Wills Family Blog: May 2009

Adam's first Easter

This shot was also taken on Easter. He's just over 5 months here and is sitting up for long periods of time at this point.

This one was taken on Easter. Yes that is a fat roll over his knee cap!

These two shots were taken mid April. He had been eating rice cereal for a week or two here. He feels the need to grab the spoon and guide it into his mouth, which causes quite the mess.

Adam’s 5^th month was absolutely incredible. Pure bliss. And so much fun! He is literally changing right before our eyes. I actually started a blog the beginning of his 5^th month (that I unfortunately never finished or posted). His tricks at that time (April 2^nd) were rolling well in both directions, reaching with determination for specific objects, becoming interested in even the smallest objects (like my jewelry), sitting independently for short periods, and perfecting his “raspberry skills.” We started rice cereal at the beginning of his 5^th month. The first two times that we fed him he rejected it in a big way, arching his back to get away from the spoon, and turning his head. The third time we attempted to feed him it was like something clicked in that little head of his, and he realized what we were doing. From that day on he has been eating like a champ. He even grabs the spoon and shoves it into his own mouth. I, of course, declared that he must be a baby genius to take to eating so fast/well. Jason’s take on the situation was that Adam realized it was food, and that he really likes food.

Adam started sitting up at about 5 months old, so that has led to some independent play. He sits, surrounded by toys (and typically surrounded by one, if not both of us-what can I say, he’s an only child!), going from one thing to the next with his big boy hands. Not one ounce of gentleness is used. He is strong, rough, and very deliberate with his actions. Even a toy close to his size will get picked up with two hands and put up to his mouth. He also has no fear, and knows no limitations. He dives from a sitting position to try to reach the object of his desire. I would say that he sits up quite well. The only issue is the “diving” for objects. I feel like I have to keep a pretty close eye on him in case he gets himself into an uncompromising situation. He has done some major face plants, and it doesn’t seem to phase him. He just gets his little arms out from underneath him and reaches happily for the thing that he has been longing for.

He is 6+ months now and is a big, happy boy. At his 6 month appt. he was 21 lbs 8 oz and 29 ¼ inches long. That puts him back onto the growth charts at about the 95^th percentile. He is eating both fruits and vegetables. Vegetables are preferred. I would say his favorites are probably sweet potatoes and carrots, in that order. He is eating twice a day, and definitely looks forward to meal time. I think it works best to have two spoons out, one to distract him. Otherwise he feels like he has to guide the spoon with food to his mouth. He does this so quickly that it often causes quite the mess. (Which is why I came up with the distraction spoon.) Food still gets everywhere. He rubs it all over his face and onto his ears. For him this is half the fun.

Adam eating sweet potatoes

These next several pictures are of a happy boy with a belly full of sweet potatoes - his favorite!

He is quite the little ham-just like his shirt says!

We fed him for the first several weeks in his bumbo. His infatuation with his feet led to some messy, messy meals with food all over his legs and feet. Now we feed him in his high chair so that he can't get to his toes.

He loves his bouncy thing that hangs from the door. He loves watching Cooper and Taylor do anything at all. And he LOVES to be outside. He will literally just sit in his stroller and look around. Sometimes we don’t even leave the driveway. We’ll just sit outside (in the stroller, on a blanket…whatever). I’ll point out trees and cars, blow bubbles or sing songs and he just takes it all in with those beautiful, big brown eyes of his. He still loves bath time. He loves to be sung to. He is getting ticklish, which makes for a fun game for J and I. He definitely likes to imitate, so he likes it when we make noises that he can make (like wa, wa, wa or du, du, du) or blow raspberries at him. He wants to touch EVERYTHING, and everything that he touches goes into his mouth. I can’t say enough how busy, busy, busy he is. Once he really gets moving I don’t think he’ll ever stop. Speaking of moving, we are heading in that direction. He already scoots on his belly (he does a better job going backward than forward). I would say that he can easily cover a 6 foot by 6 foot area He is working hard on figuring out this crawling thing. When he is on his belly he easily lifts his chest and belly off of the floor. He’ll go up onto his feet and hands (his own little downward dog), and start rocking. From this position he can easily get onto one knee, but he hasn’t quite figured it out from there yet. If there is something nearby that he can pull up on he will pull himself up onto his knees and check out the view from there. I am predicting he will be an early crawler. At first this bummed me out a little, but I’ve gotten over that. I think he will be so happy to be moving around that now I find myself wishing it for him! (But that means we really need to get on this whole baby-proofing thing! Yikes!)

Let’s see, that brings us to sleeping, or lack there of. He still nurses about every two to three hours all night long. We still have him in the co-sleeper, although we have talked about getting him into his crib at some point sooner rather than later (although it may be later if Adam has any say in it!). Sometimes I do miss the sleep, but mostly I just love nursing him so much that I don’t really mind getting up all night. He is just so busy all day long, that this really gives me the chance to cuddle with him. When he wakes up in the co-sleeper he starts to fuss, and if I don’ t pick him up right away he’ll scoot his way over to our bed, and reach his hands up onto our mattress, often touching my arm. I’ll quit faking sleep at that point and open my eyes to look at him. That’s when he starts smiling and just reaches for me (oh ya, did I mention he’s reaching for people now?! It’s adorable!). At night I nurse him lying down. He cuddles into me so close, holding onto my chest or shirt with one hand. He likes to put his fat little feet on my bare skin-he rubs them on my legs or on my bare belly. He’ll drift off to sleep nursing, still holding me. I love to watch him sleep. To smell him. To look at the contours of his face in the dim lighting. He just amazes me. When we ever do get him into his crib I’m worried it’s going to be a difficult adjustment for him (really for both of us). Whenever he wakes up he goes up onto his hands and looks over checking to make sure I’m still close by.