Caeden Elijah - 5 months

So I know I stink at blogging. The last post was about Caeden at 4 months, and now this post about him at 5 months is being posted almost a month late with nothing else inbetween. Oh well. Maybe blogging isn't for me. :) Nevertheless, here's his update!

Weight: 15 pounds (still!)

Height: TBD

Nursing: We moved him last week to a 3.5/4 hour routine which has been SO much better for him. He wasn’t eating so well on a 3 hour schedule there for the last few weeks. With this change he dropped down to 4 feeds a day. Nursing times are 7:00/10:30/2:30/6:30.

Waketimes: The first waketime is about 75 minutes. The other waketimes of the day are from 90 minutes and 2 hours, respectively.

Sleeping: 2.25 for the first nap, 2 hours for the second nap, and anywhere from 45 min to 1.5 hours for the third nap. Night sleep is still going well at 12 hours.

Something super sweet that happened this month is how drastically he changed how he feels about our pre-nap calm down routine. Starting from around 13 weeks old, he began to just SCREAM in protest when I was trying to do our wind down time before nap. It was not enjoyable or calming at all for either of us. Usually I just ended up plopping him in his bed and letting that be that. I don’t know why, but I had never thought to pray about the issue. However as soon as I did, the very next day it was like he was a different baby. God is so good. Now as soon as we walk into his room and turn on the sound machine, he lays his head on my chest and sucks his thumb. He always sticks his other arm straight up and rubs his hand back and forth on my shoulder. I just love it! It is such a special time of day now getting to cuddle with my little man.

New discoveries and other notes: He discovered that he can reach and play with his feet now. A few weeks ago he began waking up happily from naps and nighttime. It is such a nice sound to hear him waking up talking to himself rather than squalling. He also now has a thumb preference. He only sucks the left thumb, whereas he used to suck whichever one was closest. If he’s not sucking his thumb, then his right hand is in this mouth chewing on those fingers. During playtime he’s getting to where he much prefers sitting up somehow rather than lying down. He loves to watch Micaiah play. His eyes will lock onto him and he’ll follow wherever Micaiah goes. It’s hard to believe that one day soon they’ll be talking and playing together.

Favorite toys: playgym, mobile, and jumperoo. You also really love Sophie the giraffe and links. Anything you can chew, chew, chew, and chew!

"numping", splashing, and swishing

As much as we long for a home of our own, we sure are enjoying having a pool in the backyard! We took both boys out the other evening to play. My favorite thing is when Micaiah asks to 'nump' aka jump. He has grown more and more brave throughout the course of the summer. He started off not even wanting to get in the water!

pasty boy needs some sunlight

We've been working on not yelling inside, and so here he was discovering that it's ok to be loud outside. Each time he would do it he would love over at us to make sure we weren't going to be mad about it. :)

Nump!

Caeden Elijah - 4 months

Weight: 15 pounds (50th percentile)

Height: 26 inches (just over 90th percentile)

Nursing: All is well. I said last month that you started to eat faster. Well this month you *really* started to eat faster. So much so that I thought for a little while you were eating less. After a few days of worrying, I realized you are just eating quicker. You are super eater. Not so with a bottle though. The few bottles you’ve had take you about 30 minutes.
You nurse at 7:00/10:00/1:00/4:00/6:45.

Waketimes: The first waketime is about 55 minutes. The other waketimes of the day are anywhere from 65-75 minutes.

Sleeping: 3- two hour naps a day. 12 hours at night.

Dropping the 4th nap: At 14 weeks you all of a sudden stopped taking a solid 4th nap. You suddenly started taking a shorter nap and then you stopped sleeping for it at all, all within the span of a few days. At 15 weeks we extended the waketime before that nap. With that, you continued to take the nap for two more weeks until we dropped it altogether at 17 weeks. This will definitely make going out to dinner easier, as well as provide a larger time block in the evenings to get out of the house or take a walk.

Dropping the swaddle: 2 or 3 nights after you turned three months old, I tried to let you settle yourself in the night to break that habit I mentioned last month. It wasn’t happening, so when I went into your room I decided to take you out of the swaddle. You immediately relaxed. For the rest of that night and the nights that followed we left one arm out of your swaddle. That way you could get your thumb. From then on you have slept all night. We did that for a week and a half before leaving both arms out, so now you are swaddle free.

New discoveries and other notes: You just learned how to roll from back to tummy (July 27)! We are loving how you will smile and laugh at pretty much anyone who looks your way. We do not necessarily love the fact that you no longer enjoy sleeping in the car. I think the main reason you can’t is because Micaiah is so loud. It makes for a long trip to and from Atlanta!
　
Favorite toys: swing, playgym, and you just LOVE the mobile. However I cannot leave it hooked to the bed because you will just stare at it and not go to sleep. Your thumb is probably your most favorite thing to "do". It is constantly soaking wet. Right or left, day or night, asleep or awake, you love your thumb and are perfectly content to just lay on the floor with it in your mouth.