5 Months

Dearest Ryan,

Today you turned 5 months old. And wow! What a difference a month makes! You can do so many more things now than you could a month ago!

One of the biggest changes is that you started eating "solid" food. We started with Rice Cereal, and then moved to Avocado, Peas, Carrots, and Bananas. You have yet to meet a food you don't like (although sometimes you don't like it immediately)! You also have started using a sippy cup with a little water. You look like such a big boy with that sippy cup!

You are becoming SO MUCH more physically adept. You can reach and grab toys with ease (no more of that wobbly grab where it takes you 5 seconds to get what you want!). You are getting closer to crawling: you can prop yourself up on your elbows and sometimes your hands for quite a while. You can "scooch" but not yet crawl. Although sometimes I put you down on your activity mat, and then when I turn around you are 5 feet from where I left you and I'm never sure how you got there! You are so squirmy: when holding you, when changing your diaper, when giving you a bath, even sometimes when nursing you! If you hear something you will turn your head around to see what is going on. You don't want to miss a thing! It's cute, but it makes feeding you take  a little longer than it used to! You still love that excersaucer, even if you do get frustrated sometimes when a toy won't fit in your mouth the way you want it to.

You are becoming more and more verbal, and have on a few occasions said what sounds like a perfect, "Hi!" We are constantly trying to get you to say it, and usually you just laugh at us. But every now and then you say it at appropriate times. We won't yet call it your first word, but I have a feeling it will be!

Now onto the most important topic: SLEEP! You are still doing pretty well at night (usually only waking up once between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am) although you did have a setback for a week or so when we were probably feeding you too many vegetables and your little GI system couldn't handle them. You're getting back on track now though. But as for naps....we have good news to report!!! You have made such progress! You now always sleep in your crib (unless Mommy runs errands and you fall asleep sooner than she would expect in the car...or on one occasion when Mommy laid you on a blanket outside (after you helped Daddy wash the car) and you fell asleep instantly!) You're also developing more of a schedule. You seem to have a long nap in the morning (which has at times exceeded two hours!) then a short nap in the early afternoon and a medium nap in the later afternoon. Mommy couldn't be more pleased with the progress you've made in napping!The better you sleep, the more joyful you are!

Speaking of joyful, you are just such a happy little guy (most of the time!). You giggle at so many things now: Daddy blowing raspberries on your belly, your bath, Mommy imitating your laugh, Nana rubbing her hair in your face, being held high in the air. You just seem to smile all day long. You attract the attention of strangers everywhere you go. You love to look at new people and new people love to look at you! You're such a flirt!

Here is a brief summary of the milestones and new things you experienced this month:

May 9th:    First cold :(

May 13th:  First "solid" food!

May 14th:  Went to feed the Baby Ducks at Waugh Chapel Lake

May 26th:  Consistently sleeping in crib for naps

May 30th:  First time playing with the hose and helping Daddy wash the car

June 1st:    First time at the Pool (you were indifferent)

June 6th:    First outing with just Daddy: To the Grocery Store!

It is so much fun being your Mommy, Ryan. I love you more than you will ever know!

Happy 5th Month day!

Love,

~Mommy