5 Months Old!!

5 Months old on December 10th!

Weight:   A little over 13 lbs from a home scale

You are still the easiest and happiest baby ever!  You are so aware of your surroundings and you roll all around the room and can get to your toys even if they are 10 feet away from you.  You are so close to crawling and you understand what you are supposed to do...any day now :)  You still laugh like crazy whenever your brothers are around and especially when they are wild and hyper....great - lol!  I think you are starting to develop a little bit of stranger anxiety because you get ancy when people hold you but are the happiest clam in the world when you are in the arms of anyone you know.

EATING:

You still continue to have no issue going back and forth from bottle to nursing, which is nice for me to have the option.  My milk supply is struggling despite my best efforts but currently here is a typical schedule:

* Nurse first thing in the morning

* 4 4 oz bottles of breastmilk at Grandma &Papa's

* 2 4 oz bottles of formula at home for the evening

* Nurse in the middle of the night

I pump many, many times during the day but I can only get out about 12 oz a day - it is soooo frustrating but I am not sure what else to do.  I have kicked up my water intake even more (around 200 oz of water a day), cutting out alcohol and taking herbal drops to increase milk supply.  Going to hang on as long as I can!

SLEEPING:

We moved you to your room this month - yay!!  The first night was a total disaster because I tried to put you in your crib AND stop swaddling..what was I thinking?  We got about 2 hours of sleep.  But we put you back in the swaddle and kept at it and you sleep in your crib every night now :)  You have good nights and you have tougher nights but you are getting better and better.  Typically you go to sleep around 7:30-8pm and then you wake up once around 2:30-3:30 to nurse and then you wake up at 6-6:30am.  You also will fuss a few times at night and need your paci.  Daddy keeps saying to let you cry but I am not there yet...

You seem to take 2-3 naps a day at Grandma & Papa's house during the day.  Some days you sleep a lot, other days not very much.  Your daytime schedule is still not too consistent.

PLAYTIME:

You love to face out if being held and you love being on the floor for periods of time to just roll around and play with your toys.  You still will tolerate the swing in small doses but you don't love it.  You love facing out in the baby bjorn and seeing everything that is going on around you.  Watching your brothers is still a favorite activity.  You love daily walks with Grandma & Papa and it usually puts you to sleep :)  Everything is in the mouth and you love all the toys you can chew on, especially your links that connect and a chew necklace.

We are so in love with you Haddy-Cakes and I can't remember life without you!