It's been a month and a half since my last post, and boy let me tell you....a month in the life of a baby is a looooong time. I'm in a daze over here though friends. Sleep is deprived. Energy is low. Emotions are running wild. Thank goodness for a caring husband, mostly obedient kids, and a really cute FIVE (now almost six) month old!
We're taking one day at a time these days and soaking up the last of summer as best we can. I'm excited for fall activities to get underway, but at the same time have just really enjoyed all of the play and park dates we've been able to have, after dinner popsicles, bike riding in the driveway, and in general more relaxed and flexible schedule. It's been a really fun summer! I can hardly believe it's already September. That means mommy is turning 33 years old. This can't be possible!
20 weeks
(That blur is Big Brother waving a bug net.)
• Luther rolled from back to tummy on July 22nd! He'd done it once or twice before, but it wasn't official until I caught it on camera and saw it for my own eyes.
• Sleeping hasn't been great since June, but since he had started rolling and didn't seem to appreciate being swaddled so much anymore, I asked around and was able to borrow a
Baby Merlin Magic Sleepsuit. The first time napping in it was nothing short of a miracle. He slept for 3 hours and I didn't have to run up and down the stairs putting his paci back in. He just
slept. (Such a concept.) So you can imagine that I was pretty pumped for bedtime that night hoping it'd be the magic solution to our sleeping issues. It didn't make him sleep through the night, but it's continued to be fantastic for naps. (Now at 25 weeks when I'm getting around to finally writing this post, we've pretty much phased it out. It was short lived for about 1.5 months, but definitely helpful!)
• Luther had his first vacation at the lake! We traveled up north and spent a week with the Sinclair's at Hidden Haven. Great cousin time, fabulous (albeit a bit hot) Minnesota summer weather, smores, open window sleeping, unsuccessful fishing, tubing, drinks on the beach, medallion hunting, gravel road walking, food eating, and game playing. A vacation with kids isn't always the most relaxing, but we scored big time and got to share with Grandma and Grandpa who are the world's best helpers, book readers, baby holders, and diaper changers. They were so helpful and gave both Tom and I time to enjoy ourselves while we were there. Luther slept like poo (he had one 6 hour night), but was an otherwise angel baby the entire time!
• I've never seen a baby more ready to start eating solids. We hadn't intended on introducing solids at 4.5 months old, but he'd follow food to your mouth so intently and was
so interested. Then while we were at the cabin, I let him try some banana and he did so well....barely even spitting it out and eating like a pro with barely any experience. He's been sitting up to the table with the family ever since! And boy, can that little thing eat! I just moved on to step 2 foods and he's easily eating two of those containers at a meal. So far, he's tolerating everything very well and not being super picky. I hope to make some of his baby food this time, but of course he's showing preference to store bought. I've made sweet potato and plum puree, and have organic carrots, peas, and green beans to puree when I get an extra day in the week. :)
I really, really want a good eater! But store bought baby food is so convenient and the ingredients are not bad at all. So torn.
22 weeks
• Now he rolls from tummy to back as well! He'll occasionally stay in the same place you leave him on the play mat, but sometimes I'll find him off the carpet. There was a time his head was under the ottoman. Poor baby.
• He continues to like the Mamaroo, and is pretty much easily entertained with his own hands/fingers ("woah, what are these things?!"), most baby toys, and his siblings running around the living room.
• Luther's first night in a "bed" was August 19th. We had tried every.single combination of swaddle, rock n play, blankets on our floor, sleeper, miracle suit, our bed, on back, on tummy, half swaddle, etc that we could possibly think of with no luck. So we finally decided to set up the pack n play in our room. I had prayed for a 4 - maybe 5 - hour stretch, and the Lord heard my cries for mercy. Luther ended up sleeping from 9:45 to 5:00! It was such an answer to prayer. I had to put his paci in several times and he moved around quite a bit so I woke up several times, but I was able to "sleep" for 5 hours. God answers prayers!
The only thing we haven't tried is letting him cry it out. It's a tough thing to do no matter where your little one is sleeping, but when they're in your room, I'd say it's close to impossible. My mama heart just can't take it. We're not ready to move Conrad out of his crib and into a big boy bed (and into Gwendolyn's room), which means we just need to get through this more difficult stage. I know we'll survive.
• I had a newborn session so Luther had his first (and possibly only) day at Miss Kathy's house! He took great bottles, decent naps, had a blow out, ate pears for lunch, showed all of his friends his rolling tricks, and was apparently generous with the smiles. Miss Kathy has been such an important part of our family the last four years, and we're going to miss her tremendously (can barely even talk about it) when we move to a Parent's Day Out program in a few weeks. I'm thinking I'll somehow figure out ways for the older two kids to go to her house every couple of months or so just so it doesn't ever *really* end. (But seriously.)
