Ethan is 5 months old!

 

Our sweet little baby boy is growing up so fast! If only I could freeze time, I would. As exciting as each new growth and development is, I really want to enjoy and hold on to these sweet precious baby moments (maybe because I know it doesn't get any easier with time?). Here are the basics that are going on with Ethan this month. No well check scheduled, but I would guess he weighs about 17 lbs or a little over and is wearing size 2 diapers. He is still wearing 6 mo sleepers (though I have pulled out some 9 mo ones as well that were given to him from a friend). We are finally starting to weed out all of the 3-6 month clothing other than a few pairs of pants and moving into 6-9 month clothing. Each brand always seems to vary so much so some are so wide that they just swamp him, but he definitely needs the length and yet some (Carter's) fit just perfectly now. We are starting to be limited in our cold weather 6-9 mo outfits, yet have an abundance of 6-9 and 9mo spring outfits, so I guess I will really have to start wishing for a change to warmer weather in March.

This past month Ethan has been sleeping from 7:15/7:30pm until 7:30am each morning. He had a solid week where he slept 12 hrs without waking up (which was awesome!) and sleeping 9-10hrs to a feeding a majority of the other nights. After a brief congestion/head cold however, we seem to be stuck with a 2:30/3am wake up that is only satisfied with nursing. I can't seem to get him to cry it out and can't decide if it is becoming routine for him, he is growing and really hungry, or simply teething pain. He is chewing on EVERYTHING and always seems to have his hands in his mouth. As always, babies are a continual guessing game and as soon as things are on a good schedule or routine, they like to change it up.

A typical morning for Ethan includes nursing around 8am and a nap by 9:30/10 at the latest. He will sleep 1-1.5 hrs depending on if he goes down earlier or later (or if I have to disturb him). He nurses again at 11 or noon. He will typically nap again around 1pm or whenever I put brother down. If uninterrupted, this nap can range from 1.5-2.5 hrs which is great! If it is short then he will nap again around 5 for about 45 min which is great while I prepare dinner, but lately this 5pm is the nap he is slowly trying to give up. School days schedule can be a little off as he naps in the car and is often woken up so it is 30 min here wake up then back down another 30 min- just interrupted sleep most of the day. Overall, he is such a great sleeper though and very laid back. If he is tired he just goes to sleep with little to no fussing needed. It is not uncommon for Ethan to now go 4 hrs once or twice during the day between feedings and the rest are timely and 3 hrs. We have not introduced any solids (other than occasional ice chips) at this point, but I anticipate starting that in the next few weeks. He is beginning to display several signs of readiness and I am actually starting to get excited about it!

The past few weeks Ethan was rolling completely on his side and would sometimes sleep that way. As of February 16th he finally rolled back to tummy and is now doing so constantly. It is not uncommon for me to lay Ethan down on his back facing one side of the crib only to look through the video monitor to see him laying in the opposite direction a few minutes later and now even switching from back to his tummy. I never know how he will choose to rest, silly little boy.

We are in love with our precious little baby boy who loves to laugh (and does so throughout the day) and sometimes at such random things. Ethan certainly helps us keep our sanity on days when the "terrible 3's" strike with his older brother. Ethan smiles at almost everyone and only occasionally finds a stranger he is unsure about and will offer a pouty lip. His favorite toys are his taggie book, rattles, Sophie the giraffe, his horse lovey, his fisher price fish mirror, and two little puppy toys he received as gifts. He is absolutely in love with his big brother, Ryan, and watches everything he does (often giggling at him). He plays in the exersaucer some every day now and chews on all the toys and has started bouncing up and down just like Ryan did as a baby. We love celebrating all of his new "firsts" this year and can't believe he is already 5 months old.