5 Months

My little man is already 5 months!  

Here are some of the facts about my little man:

Mobility and Play:  So far he has still only rolled tummy to back.  He gets close to rolling back to tummy, but hasn't completed it yet.  He loves to sit in the exersaucer!!  He will sit there for so long, "playing" with the toys and watching his big sister run around.  He still sits in his bouncy/vibrating seat.  He has really outgrown it, but with a crawler in the house I sometimes just need to know his eyes are out of her reach while I am cooking lunch.

Personality:  He is such a happy baby.  We get lots of grins.  He laughs the quickest at his big sister.  He will give a smile to anyone who will talk to him.  He is easy-going.  He rarely cries.  If he is fussy, he probably has a b.m. coming (too much information).  

Sleep:  He is on a pretty great daytime pattern.  He sleeps two short morning naps and then a nice, long afternoon nap.  Depending on what we are doing, sometimes he sleeps a cat nap in the evening.  

His night time sleep....every time I think he has passed the 4:30am hurdle, we go back to it.  He will wake up 6 or later for 3 or 4 days and then go back to every other day waking up at 4:30.  So, we put him to bed around 7:15, then I do a dreamfeed with him around 10:15 (or whenever we go to bed).  Then, he wakes up any time between 4:30 and 7 for another feeding.

This week we have started the un-swaddling process.  Because of the lack of consistency in night-time sleep, I have dreaded messing with not swaddling him.  He goes to sleep so easily and quickly if swaddled.  But, safety says it is time to stop.  So, he now only gets swaddled for his long afternoon nap and again at bed time.  When I get him up for the dream feed, I don't re-swaddle when I lay him back down.  

 Notice he has been too long to tuck his feet into the swaddle for a long time now.  Also notice those amazingly cute lips!!  Oh my, irresistible!

 He wakes up so happy!  He almost always has this grin for me when he wakes up!

 Eating:  Benjamin is a champion nurser!  He nurses 6 or 7 times a day.  He will not nurse if he is not hungry, which is why trying to sneak a feeding in during the day to avoid the 4am feeding has never worked.  He likes to eat approximately every 3 hours.

At 4 months, 1 week, we started rice cereal.  If he is not hungry, he won't eat.  He needs to be offered cereal about 1.5 hours after nursing or he won't eat, which is tricky because that is really close to when he is ready for his next nap.  Who says babies don't know what they want?!

For several reasons, I wanted to try formula in B's rice cereal (milk supply concerns and maybe a "heartier" cereal would fill his belly more at the end of the day).  With just under an ounce of formula mixed in to his cereal and before he could eat it all, the red beard below had already formed.  (I saved the more detail pictures for the doctor; won't subject you blog-readers to his poor face)  Redness with raised bumps!  Oh no!  is little man allergic to milk??  is he going to have a milk allergy??  No more formula for him until the doctor and I can talk!  

Benjamin, Been-jammin', Benjamite

I may not sleep as much as I would like, but I sure do love you!

Doc McAnna-Kate

Anna-Kate is loving the new Disney show Doc McStuffins!  It is making her way more into playing doctor and giving us check-ups.  It was even nice going to her 3 year old doctor appointment; we could sing the song and talk about how Doc McStuffins checked the stuffed animals.

Mom, I can explain it to you.  (This is a face we see on her all the time!)

  But, Mom, I don't have time for the pictures.  Violet doesn't feel good.  She needs a checkup.

Benjamin doesn't feel good either, Mom.

 It's time for your checkup, time for your checkup!

I'm gonna check your ears, check your eyes, find out how much you've grown!

Saturday at the Farmer's Market

An activity that we love but don't do enough is go to the Farmer's Market!  

Saturday we were off to go sample and see what we could find.

Anna-Kate was quite happy with some watermelon samples, as well as the cantaloupe and peaches.  

Benjamin just sat content in his car seat; I am sure he was thinking "it's too hot for this guys!  share or let's go!"

Will loves these bottled, unique, old-fashioned style sodas!  As a cold treat on a hot day, we tried two flavors:  Prickly Pear and Shirley Temple.  Anna-Kate asked about our pink soda for hours!  

She was surprised by the flavors, but only smiles here!

I accidentally deleted the pictures of our finds, oops!  So imagine, if you will, a picture of two green tomatoes and a light purple eggplant.  Will and I decided on the spur of the moment to get these and then fry them for a date night after the kids' went to bed.  A wonderful $3, impromptu date night with the husband!  See the recipe we used for fried green tomatoes and homemade dips on my recipe blog (link to the right).

Groceries in style

a lot cuter than what I did yesterday

All in a day's work...