• He loves playing with all sorts of toys and stays entertained while on his playmat for quite awhile. He isn't too picky - whatever fits in his mouth will work just fine - but he does seem a
bit partial to Sophie the giraffe and Moosey the Moose.
24 weeks
• Someone started sitting up! He doesn't always last super long before toppling over, but he's gotten so much better (stronger?) in the last week or so. What is it about a baby sitting up that makes me want 10 more kids?! It's seriously the absolute cutest.
• I thought FOR SURE we were popping a tooth through. He had a really rough night one night recently (worse than our normal rough nights) and middle of the day random round rosy cheeks. And then. Nothing. I feel nothing. Gwendolyn and Conrad both popped their first teeth through at 5.5 months so I was convinced we'd follow in the same pattern. Guess we'll keep watching and waiting!
• He sits on my hip now. Squish!
• He took his first ride in the big boy stroller sitting next to Brother. I believe at one point Conrad was getting upset with him for reaching over and trying to snag his's toys, but otherwise Luther thoroughly enjoyed the new view.
• Everyone comments on and loves his perfectly round bald head. It's hard to see, but there's just a liiiittle bit of fuzz making it the most delectably soft baby head around.
• When laying on his back, he moves his arms and legs like crazy and gets so excited. Daddy and I love copying him and playing the "who am I?" game.
• Luther is not a fan of loud noises. Sirens at parades. Crying babies. Etc.
• We had quite the scare two weekends ago. I was at the computer and Tom was in the kitchen. Luther was strapped into his booster seat and all of a sudden there's a crash and I turn around and Conrad had somehow knocked Luther and his chair over on its side. I suspect he was standing on the rungs of the chair trying to kiss Luther's head and it toppled because of his weight, but we'll never really know. He cried, but by the grace of God, he was completely fine. I was so overcome with thankfulness for his protection, that naturally I cried as well. PTL!
26 weeks
This post is taking me FOREVER to write! I can't believe how behind I am. (But then again, I can.) Luther is SIX MONTHS OLD TODAY! It's hard to believe he's been in this house for half of a year already. We love him more and more every single day. Not even lying. If he slept through the night, he'd officially be thee
perfect baby. :) He's so happy and content and smiles at the drop of a hat. My heart just absolutely positively
overflows with love for him.
• As you can see, I had to enlist the help of Sissy otherwise we'd get
nowhere taking pictures with a sign.
• Definitely officially sitting up unassisted! It's amazing what a difference a couple of days can make. He topples over every once in awhile, but he's pretty solid for the most part.
• Sleeping is hit or miss. Mostly miss. Last night was the first night I was so out of it that I couldn't even track it on my phone. My body was so tired, I didn't want to move to push a button every single time I nursed him. I'm thinking it was at least 38 times. Ok, maybe more like four. But four is a lot. You know things aren't going to go well when the first time he's up is around midnight. That makes for one long night. In fact, it's been so bad, that daddy had been sleeping in the basement just so we
both weren't exhausted.
It seems like he's only making it to the 2 o'clock hour and then he's wanting to nurse every 1.5 or 2 hours after that. One night recently, he was so tired that he only nursed on one side so I wasn't surprised when he was up at 10:40 pm wanting to eat again. That night he made it then until 4:25 am giving mommy a little longer stretch of sleep. But like I said, more often than not, it's been between 2:00 and 3:00ish. And then because I'm so tired I'm taking naps, which means I'm not sleepy for bed until 11:30ish or later some nights. It's a vicious cycle.
I'm sure it'd help if he wasn't in our room, but moving him into the crib in the nursery (where Conrad sleeps) isn't an option as of right now. Naps, on the other hand, continue to go super well. He is in a fleece sleep sack now. I can lay him down awake, put his paci in, hand him his blankie, and he puts himself to sleep and sleeps for hours.
Wish I understood it! :)
• Speaking of naps, we're down to two naps a day. If he randomly snoozes in the evening, it's only for a short time.
• The summer clothes have been packed up and we're on to mostly 6-9 month stuff. Size 4 diapers are being delivered tomorrow. (Daddy found quite the deal!)
• We had his 6 month appointment this morning. I think it was one of our smoothest appointments ever. Gwendolyn and Conrad each took a toy and were both happy and easy the entire time. Which was very helpful since it was an
hour and a half. That's a long time in a small room. Four shots was rough on Luther and on a tired mommy. I think I had more tears than he did, but it was a laugh cry. You know...when you're laughing because you're crying and then it makes you cry more. His poor little face though. Ugh. Just tugs on my heart.
Stats:
Weight: 19 lbs, 7 oz - 84%
Height: 29" - 99%
Head: 18" - 97%
Once the crying was done and we had a happy baby and pulled together mommy again, we celebrated by going through McDonald's to get Happy Meals. Because why not.
Ok, I'm going to hit "publish" because another 2 months go by!! Eeeeek!
