Eli’s 5th Month

It’s hard to believe your fifth month has already passed; time flies when you’re having fun. There have been so many small developments that I’m having a hard time keeping track of them all! The last two weeks of November, you started rolling from your tummy to your back to sleep. So, I got the hint and started putting you down to sleep on your back. I thought I had you all figured out (and couldn’t wait to tell your doctor, “YES! Eli is sleeping on his back now! You don’t need to worry anymore!) when you then started rolling BACK onto your tummy! So, as it stands now (on your 6-month anniversary), I put you to nap on your back, but then you roll on to your tummy. 🙂

You now love to roll over wherever you can: the changing table, the dining table where I dry you off after your bath, the yoga mat, even your little rocking chair. (I now absolutely must use the seat belt after I found you clinging to the side of the chair with half your body hanging outside! AH!) It now takes forever for me to change your diaper as I try to wrestle with your wringing body! You also got to go to the playground and, for the first time, sit in a swing and go down the slide! I can’t tell how you feel about the equipment, though there are many videos documenting your experience.

You are starting to sit up with a little less support, and you also love to stand! You usually like to stand and bend over to pick up the rings from the stacking tower. But what you love to do most right now is to bounce! You bounce everywhere — while you’re nursing, while you’re being carried, while you’re standing on my tummy! We’ve had to move your bouncer up to #2 earlier this week because you got too tall for #1.

You notice your surroundings much more, which is great news because you’re even more interested in observing the world around you (though I would say that you were always a curious little newborn). But it’s also not great news because you get soooo distracted while you’re nursing! Nobody can talk while you’re nursing because you’ll immediately stop and turn to look at the speaker (or even whatever sounds are nearby). I’m sorry to say you’ve had milk spray all over your face and even in your ear as you turned to look at the world around you! (TMI, I think.)

You’ve also joined us at the dinner table in your little booster seat where you play with the shapes. You seem to be testing cause and effect as you toss the shapes on the floor and wait for one of us to pick them up. Thank you for the extra exercise, Eli! 😀

Today is your 6th month birthday. I currently have a sweet potato in the oven waiting to be puréed for your first solid meal. I will report back and see how it all goes. I also have a cake waiting to be picked up at the bakery (but that’s for the adults for now. You’ll have to wait a bit for that – sorry!) I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this month — and how wonderful that your Ông and Bà will be able to witness your growth this month!

Nov 19 (5 m) – I will give you just ONE picture where I am calm and collected …

Nov 19 (5 m) – … because I want to play with my toes …

Nov 19 (5 m) – … and continue rolling over. Here I go! Are you watching?

Nov 20 (5m1d) – On our way to an abnormally warm run at Riverview. Just so you know, I put your cap on straight, and you adjusted it so you could look all cool!

Nov 20 (22 wks) – These days, you are less fascinated by rolling over …

Nov 20 (22 wks) – … and more obsessed with tasting your toes!

Nov 22 (5m3d) – Our family of four (don’t forget Riley!) took a stroll on the path parallel to the Meadow Creek Parkway. It was quiet and cold, near dusk. We came across six deer, but I’m not sure you noticed as you fell alseep on the way back. Dad’s silhouette is smiling down at you.

Nov 22 (5m3d) – On the trail, we came across this pretty little waterfall that seemed to come from an old, abandoned road. How cute!

Nov 22 (5m3d) – This was your view on the return trip (to the car).

Nov 25 (5m6d) – Often, it takes a bit of work to get your foot near your mouth, so when it finally gets near, you shove it right in your mouth! With such force that your right eye gets all squished up!

Nov 26 (5m1w) – Sometimes, your socks are still on as you try to jam your foot in your mouth.

Nov 26 (5m1w) – But instead you pull off your sock! You don’t seem to mind, though, as you happily chomp away!

Nov 27 (23 wks) – Dad was so eager to snap this picture of you (after having rolled over on the dinner table getting toweled off after a bath), he didn’t even want to wait for your shirt to get on!

Nov 27 (23 wks) – Happy First Thanksgiving! Yay for turkey-flavored milk!

Nov 27 (5m8d) – Daddy has a pretty funny expression, but since I’m the one taking the picture and making you laugh, can you imagine how I look?

Nov 27 (5m8d) – Hmm, you know, Dad, I’m young, energetic, and love to move. That’s why I often come out blurry in pictures. What’s your excuse? 🙂

Nov 29 (5m10d) – I usually try to take you out on our runs after you wake up from your naps and before you fall asleep again. Sometimes, things don’t go according to plan, and you end up just falling asleep during the run. Rather than wake you up by moving you into the car (I’ve never successfully transferred you from stroller to car without waking you up), I just keep walking round and round until you wake up! I’m sure Ms. Riley doesn’t mind!

Nov 30 (5m11d) – It was a beautiful Sunday (as suggested by your short-sleeve shirt), but poor Daddy couldn’t come out with us because he was busy driving back and forth to Lowe’s to install a new kitchen sink.

