Connor: Five Months

Another month older!

Connor is up to about 17.5 pounds as far as we can tell using our bathroom scale.  He’s healthily chunky in my eyes, but he’s not a total roly-poly.  He’s in mostly 6-month clothes although some 3-6 month stuff also fits him.  He needed the bigger size mostly due to length.

Connor drinks five 6-oz bottles per day and eats every 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on his napping and general hunger level.  I’ve started adding a little formula to his morning bottle and giving him 7 oz and that seems to go over well.  Connor never doesn’t finish a meal so I will know something’s wrong if he’s done before the bottle is empty.

Our little C-man is doing great at going from his back to his tummy, but unless his one arm is under him just right, he can’t get himself flipped back over.  Until recently, this was a problem overnight.  He likes to sleep on his side but sometimes he’d get turned all the way onto his stomach.  He’d struggle and fuss to get back over then get really upset when he couldn’t so Mom and Day to the rescue! 

Sunday night, though, we accidentally went to bed with the monitor turned all the way down and the next morning Connor was on his tummy at the other end of the bed.  No telling how long he fought the losing battle of returning to his back before he finally went to sleep.  I felt sooooo bad on Monday.  However, I felt a little better every day this week because Connor’s been on his tummy, no fussing (yes, the volume was up, we made sure) in the night, and sleeping soundly when we get up  We’ve even had to wake him up for the day each day this week.  Fingers crossed that this continues through the weekend and maybe I can sleep past 6:00 in the morning.

Connor still needs two good naps a day and the morning one is more of a sure-thing than the afternoon.  I can usually get 1.5 to 2.5 hours out of him in the morning, but I’m lucky to get an hour in the afternoon and sometimes it’s just a catnap.  He goes to bed between 6 and 7, depending on his naps (or lack thereof), but bedtime’s usually pretty close to 6:30.

On the subject of sleep…  Connor has a blankie and I think he depends on it more than the pacifier these days, which is fine with me.  The blankie is made of a very light and breathable muslin and is about one foot square.  When we lay Connor in his crib for bed and naps, the first thing he does is reach is right arm out to grab the blankie and put it to his face.  (The picture below shows his blankie.  Connor spent the evening with a friend while the McHusband and I went out with friends.  Luckily he was happy when we got him home at midnight and he went back to sleep easily.)

He is still enjoying his baths and the activity center and he’s much happier on walks now that he’s sitting in the stroller facing out and looking at the world.  He gets pretty excited over rattles and of course is trying to put everything in his mouth.

Thank goodness he has those built-in “toys” at the ends of his arms; this hands are always in his mouth or holding each other or sometimes he just holds them out and looks at them like, “Well, those are interesting.”  He’s also found his feet, especially his right one.  He reaches for his feet a lot but doesn’t always get ahold.

If you asked Connor what the best thing ever is, he’d say his jumper.  He loves to just bounce away.  I’m so glad I randomly thought to get it out a couple Sundays ago.

Connor is very squirmy on his changing table and I know that’s just going to get worse as he gets older.  We’re going to look back and wish we had these days back.

Connor doesn’t like getting put in his car seat, but he settles down once he’s moving, both as you carry him and then when you’re driving.   There’s that, being on his tummy, and not being held when he’s out of sorts due to fatigue or hunger; otherwise there’s not much else that makes him genuinely unhappy these days, which we’re grateful for.

We haven’t started any real food yet and will wait to do that until he’s six months or so.  He doesn’t NEED it yet and let’s face it, a baby + real food = a lot of work!  I’m okay with putting that off for a little while longer.  It’ll give me time to get a high chair and read up on making baby food.  I think I can pretty much steam and mash most things, but I want to have the food ready when we finally bite the bullet.

Speaking of biting…  Connor doesn’t have any teeth yet, but I’m ready with an amber necklace for when we start that fun phase.

I know you guys are thinking, “Yeah, yeah, Connor’s growing and stuff, but what about the sock monkey?  Where do the two of them stand this month?”  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

I guess they’re buddies now.

I have a feeling I’m going to be saying this every month from now on, but the McHusband and I have really enjoyed this past month.  Connor is giving back with his smiles and voice and little giggles.  We also just know him better and can read his moods and that’s been very helpful in all three of us having good days.

We are excited to see what the next month brings!

P.S. Happy Birthday, Leigh!