Friday 22 August 2014

Elliott: Five Months




Five months and almost 20 pounds of love!! He just weighed in the day before he turned five months at 19 lbs, 13 oz, and he's 26.5 inches long. No surprise that he's still in the 95th percentile! This boy is just the happiest little guy we've ever seen! You barely have to look at him and he smiles at you- both family and strangers alike. We often pray that his personality would always light up the room as it does now, and that he would shine the light of Jesus everywhere he goes. We are so in love with him, it just blows us away. Life just wouldn't be nearly as joyful without him!

Eating: Not much to report here. He has become easily distracted when he eats now which sometimes results in him whipping his head in one direction while keeping a firm clamp on my nipple. Ouch. Summer time has forced me to become more and more comfortable with feeding him in public/in front of people without a cover, which I am actually quite happy about. (I know I wouldn't want to eat with a blanket over my head- especially in this heat!)

Sleeping (Night Time): Most nights Elliott goes down at 9 pm (give or take 15 minutes) We've learned that he needs to be up from his last nap by 6 pm now, and as long as he's slept at least 30-40 minutes (more typically an hour) he is fine if I wake him up at 6. I know, I know- "Don't wake a sleeping baby" but he's fine with it, and Chris and I really love those last two hours of the evening before we go to bed at 11. It's so nice to have the alone time each night. Half the time he sleeps on average 7-8 hours and wakes up between 4-5 am. A quick meal and back to be we both go until 7-7:30. The other half of the time he wakes twice (First around 2, then around 4-5) and once in a while he's wake up a crazy amount of times (4:30, 5:20 and then up for the day at 6? Yuck!) We also have nights where he wakes up to eat and is wide awake for 30-60 minutes.  Truthfully I've found that if I don't keep track of it night to night and don't hope for or expect only one waking, it really doesn't bother me or affect my mood if he wakes up more times. That, and I drown out the bad nights in lattes.

Sleeping (Nap Time):  Elliott has fallen into a fairly consistent nap schedule - He wakes up for the day around 7-7:30 am, then goes down within 1-1.5 hours of waking up. He'll usually sleep for about an hour. After that he's ready for Nap #2 at about 11-11:30, and only sleep 3-40 minutes. Nap #3 happens around 2:30-3, and again is usually only 30-40 minutes. Lastly, he's ready for Nap #4 by about 5 pm, and ideally sleeps til 6. Sometimes if he only goes down at 5:30 I'll still wake him up at 6, or just shortly after (as I mentioned above.)

Play: The jumparoo is still the favourite by far. He just loves to jump! I'm pretty sure he falls asleep in it at least once a day. The current record for one day is 4 times. I'm not going to lie... it's pretty awesome. I just pick him up and lay him in his crib, and he's out like a light.
He still plays with most of the same toys - Sophie the Giraffe (of course), his blue/green rattle and his flat, crinkly giraffe. They get stuffed in the diaper bag everywhere we go! Speaking of going places - just a couple weeks ago he learned how to pull down on his fishy on his carseat handle. So fun to watch :) He has started to carefully touch things with just his index finger, middle finger and thumb, and sometimes he'll stare at an object for what seems like 5-7 minutes at a time while he does this. He loves to lay on his tummy- he'll squeal and kick and move his arms as though he's trying to swim. It's hilarious to watch. Chris joked that we should find a small board and put wheels on it (like a really short skateboard) and see how far he can go.


Highlights/Lowlights: He's found his feet! He can only get to them while he's sitting up, and he leans right over to play with them. He also finds it hilarious if he's laying on his back and I bring his feet close to his face. He can't quite get them up to his face himself (You've seen his thighs, yes?)

Speaking of laughter, he is so ticklish! If you tickle his chest, sides, under his arms and inner thighs, he squeals with laughter. Lifting him high up in the air gets him giggling pretty good too.

Teething. It's been up and down this past month. There were a couple days where he screamed for what seemed like an hour (more like 20 minutes) and nothing made it better, and then it seemed to taper off, and now he hasn't complained of teething pain for over a week. The drool however hasn't slowed down in the least!

He seems to learn a new noise everyday, and will make that noise over an over. Some days it's a high pitched scream noise (followed by a big smile) and sometimes it's a low growly noise. Adorable with a capitol A.

Chris has started getting up with him one day a week. (I get to choose if it's Saturday or Sunday) Being able to sleep in is THE BEST, and I think Chris really enjoys his morning snuggles with Elliott too :)

He's started telling me "bedtime stories" when I put him to sleep. He "talks" with his eyes closed in a voice that he doesn't really use during his awake time. It's so cute that it's a sound he reserves for while he's falling asleep!

He can sit really well assisted, and I wouldn't be surprised if he'll be able to sit unassisted before the next update. His core muscles are strong enough to correct himself - if he starts to lean too far forward, he can straighten himself out.

Likes:

  • Jumping. Always jumping.
  • Sucking on his fingers and thumbs (still loves his index finger the best)
  • Chomping down on Mom and Dad's fingers/knuckles.
  • When Mommy pretends to eat his hands
  • Pretty much anything Daddy does (still)
  • Being bounced in your lap
  • Getting thrown in the air
  • Putting anything in his hands into his mouth
  • His fishy on the car seat handle
  • Having his head under a running warm water
  • Having his ears (and behind his ears) cleaned/touched/rubbed
  • Bathtime - especially now that he just lays flat in the big tub and can kick and splash 
  • Being wrapped up in the ring sling

Dislikes:

  • Hurting gums :(
  • Being cold
  • Having boogers sucked out of his nose
  • Not jumping
And now, pictures!





























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Thanks for stopping by :)

~M























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