Theo at 5 months

Where has the time gone? My little baby is already 5 months old! It’s unbelievable. When I sat to write about him turning 4 months old, there were so many new things he was doing, I thought that the 5 month blog posting would be low key with not much to report; however, that is not the case. At this age it is like something new happens every day. Life just keeps getting more and more enjoyable and Theo is really the best baby; we’re so lucky.

Eating:

Theo is still getting all breast milk, about 24-28 ounces a day. He’s pretty clear about when he wants to eat by smacking his lips, whimpering, and then getting a very big grin when you open the refrigerator door. He can pull the bottle to his mouth, and he’ll hold the bottle with his hands, but only to help. He can’t quite feed himself yet. Part of me wants him to be able to feed himself and the other part of me loves that he needs me and we get that snuggly time together. He also started eating rice cereal this month. He eats about ¼-1/2 cup each night before bedtime. For a while he wasn’t seeming to enjoy it, but we give him a bottle about 30 minutes prior and that seems to help him enjoy the cereal more. He is TOTALLY interested in our plates. If he sits on our laps while we are eating he is quick to reach into our plates. I did let him suck for a brief minute on a strawberry last night, but we’re probably still going to wait until 6 months before we introduce him to veggies and then fruits. I think I’ll probably try to start weaning myself from pumping at the end of the month as well. I’ve already cut back to about 5-6 pump sessions per day, and I have 3,700 ounces frozen. It sounds like so much, but when you figure out how long it would last, it’s only a few months. My goal is to have him solely on breast milk until he’s 1.

Sleeping:

After attempting (for a week) to try to be on Mason’s flexible schedule, we decided that Theo’s schedule needs to remain the same, and we’ll adjust to him. Generally he takes a bottle around 7:30pm, eats cereal between8:00-8:30pm, takes a bath or plays and then we feed him between 9:00-10:00pm. He will typically sleep until 10:00-10:30am (straight through) if we don’t wake him for daycare. He also LOVES to sleep on his tummy, now that he can roll over. Usually during the week, Mason wakes him at 7:30 or for school, and he takes a morning nap at daycare.

Play:

Theo is enjoying bath time more and more. A few nights a week Mason will hop in the tub with him and he seems to really like that. I think he likes to “float” and he can kick more instead of being inside of his miniature tub.

Theo spends less time in his swing and recliner chair, since he wants to move! He will be content to sit and play with a toy while I make dinner, but then he wants to roll over. Which is another HUGE milestone this month; Theo can roll from his back onto his tummy now! He loves to roll, except when he realizes that he’s on his tummy but his toys are not within reach. He’s gotten good about wiggling around enough to get what he wants, but he’s eager to crawl.

Grabbing toys is becoming easier and easier. He can reach out farther to toys and he is figuring out how each toy works. He can usually figure out how to turn pages in books, make the toys light up, and make their sounds. He’s very good at mimicking sounds- and he “talks” a lot with us these days.

At daycare they let him play in a jumperoo and he does pretty well. We have a new-to-us jumper that hangs in the door. We tried it a few times, but he mostly just hung there. But today he seemed to start actually bouncing around. Yay! We also let him sit in his bumbo chair a little eat day so he can practice sitting up. He’s supporting himself more, so I think by the end of the month or by mid-April he should be able to sit-up by himself.

Friends:

I had a week off in February so Theo and I spent lots of time adventuring around town with our friends. Theo is very interested in the little kids who pay attention to him, in particular our neighbors Ezekiel and Eden. They will get right in his face and talk to him and play with him and he has a big grin. They also play at the park with him, and he’s started to swing a little bit, although again, he sort of just hangs at the front part of the swing.

Daddy:

Mason has been very busy with work and a schedule that is hard to keep up with. One day he’ll be on a morning shift and then suddenly on a night shift later in the week. For the next few weeks the squadrons here at Barksdale are participating in an exercise called Red Flag out of Nellis AFB, and the flights are in the evening, so this entire week Mason will work 6pm-6am. He’s been great about taking Theo to school every day and he is definitely the apple of Theo’s eye.

Mommy:

Ellen has never made it home so quick from school than nowadays. After school time with Theo is awesome. We play, walk, read books, and hang out. School is busy as we’re preparing for state tests, prom, and the end of the year is just 10 weeks away! I’ve been trying to keep up with reading for book club and participating in squadron events and a bible study, but I haven’t been headed out too much. Life is never dull around the Kehs’ house.