Okay friends, you guys know that since having Benjamin with keeping Natalie, I have been only a little brave about getting out.  I decided that today I would conquer a big errand:  Walmart!!  It went great!  We got a little of something from all over the store.  

I got everyone settled for the shopping trip.  This pictures goes perfectly with what I was thinking:  "Uummmm, where do I put all the groceries?"

Quick side note:  when going out with Mary-Knowles and Anna-Kate, I always got comments about "my cute twins" and lots of doors held.  When I go out with Anna-Kate, Benjamin, and Natalie, I get lots of confused looks, slight grimaces, and almost no comments.  Interesting commentary on our society's view of how many children someone should have.  I don't know that I like it.  (And, I really don't like the very few who actually voice that negative opinion, like "that looks like fertility out of control.")

  

And, the confession:  when the above picture is what you like while shopping, these items just might make their way into your cart!

Good Job!

Natalie, put it in the box.

Mom, she did it!

 Yeah, I did it.  You're welcome!

Compassion, a Friend, a Worthy Goal, a Product

I have a friend that I have known since I was in kindergarten.  She is the first friend I remember having a sleep over with.  For those reasons, even though an ocean separates us, Haley will always be a special friend!  An example of why this friend and her heart means so much to me:  at one of those early sleep overs (I think this is when we were about 7 or 8), I remember us talking about children who didn't have as much as we did.  We went downstairs to their kitchen and talked to her dad.  We told him that we would gladly switch places with those children so they could have what we have.  He told us to not be sorry for the blessings we have, but to always be willing to help and willing to share what we have.  Words to live by!

 Haley and I both got involved with a missions group in our hometown Shelby, Hands on Mission.  I worked with them and through them to go to Malawi a couple times in college, as well as to work with a Hispanic ministry while in college.  Haley and I, as young adults (in 2006), got together and planed a trip to Malawi where she was the medical lead and I helped lead the children's team.  I love Haley's heart for others and for missions, and I love that our story started so long ago!    

 Haley now has a blog that she has started for several reasons.  One, she is sharing thoughts about God and life.  This is a person that I enjoy and respect, so I like reading what she and God are talking about.  Two, she is selling Arbonne products.  Arbonne is a natural skin-care product line.  The proceeds go to help a school in India that is a Hands on Missions supported project.  

Moral of this story:  Visit my friend Haley's blog!  

http://sometimeshewhispers.weebly.com/

Bubbles!

About every other day after work, this is what Anna-Kate wants to do with her daddy!

Pajama Time

The moon is up.

It's getting late.

 Let's get ready to celebrate.

It's Pajama Time!

 Pull on the bottoms.  

Put on the top.

Get yourself set to pajama-dee-bop-

It's Pajama Time!

 Some are pink

and some are green

 Some are the cutest

you've ever seen!

 They might be stripey, 

or polka dot.

 But we can all pajammy

in whatever we've got.

 It's Pajama Time!

A post dedicated to pajamas that I am absolutely addicted to and the oh-so-cuteSandra Boynton books that get read over and over again!

Siblings

Anna-Kate sat on Benjamin.  I was about to stop it when I saw the grin and heard the laughs.  I am smitten and can not wait for more of these moments!

Beginnings of Friendship

 Good idea

 Better idea

Best idea

I did it!  (mrs. becca helped a little)

Natalie, talk to me!

Hey!

maybe not that close

Keep it up buddy!

Today, this happy little man slept 'til 7!  This came after 3 mornings of waking up at 5:30 or later.  Okay, buddy, you have shown me you are capable....let's keep this up!  (After 4 months of mostly 4am feedings, I will not argue with post 5:30 wake up times!)

Table for 4

Hey guys!  I want a seat at the table too!

Monday night we tried rice cereal with Benjamin for the first time.  Getting us prepared for siblings at the table, Anna-Kate was quite the ham, making her brother smile and laugh at her instead of posing for a picture! 

Here we go...first bite...

...and it comes right back out.

Benjamin had a typical first night of rice cereal.  He gagged on the spoon.  And, when he didn't gag on the spoon, he let the cereal drool right back out of his mouth.  Benjamin definitely went through his 4 month growth spurt last week.  Instead of adding feedings during the day, he started waking me up during the 3 o'clock hour instead of 4:30.  I tutored 4 out of 7 evenings last week, so we waited until Monday to start rice cereal.  After 4 nights of 3:15-3:45 wake ups, I was more than ready for rice cereal in our lives!  I was not ready for spitting it out! 

Luckily, last night, our third attempt at rice cereal, went much better!  He actually swallowed more than half of the cereal!  With just that little bit of cereal, 3:30 turned back into 4:45!  So, maybe if we can add a little more cereal to our lives, 4:45 can finally turn into an after 6 wake up time!  And, by after 6, I mean 7:30!