already 5 months because I think I say that every month, but it is pretty crazy that our teeny, tiny baby is getting so huge so fast! We didn't have a doctor's visit this month so again we don't know for sure exactly how fat or tall Brock has gotten this month, but I did weigh and measure him with our very scientific method and from what I could tell he was about 18 pounds (which is about the 80th percentile) and about 27 inches long (around the 87th percentile). He's a giant now! If those numbers are right then that means he's gained about 1.5 pounds since last month and about 1 and 3/4 of an inch. (I could be a little off on my measurements though). I've been really surprised at his growth rates, but as long as he's healthy I'm happy. Interesting note: People are starting to think Brock is older than he really is because he's so big, so we're starting to get questions like, "Oh, he's not crawling yet?" or "Can he not sit up by himself now?" to which I have to respond as un-defensively as possible, "Not yet; he's actually only 5 months old." Then we get the replies, "5 months! Oh, wow, he's a big boy."

Here are some of Brock's patterns and accomplishments between the fourth and fifth months:

• He can sit up pretty well now, with a little support, and I think he likes the new view he gets sitting on the couch with us.
• He's holding his head a lot steadier these days and likes to look all around him. It's still a little wobbly especially if he's tired, but it's much more stable than it has been.
• When he hears sounds and noises, he now turns and looks in the direction they came from. This is fun when you're trying to get his attention, but not so fun when you're trying to feed him and he's acting like Captain Distracto every 2 minutes (consequently, it now takes him about twice the amount of time to eat than it did before, up from like 15 minutes to at least 30 minutes).
• He started eating rice cereal once a day at 17 weeks. Dr. Smith told us at the 4 month checkup that it wasn't nutritionally necessary for Brock to have anything other than breastmilk/formula until he's 6 months old, but he gave us the go ahead to start introducing stuff between now and then if we wanted to. I figured I'd slowly add new things in, just so he could start getting accustomed to the spoon and trying new flavors. He did pretty well with rice cereal and basically just eats whatever I put in his mouth.
• He still nurses about 5 times a day and we had tried to drop the 6th latenight (9:30 or 10:00) feeding but he sleeps longer in the morning with it so we put it back in. A lot of the books say by 5 months babies may have moved more to a 4 hour schedule, but Brock still wants to eat every 3 hours (which may explain why he's such a hoss) so we're still on the 3 hour schedule for now.
• He started sleeping without his swaddle at 18 weeks. One night that week he rolled over onto his stomach and woke up crying which kind of scared him and me both, so we quit the swaddle cold turkey the next day because I didn't want him getting stuck and not having the use of his arms. Naps were rough for two or three days but he slept perfectly through the night, and after a few days he got used to being unswaddled. His naps are definitely shorter without the swaddle but he's at least sleeping (and sleeping safely) so that's all I'm concerned about.
• A couple of times during the month we saw him roll over from his stomach to his back, but he only did it a few times and never seemed to really know what he was doing so I'm still thinking he hasn't figured that one out yet.
• He has, however, been rolling from side to side with ease and at 21 weeks he figured out how to roll from his back to his stomach. I would have thought he'd figure out stomach to back first because he hates being on his tummy, but one day in his crib he rolled right over to his stomach and kept doing it when I tried to put him on his back. It has messed up his sleep a little and caused him to wake up during the night a few times (which he hasn't done in a long time and which reminds me of the crappy newborn period) because he gets upset when he finds himself on his stomach and can't roll back over, but I think he just needs a few more days to get used to it.
• Whenever I am putting him to sleep, I usually sing a little song with him in the rocking chair. He now occasionally will sing with me, and it is probably one of my favorite noises ever! He'll lie back and just let out a series of long "ahhhhh, ahhhh, ahhhhs" and I like to think it's him singing along. But maybe he's really saying, "Would you please be quiet and just put me to bed already?!"
• He's starting to get a little too long for 3-6 month clothes and has outgrown a few outfits but still fits in most of them for now.
• He outgrew the size 2 diapers at 20 weeks and is now wearing size 3. Hopefully those will last a while, since they go up to about 25 pounds I think. At this rate, he's going to need a new car seat before too long!
• For the most part, Brock rarely cries now when we lay him down to sleep. Sometimes he has to get a good cry out during his evening nap and he may whine a little for some of them, but a lot of times he'll just talk himself to sleep now. He lays in his crib just babbling and then a few minutes later it will be silent. Until he started rolling onto his stomach and waking up crying, he would wake up talking to himself too. I wonder if he was picking up the conversation where he left off when he fell asleep.
• At about 18 weeks, he started really liking the little activity mat his aunt gave him and uses all his limbs to hit, grab, and kick the toys hanging down from it. He really gets a lot of exercise with that thing. I only recorded this because I thought it was interesting that some of the toys you get at first, you think you'll never end up using because your baby doesn't do anything, and then all of a sudden they come alive and like to play with things.
• He now puts anything and everything into his mouth and loves chewing on rattles and teethers. Around 19 weeks I thought he might have started teething because he was really irritable for a couple of days and all he wanted to do was gnaw and suck on my fingers, but I haven't seen any teeth and he seems to be over it now.
• He doesn't take a bottle as easily anymore as he once did. I've tried a couple of different nipples and he seems to like the latex nipples best, but he still isn't crazy about the bottle.
• At 21 weeks we introduced sweet potatoes. He was still eating rice cereal only once a day after his afternoon feeding, and I gave him a tiny taste of the sweet potatoes during that feeding then gave him a bigger serving after his next meal in the evening. He was a little freaked out at the first taste but when I gave them to him again that evening he had become a big fan and would open his mouth wide for each spoonful. We're working on learning "No spitting" now because he thinks it's fun to spit the sweet potatoes, and I do not think it's fun how sweet potatoes stain everything.      

• One last thing I observed about Brock this month is that he really is kind of a "go with the flow" baby. He doesn't get his feathers ruffled too often and if he does, there is usually a valid reason why. He doesn't really complain about too much and he is fairly easygoing. If he does get upset, it doesn't ruin his entire day and he is able to get over it pretty quickly. I learned this one day when I was zipping up his pajamas and accidentally pinched the skin on his chest with the zipper (Mom of the Year right here). He screamed for literally like 2 seconds and had finished crying before I could even get the zipper zipped and pick him up. I told him right there what a champ I really think he is. He definitely gets his personality from his dad which I am very thankful for (we don't need another OCD crazy person in this household).