Can you believe this little stinker is FIVE months old today??
Our monthly monkey picture:
It's hard to believe he's five months old already!! Where has the time gone? I swear he is getting cuter everyday, as well as becoming more expressive and engaging. He is so much fun to play with throughout the day, and it's fun to watch him explore and learn when he is awake. He is sleeping through the night without any problems and is also taking some long naps throughout the day. When he's awake, he plays hard; when he's asleep, he sleeps like a rock!
Here's what we are up to at five months old:
Putting everything (and I mean everything!) into our mouth...
This includes syrup bottles, mommy's cup, the dog's paw, mommy's hair... :-)
Laughing with the cutest belly laughs I have ever seen...
He is so adorable when he laughs! This is one of the best videos I have been able to get of him so far. We've found that any bodily noise - sneezes, burps, wiggling tounges, etc - make him laugh the hardest. And, once you get him going, it takes a minute or two before he will stop! His daddy is the best at making him laugh, but I can get him going sometimes!
Becoming the ultimate wiggle worm...
He wiggles, rolls, and scoots all around his crib at night, as well as his blankets on the floor during the day. After a few mornings finding him with various extremities hanging out of the crib, I bought some of the mesh bumpers to put around the crib. Now his legs and arms stay inside the crib, and I don't worry so much about him getting stuck!
Sleeping on our tummy...
Now that he is an old pro at rolling over, he has starting sleeping on his tummy at night and nap times. In fact, I can't keep him off his tummy anymore! He either wants to sit up in his chairs or lay on his tummy on the ground. He loves seeing the world! And, on a side note, he seems to have outgrown his swing and is doing all of his sleeping in his crib now. He lets me know when he's tired, and he will eagerly lie down in his crib and fall asleep almost immediately!
Practicing our chill skills...
Seriously, this kid could not be more laid back! He only cries when he's hungry, tired, or has a dirty diaper. Other than that, he's a pretty happy camper! :-)
Sucking our thumb...
Learning how to hold our own bottle...
We are exclusively bottle feeding him now, since Mommy and baby were just having too many challenges with breastfeeding. Everybody is happier now, and Barrett loves his bottles! He is eating six ounces of either breast milk or formula about five times a day. He has developed quite a grip and has started reaching for his bottle. He can hold onto it pretty well, but he can't tip it up into his mouth yet. I bought some handles that I have started using on the bottles to help him hold it a little easier (and to give my fingers a break from the squeezing!!), and I think he might be ready to start learning how to drink from a straw. We'll see how this goes next month...
Learning how to sit in our chair and eat from a spoon...
We are planning to start solids at six months (yay!), so we have been practicing with spoons and our high chair (the bumbo with a tray for now...). We make a bottle of formula and then feed it to him with a spoon. He does great!! He opens his mouth for the spoon, let us put it in his mouth, and then promptly spits it all back out as he tries to figure out what is going on.
In this case, he was eager to keep trying and ate almost two ounces of formula from the spoon! And if the amount of food on his face is any indication of success, then I think this experiment went very well! I've been working on making and freezing baby foods for him, and we are looking forward to when he can start trying new things to eat. We are planning to start with sweet potatoes, avocados, and bananas.
LOVING his bouncy...
He sits in this thing while I wash the dishes and has an absolute blast! Now that his feet can touch the floor, he bounces and bounces...and bounces... The lights and music come on when he moves, and he just loves it! He also stares and coos at the little animals in front of him, and he is particularly fond of the yellow monkey. It is so fun to watch him play in his bouncy!
Trying really hard to sit up...
He almost has it figured out, but he is still pretty wobbly. Today at playgroup, one of my friends showed me some techniques to try to help him out a little more, and he really made a lot of progress! He'll be sitting up on his own before we know it!
Letting daddy teach him how to crawl...
Travis really wants Barrett to crawl, so he keeps propping Barrett up on his hands and knees and telling him to "go"! It's pretty cute, especially because Barrett has no idea what is going on and usually just falls over. :-) He hasn't quite figured out how to push up on his arms yet!
And loving his puppy dogs!!
Both Rio and Percy are SO sweet with the baby, and Barrett is starting to interact with them a lot more. He will reach out and grab Rio's fur, and she will turn around and lick him. Rio also likes to sleep in his room while he's napping and always goes to check on him when he is crying. Percy lays down next to Barrett on the mat and lets him reach out and play with his tongue. I can't wait until he's old enough to play with them even more! They are going to love it!
He's a busy boy these days, and it's so much fun to watch him learn, explore, and grow! I can't wait to see what next month will bring. So, until next month, I will leave you with some more cute pictures of this bouncing baby boy!! :-)
"Mommy, does this onsie make my muscles look big??"
Loving the bouncy!
Holding up his head like a champ!
Mommy's little monkey is getting so big!
Our "baby burrito" after his nightly bath
Where is this boy's cell phone? He needs to make a phone call!
Happy five months, Barrett!!
