Five Months {Rory}

Rory is five months old today, dangerously close to that half year mark. Time really does fly.

We saw Dr. N last Wednesday, so I’m going to call those stats good enough. He weighed 18 pounds 5 ounces (90%), measured 25.5 inches long (50%), and his head was 17 inches around. He got two shots and an oral vaccine while we were there, which he handled great. He cried but not for very long at all; those chunky thighs of his can take it. We go back to see her again when he’s six months.

Here’s what I want to remember about this past month:

• He is taking five 6-oz bottles of formula each day, along with two feedings of rice cereal (5-6T total). He opens his mouth for the bottles and the cereal; he definitely knows what both are. However, he sometimes pushes away from me with his legs, arching his back, when bottle feeding. So that’s interesting.
• Dr. N said we could start baby food (green veggies first, then orange and yellow ones, then fruit), so he had his first taste of green beans over the weekend. He did great! He’s getting one container per day right now but I’m sure that will increase shortly. He eats like a champ most times.
• He is still spitting up, but it’s much, much better. We actually stopped giving him the Zantac in early July, and it appears he doesn’t need it. We’re pretty certain he does have reflux but he seems to be able to manage it fairly well on his own.
• He sometimes struggles to poop, so, per Dr. N’s suggestion, we are going to switch him to oatmeal instead of rice cereal sometime soon to see if that helps.
• He is sleeping through the night, more or less. We put him down between 7 and 7:30 most nights. He is not eating during the night anymore; if he wakes up, we let him cry, but he never does for very long at all. However, he is still waking up during the night a few times, almost always because he has broken free of his swaddle. So, we made the hard decision to stop swaddling him a couple of nights ago.
• He takes 3 naps a day, but the times are not consistent yet. I do a combination of observing him and watching the clock and that method seems to be working. He fights going to sleep at first, making a lot of “eh, eh, eh” sounds and squirming while cradled in my arms. But then the volume slowly decreases until he gives in and settles. The whole process usually takes less than 10 minutes and he sleeps for at least 45 minutes. His morning nap is usually the best.
• He’s starting to rub his eyes when he gets tired. He naps blanket-swaddled in the rock-n-play, and we’ll continue to do that until he can roll over. Speaking of which…..
• He is really darn close, but he has not completely rolled over yet. He is doing really well with tummy time, though.
• He is chewing on his hands (and mine) more and more, accompanied by lots of drool. He’s also started reaching for his legs and feet, but he hasn’t quite worked those toes up to his mouth just yet.
• The palms of his hands and soles of his feet are often clammy and sweaty.
• He pulls his paci out often, because he gets a grip on the leash, and he sometimes manages to work it back into his mouth.
• He still loves his baths and knows what’s coming as soon as I lay him down on the rug in his bathroom. His cradle cap got a little worse a few weeks ago but is much better now. I actually think it’s almost gone. And his hair is starting to fill back in on the sides so he doesn’t have quite as much of a mohawk as he used to.
• He is grasping really really well and loves reaching for his toys dangling from his playmat or from his carseat. He enjoys being on the playmat, in the swing, and, most recently, in the jumperoo.
• He doesn’t stay still very long at all anymore; he’s very curious about everything that goes on around him and is starting to realize he can move those chubby little legs of his and change his position.
• He is downright laughing out loud lots these days, especially when his brother is around. And he breaks out into a big smile whenever he focuses on someone’s face. Such a charmer.

Five months old!

Also, a very Happy Birthday to Cub today!