Nov 30 (5m11d) – I put you back in this seat successfully. The last time I put you in here (maybe at three months?), you burst into tears because you didn’t like the tray snapping in and holding you in place. That’s my guess, anyway. I mean, you also once burst into tears when I showed you a picture of pants with ruffles on the butt. Perhaps a budding fashionista as well? Here, you are inspecting what’s inside this toy box…

Nov 30 (5m11d) – … and methodically putting away the lid, so you can get a shape and …

Nov 30 (5m11d) – BITE ON IT, OF COURSE!

Nov 30 (5m11d) – On second thought, better just bite the whole darn box. (You also like to gnaw on the yellow lid though.)

Dec 1 (5m12d) – Sitting at the table like a regular ol’ diner!!

Dec 1 (5m12d) – Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!! Your little toes finally reach the ground!

Dec 2 (5m13d) – Getting ready for Christmas! Hooray!

Dec 3 (5m2w) – Waiting for friends at Rives Park, you flashed the sweetest smile while I played with you. Though you weren’t as smiley when our friends (Andi and Luke) came, you were definitely inquisitive! 🙂

Dec 4 (24 wks) – Believe it or not, this pajama is a 9-month sized one! You’ve still got room to grow into it though!

Dec 5 (5m16d) – Our run on the Monticello boardwalk after a long hiatus (we only get to run here when Riley goes to school). We managed to see them set up for the 5K race the next day. Perhaps we can pretend we completed the race! Yay! We did it!! 😀

Dec 5 (5m16d) – Here you are modeling your very own 9-month-sized stegosaurus (I think) pajamas. The feet even have little claws, but you seem more interested in your own paws!!

Dec 6 (5m17d) – You loved playing with Aunt Brittany’s adorable children! And they gave you so many of their things: a light BundleMe, sunglasses, and an awesome firetruck!

Dec 6 (5m17d) – Sorry for the slightly creepy picture, but since the last week of November, you’ve been sleeping on your back. I love how your leg often manages to hang out of the bassinet side!

Dec 7 (5m18d) – Don’t I look so cool with these sunglasses on?

Dec 7 (5m18d) – Haha! It’s so funny that you think I’ll actually keep it on. You know I’m going to try to eat the straps when you place me in the car — even if that means I have to stare at the sun!

Dec 8 (5m19d) – It was a cold run at Riverview today (34ºF). You kept trying to hold Sophie outside the blanket, and I kept trying to cover your hands up. So finally, you just propped Sophie up against the seat and licked her – hands free! I even have the video to prove it!!

Dec 11 (25 wks) – Here’s another sleeping picture with your leg up the side. So comfy, right? Let’s see how you like the body pillows that Ông and Bà are bringing you in a few days.

Dec 11 (25 wks) – You LOVE the bouncer (especially now that I’ve put in batteries)! You’ve grown so much that your feet are almost completely firmly on the ground. I may have to raise the bouncer pretty soon!

Dec 12 (5m23d) – Sporting the sunglasses and keeping cozy inside the BundleMe , both courtesy of Ms. Brittany – Aunt Kit’s dear friend! Perfect for the cool, sunny weather!

Dec 12 (5m23d) – And then you promptly fell asleep on the run. You were trying to close your eyes, but I put the sunglasses so close to your eyeballs that you couldn’t close one of them! Oh no (sorry)! As soon as I pulled the glasses off (they’re on your head), your eyelids droooooooped shut.

Dec 12 (5m23d) – Here’s the cake I designed for your six-month birthday. I’m about to go pick it up today! Let’s see how similar it looks to the drawing.

Dec 13 (5m24d) – Best day ever! Your first time in the swing! You were unsure at first, you bit down on the swing and looked inside the bucket (there’s a video!), but you eventually warmed up to it!

Dec 13 (5m24d) – How magical is this swing! Even better than the kind that’s supposed to help you fall asleep? 😀

Dec 13 (5m24d) – You got all giggly as Daddy pushed you (but not too high). We kept having to stop because you kept wanting to bite the swing!

Dec 13 (5m24d) – I think Daddy was trying to get you to smile for this picture!

Dec 13 (5m24d) – And then Riley wanted to join in on the fun! You kept trying to hug her, but she kept sticking her butt in your face so you could scratch her favorite spot. It was pretty funny to hear your confused grunt, “What’s she doing?!”

Dec 14 (5m25d) – Back at Carter’s Apple Orchard one week before they close for the season. It was also probably the longest you’ve sat in the Beco carrier.

Dec 15 (5m26d) – You love playing with the Fisher-Price ring stacking toy, but I’m not sure if you like the hoops or the tower more. From this picture, I would venture to guess that you like the tower more.

Dec 15 (5m26d) – See? Like I said, you like the tower more!

Dec 17 (5m28d) – Why no picture on the 16th? We drove up to Dulles to pick up Ông and Bà — your longest car trip. We left around 9:30 AM and didn’t get home until 4:30 PM. (Stopped to eat pho) You were wonderful even though you barely slept through the car ride. So our routines were way off on the 16th, but we picked back up with a walk at Monticello on the 17th. (But even that was off, because you slept in pretty late, and it was close to sunset when we started the walk, as you can see in this picture. By the time we were done, it was pretty much dark!)

Dec 18 (26 weeks!) – Half a year old, Eli! I wanted to get you a party hat but forgot, so we turned this Bed, Bath, & Beyond coupon into a party hat! I don’t think you were too pleased with that.