Ethan at Month Five

It is unreal to me that E is five months old. How is this possible?!  He is looking more and more like a "little boy," as opposed to a baby, every day. We are having so much fun and I love watching him grow, but it is going so, so fast!

Here is an update on our past month.

Grow Baby, Grow!

Photo by RC Concepcion

I'm not totally sure on his current stats since his next doctor's check up isn't until next month, but we did attempt a weigh in at home, and it measured him at just about 19 pounds.  For height, I'm guessing about 24 inches, based on how some of his sweatpants are fitting him and his growth trends from previous check ups.

We've continued to have great health and a happy baby.  This past week E has had a tiny little cough, which we think may just be related to seasonal allergies or some post-nasal drip.  It doesn't seem to bother him at all and there is no raspy-ness, so we aren't concerned.  The nurse said to try using a humidifier at night, which we are planning on trying.

Chompers

We've been practicing sticking our tongue out.

The drooling is out of control here, people.  It is like a river!  In addition to that, Ethan also shoves everything he possibly can into his mouth, and chews on it really intensely.  We tried to feel around in his mouth, and although we can't feel teeth popping through, his top gums feel rough, for lack of a better word, and we are pretty sure we've got a teething baby on our hands.  There hasn't been any disruption to his sleep or his demeanor due to the teething, which is great.  At most, he gets frustrated when he is trying to get a toy into his mouth to chew on it and it doesn't fit.

Catch those Z's!

Mike and I are some lucky parents.  I don't know what we did to deserve such a good sleeper, but we'll take it! E sleeps through the night every night.  He goes to bed around 8:30, wakes up around 6:00 for a bottle, and then goes right back to sleep until around 8:45.  We will occasionally have a day that gets thrown off schedule a bit, but for the most part our routine is pretty set.  Ethan is so good going to bed, too.  He just starts rubbing his eyes when he is tired, or he falls asleep in his swing or when having his last bottle of the night.  We just take him up, put him in his crib, turn on his twilight turtle, and he is out like a light.  When he wakes up, he just looks around and plays in his crib until I go in to get him, happy and content.  Such a good boy!

Moving and Grooving










Rolling and tummy-time love are still constants over here.  As soon as we put E down, he rolls onto his tummy and will happily "swim" on his play mat, kick his legs, scrunch his butt, and play like that for literally an hour at a time.  This month he has been "double rolling" more consistently, where we'll put him down on his back, and he will roll onto his belly, and then at some point roll from his belly to his back, and then later roll back onto his belly again.  I'll watch him slowly move farther and farther across the room, little by little!  He also has started turning himself around in circles while he is on his belly, and pushing himself up onto his arms (his chest off of the floor) regularly.

We've gotten much better at sitting, too, which is a huge development over here!  Now Ethan can sit unassisted for about a minute or two, with his hands on the floor in front of him.  He can't sit up straight on his own yet, but we are making a lot of progress.  He can also bear a lot more weight on his legs for a longer period of time, too.

Water Baby

The weather by us has been so insanely gorgeous lately, so we took E to the pool for the first time.  He seems to like "the giant bathtub," as we call it!  We swim him around, bounce him in the water, and kick his little legs for him to practice swimming.  He hasn't figured out that he can splash the water with his hands yet, but we keep practicing since he loves to splash during his baths.  And just for the record, I don't think there is anything cuter than E in his little rash guard, whale print swim trunks, and sun hat. It is a.dor.a.ble!

Social Ups and (melt) Downs

As is our norm, we take E everywhere.  We go out to eat, visit with friends, go to any and every store, etc.  Usually there is no problem, ever.  This month we had a few rough patches.  I took Ethan to visit at my school, and he did great with my class (my fabulous sub Jane had told the kids not to get too close and to try to keep their voices quiet).  When we got to the staff room, he let my co-teacher hold him, no problem.  As he got passed around, however, he started to get fussy, and within about 15 minutes, he was having a full on meltdown.  Screaming, crying, tears, and a beet-red face were out in full force, and it took me over 20 minutes to calm him down.  I felt so bad for him, but I also was taken off guard, since he is usually so chill in public.  A couple of days later, we went to a baby shower and he had another meltdown!  At the shower, no one was trying to hold him, either - full meltdown, and we had to leave the party.  The next week, we went out to dinner with friends, and he started to have another meltdown, but we were determined to push through.  Mike and I took turns taking him out to the car for breaks, and eventually he calmed down and made it through dinner.

Luckily, we seem to have finished the little phase of social freak-outs.  We went to a picnic party, where there were lots of people, and E not only lasted hours, but he was in his Baby Bjorn the whole time, not his stroller, so that was a huge development.  We also went to San Francisco and stayed for the whole day, and E was such a trooper.

And, despite those three meltdown episodes, he continues to do totally fine during lunches out with friends, going to any and all stores, riding in the car, having people over to the house, and other outings.   We stay busy, and E keeps up with us so well!

We've continued going to gym class, which he loves, and even had a play date with one of his baby friends.  Definitely way more ups than downs socially, for sure.

Top Gear

The bouncer, swing, and play mat are all still in constant use.  We are terrified for when he outgrows those, lol!  We've been bringing out his BebePod chair more, but he really doesn't seem to like it much, so we just practice sitting other ways.  We also used the high chair for the first time, and Ethan did so well! He had no problem whatsoever getting into or out of it, and was content to sit in it for his entire meal.

Toy-wise, Ethan still likes his O-ball and other toys, but his faves seem to be his Elmo toy and his little black and white ring toy.  To say he has a little crush on Elmo is an understatement! The ring toy he likes because he can fit the ball part into his mouth really well to chew on, which helps with his teething.  He can also put his arm through it, which he loves to do.  He does this with his bibs, too - he'll put his arm through the hole, and just wear the bib or the ring toy like a little bracelet or something.  It is really freaking cute!

Elmo, I love you.

I'm gonna give you a kiss.

What you saying about my Elmo?!

    


Chowing Down

We haven't been super good about giving E solid food every day, but we do bring it out from time to time.  He still likes the strawberry apple puree, and he also enjoyed mango puree.  I think he likes his spoons best of all - they are fun to grab and great to chew on!  We also let him chew on frozen Eggo mini waffles to help with his teething, and Daddy will let Ethan lick various foods he is eating to try different flavors.




Clothes Horse

Since it has been so warm, I went out and got Ethan some little shorts-jammies, which I am excited to try.  He is growing out of his 6-9 month jammies, and other clothing is running into the 6-12 month range or the 9 month range.

Our current favorites are the Chicco brand shorts (from Target) and short-sleeve onesies from Baby Gap or Chicco.  The Star Wars Robeez we got for E finally fit, so he's worn them a few times this month, too.

Rocket Baby

Ethan's favorite things in the whole world are "rocket baby" and flying.  For rocket baby, Daddy stands E up on a hard surface and bounces him up and down while counting down from 10 (like a launch sequence).  As he gets closer to 1, the bouncing gets more intense, and then Blast Off!  Daddy launches Ethan off into the air, fast-flying him all around the house.  He also engages "rocket boosters," where he goes super fast.  Ethan gets so excited during the "launch sequence" that he squeals and shoves his hands into his mouth in pure joy.  It is his favorite thing in the world, period.  Taking a second place after rocket baby is regular "flying" around the house, and tickle time with Momma.  He laughs so hard, it is contagious, and we both just giggle and giggle for the longest time.  Baby E is super ticklish on his ribs and his thighs, and he loves it when I "eat" his cheeks.

I'm sure there are many things I am forgetting to mention, but that's a pretty good summary of our month.  Now we are off to try more foods, swim more laps, and giggle lots more giggles. :)