Five Months

Five months. Wow.

Do I say the same thing every time I do one of these “birthday” updates? I’m sorry.

Speaking of birthdays, Riley’s five month one happens to coincide with his dad’s birthday. Happy happy birthday, Daddy/Kenny! We love you very much.

Riley doesn’t go back to Dr. B until he’s 6 months, but here are some unofficial stats:

• Weight: 18lbs 6.5oz
• Length: 28.25 inches
• Head circumference: 17 inches

And here are my notes from this month:

• He is eating 4 tablespoons of rice cereal twice a day, and he takes 6 ounces of formula at almost every bottle feeding. And, as of today, we can start adding baby food (veggies only at first) to his meals! 
• He is officially sleeping through the night, from about 6:30 pm until 6:30 am. Yay! He definitely prefers sleeping on his tummy, so we are not swaddling him anymore. We switched to a wearable blanket/sleep sack instead. And he’s getting pretty good at settling himself, although more so at night than for his naps (which are becoming a bit of a struggle). Kenny and I are so proud of him. (See this post for more sleeping info.) 

• He is a rolling machine, both from his back to his front and from his front to his back. He also still drools non-stop and sucks on his fingers (or anything else he can get into his mouth….toys, bib, burp cloth, paci leash, etc.) most of the day. (I’m wondering if the drool is 1. a sign of teething and/or 2. contributing to some of the problems with his skin. He still has a bad patch on his chin and left cheek every now and then.)

• We have solved the problem of his crazy hair! We stopped combing it after his nightly bath and it (surprisingly) does so much better.

• He’s getting good at grasping things, and he’s now trying to master bringing heavier objects to his mouth using his hands. We work on this every night during his bath with one of the rubber duckies leftover from my baby shower. He still loves his baths. He’s also enjoying being in the jumperoo for longer periods of time. 

• He is ultimately a happy baby, which is wonderful. He’s usually in a good mood when he wakes up, both for the day and from naps, although sometimes he does seem to get a little confused (read: unhappy/crying) since he almost always wakes up on his tummy. He’s definitely starting to develop his own personality!

• Most of the time, if he can see me while I’m doing something, he’s okay. So instead of leaving him on his playmat or in his bouncy in the living room, I put him in his Bumbo on the kitchen counter while I make my lunch or warm up a bottle, etc. This works most times. But he is definitely more interested in and curious about what’s going on around him. He also likes looking at himself in mirrors. 

• He has discovered how to pull hair. Fantastic. And he now loves grabbing my face, as well as Kenny’s. He sometimes doesn’t realize his own strength when he does this! He also discovered his feet about halfway through this month. And we noticed at the beginning of the month that he’s ticklish – especially his sides and the bottoms of his feet. He loves when the Tickle Monster gets him!

Kenny and I are having so much fun with him, and we just love him so, so much. Here is his official five month pic!