I really like this age and I think it's only going to get better from here. He has mastered rolling over both ways and now (as of a few days ago) rolls all over the carpet to get to the toys he wants. It's so fun watching him learn and really take in everything that is going on around him. I actually enjoy watching him struggle as he tries to hard to reach for the toy he wants. He looks at me like "mom help!" and sometimes I do, but usually I let him whine and eventually he makes his way to whatever he wants. He is so close to sitting up by himself. He can do it with support from the boppy or one of us but usually ends up leaning or falling forward after about 20 seconds. I'm beginning to wonder if we will have an army crawler before we have sitter. He is also reaches for everything! Whatever you have in your hand or in front of you, he wants it.
This month's "photo shoot" was a little more difficult. He just wants to move!
Sleep/Naps: We have figured out a good schedule with him. He usually is only up for about 1.5 hours at a time. Sometimes he will go 2 hours but by that time, he's usually overtired. Bedtime is between 7:30-8. The older he gets, he seems to like more of a 7:30 bedtime. Since week 2 we have had a pretty consistent bedtime routine: We get in our jammies and nighttime diaper, read goodnight moon, say prayers, eat our bottle and go to sleep. Most times he falls asleep after the bottle so we lay him down asleep. If he wakes up, we let him put himself back to sleep. If he is awake after the bottle, we lay him down and let him settle. If he goes for longer than 20 minutes, we will go check on him, make sure he doesn't need to burp, didn't poop, etc. Rock him for just a few minute and then lay him back down. He only gets one time of us going back in for both bedtime and naps. Naps most days are good. They are about 1.5 hours on average, sometimes 2. Sometimes he will wake up after 45 minutes and act like he wants to be awake but I know he needs more sleep. I don't go in and get him, he cries it out. I had read this in "Baby Wise" and they call it the "45 minutes intruder". It's so crazy how spot on they were--it's usually exactly 45 minutes when he wakes up! They say don't go get them and let them settle on their own, so that's what we do! Sometimes it's 20-30 minutes before he goes back down but he's not screaming the whole time so I figure he is fine. He just talks and fusses here and there.
Food: He eats 6-7 ounces and 4-5 bottles a day depending on how much he eats. We started solids a few weeks ago. He has been eating oatmeal for about a month but now he's on to sweet potatoes, pears and peas. He loves his sweet potatoes and pears. He will eat the peas but not as fast as the others. Today I made the squash and avocado - it was super easy! It only took 45 minutes from start to finish. This will give us 10-12 meals for squash and 7 for avocado and all of it only cost $8. I am all for buying baby food but now that I'm working part time, making the food is easy to fit in the day! Plus, it keeps me from shopping at the mall ;)
Don't judge me on presentation..the avocados were a little difficult to pour ;)
I am done breast feeding so he is only eating formula which he doesn't mind at all. I do miss breast feeding because he was always such an amazing eater. He was sleeping 12 hours a night on just breast milk! Around 4 months, the little booger started getting so distracted while eating. This turned his 10-15 minute eating times into to 45+ minutes and a struggle for us both. I was trying to force him to finish and eventually he would just get mad. So I started just letting him hang out and not force it...well then he started to play and laugh...yeah, not happening. Haha. So for the last month I have been strictly pumping and then this past week I gave it up. I'm sure fellow mamas will agree that going from getting 8 oz. in 10 minutes to 3/4 of an oz. in 20 minutes is the most frustrating thing ever! A part of me feels sad because it went so well for 4 months but the other part of my feels relieved! While I loved nursing, I hated pumping. Sending that sucker in storage was a wonderful moment ;)
US: We are doing great! Work is going well for both of us. We have been able to get out and golf here and there as well as squeeze in some dinner dates. Bjorn has been golfing a ton this Summer. It's interesting how all of these day long golf tournaments are "for networking purposes"..... ;)
We celebrated Bjorn's 30th birthday this past Saturday! I threw him a surprise party and it turned out great! We saw friends that we haven't seen in a while and it was so nice catching up with everyone! Bjorn was surprised and I know he had a great time. I can't believe my love is 30! I LOVED getting to spend most of my 20s with Bjorn, but I'm thinking the 30s are going to be even more special!
In lieu of a birthday gift for Bjorn, I asked everyone to bring a gift to donate to the Child Life Department at Gillette Children's Hospital. The hospital did wonderful things for Bjorn's cousin Corbin throughout his life, so giving back to them is important for us! The turnout was awesome!! Thank you to everyone who brought a gift. I dropped them off on Tuesday and they were all super excited and so thankful.
Party Favors for our guests
Child Life Donations! So many great toys!
Really thinking hard about what is going on...
Warming up to the idea of laying in the water
We are really enjoying our lives as parents. It's truly a love so deep that it actually hurts sometimes and now I can't imagine my life without the little guy. He is just so much fun!
Love to all..
