5 Months

Five months.. it's like a tipping point before the next big milestones emerge, like sitting and crawling. I like this age because we've hit a stride. He still sleeps a lot but is awake for enough time that you can stop what you're doing and enjoy him until his next nap.

Harrison is such a sweet, happy boy. He is as easy going as his sister was at this age, except he's easier to put to sleep than she was (and still is). The week before we moved he started shifting his bed time from 2-3 am to more like 12-12:30. For about a week after we moved he slept for 10-ish hours straight from about 11-11:30 on, but now he sleeps about 6-8 hours from 9-ish to about 5am usually (I'm not complaining!!).

He is just over 16 pounds and is 25.75 inches long :).

He rolled over this month, and loves tummy time for the duration of his endurance level. He is the happiest, most smiley guy when he wakes up and loves to kick and stretch, especially when you take his diaper off. He is still fairly stiff and likes to be stood up. We just recently broke out the Johnny Jump Up, which he is enjoying. He is difficult to wear because he almost always stiffens up and tries to stand in the ring sling and he's too heavy for the cotton wraps now, but his legs don't spread open enough for the Ergo. I still use the ring sling most of the time because I can find a way to make sure he's secure and adjust the position for my comfort. He tolerates reclining baby holding devices (like the bouncy seat and swing) only if there's entertainment like the animals over the bouncy or is beloved Calmies ball. He can't be teething yet (right?) but he sure loves to chew on his ball, hands, blanket, anything he can. He's getting pretty good at grabbing things when he wants to. It's amazing that he used to just watch the toys at the top of his floor gym but now he can reach for them, and grab them.

Harrison is an observer. He will watch his sister (when she holds still long enough) and pays attention whenever he hears her talk. He is at that age where sometimes I have to feed him in a quiet room or he'll constantly stop eating to see what's going on. My favorite is when I'm talking and nursing him. He'll just stop and stare up at me, watching me and my mouth intently. When I look down at him he smiles and goes back to eating until I start talking again. He also really watches our mouths when he sees us eating

He does talk too, when he can get a word in edgewise. He's very vocal when he's not caught up observing. Talks and talks to his toys or anyone who will make eye contact with him (mostly in familiar environments though.. he still gets a little overwhelmed in crowded, bright or noisy places and he's so busy looking he forgets his social skills). He really only cries when he's hungry or when he's tired. It took me awhile to realize that he cries when he's tired because it looks and sounds a lot like his hunger cues but then he doesn't want to eat. Now I can tell and often people don't believe me. They hand him to me because he must be hungry but I've realized he's the kind of kid that says "Please put me to sleep!!".

He is finally a lot easier to diaper. Our one size diapers fit him pretty well, save for the occasional diaper that Emerson must have worn more and the elastic is a little looser and I have to snap, check for leg gaps and re-snap. Which is kind of amazing since his legs are so chunky. He's on the first set of snaps and the full-size insert. He is still in 3-6 and 6 month clothes. For awhile there we were tossing clothes in the 'too small' bin left and right but he's been in the same clothes for about two months now.

I have some momma guilt because I let him sleep in his bed almost every time he sleeps because... he will (Emerson never slept well or very long if I laid her down)! And because I have a girl who needs lots of attention and a new house that has constant projects and this real food lifestyle that keeps me in my awesome kitchen a lot.. so I snuggle him for a few minutes after he falls asleep and I try to memorize his sweet sleeping face and then I lay him down. I so long to just hold him and stare at him like when he was younger, but if I don't lay him down within the first 10-15 minutes of him falling asleep then he usually wakes up when I lay him down. And, I figure, if I can get things accomplished while he's sleeping, then I can enjoy him for the little bit that he's awake.

There are things about him that I still worry about with him, kind of holding my breath until he's past certain milestones. It's unlikely he'd have neurological issues, given his size and gestational age but still I wonder. The nice thing is that I don't bemoan the passing of time like I did with Emerson. I just take it one day at a time. yes, five months sounds a little scary to me because it's almost six months which is almost half of his first, sweet infancy year. But I get to just throw out the clock because he started it too early and now we're playing by his rules. I just enjoy him whenever I can and at whatever stage he's at and know that one day I'll look back on this blur and know that I enjoyed it, even if I don't remember it, even if it passed to quickly. It is what it is, and numbers are just numbers.

We love our happy, sweet, chubby boy!

Always chewing on his hands!

Chubby feet

I love his smirk here :)

Always stealing the show, "Mommy, this is my crazy face"

And a little sweetness

And a little fun.

Four Months

I did take pictures when he turn four months.. but then a few days later we closed on our house and moved and gave up aspirations of writing this post on time.

Here is what I can remember: He was over 15 lbs, started raspberries, most of this month he was up late making sure we made the most of our Netflix subscription and love, love, loves his hands. He liked to be sitting up or held so he can stand and was awake longer between naps. He'd gotten more vocal, likes to talk and squawk and really gets after you if he's tired or hungry and not being attended to. Otherwise, he remained a sweet, easy charmer. Oh, and this guy loves tummy time! Loves it! He doesn't last long that way, but if he gets fussy, I can put him on his tummy and buy myself more time to finish a task because he's so happy to be on his tummy!

I can't get my camera out without making sure she's included in the action.
None of the brother sister shots turned out this time. 

Three Months

Our little guy has woken up! He still sleeps a lot but he also smiles at you when he's awake (for 10-15-ish minutes between naps). It's the sweetest thing this momma has seen in awhile. Sometimes he's just looking around and then he catches your eye and lights up with a smile and gives you a few coos and goos. I love it.

He's getting so big! Our chunky Monkey weighs about 13.5 lbs and I haven't measured his length in awhile! He's growing out of 3 month clothes and is finally starting to fit better into the one size pocket diapers. He's been a really tough kid to diaper so far. He's stocky.. wide but short and even though his thighs are chunky, they're not chunky enough to get a good fit on diapers. Plus he's a super pee producer. Basically, if a diaper fits him in height and around his legs, it doesn't hold enough pee or keep the poop in well. If it holds enough pee and keeps the poop in then it comes up so high he can't wiggle very well to get his gas out, and it's harder to get a seal around his legs. Anyway, it's starting to get easier to get a seal around his legs but it's a work in progress. He's just been so different than Emerson in this regard.

He continues to be an easy baby. He rarely cries, although he's starting to get a little more aggressive in his communication when he's hungry. He still keeps life to a basic schedule of eating, sleeping, diaper change and smiling/cooing. So far, he will only take a pacifier when he's hungry (you know, when I don't really want him to have one, unless we're in the car and can't stop) but never when he actually wants to pacify.. then, only mommy will do. It's pretty rare though. Through most of the day he sleeps fine and needs just a little rocking/swaying to get to sleep at the most. Usually, I lay him down drowsy and he just falls asleep, we'll see how long that lasts. He needed to be swaddled most of the time until just recently. The week of Christmas/the week he turned 3 months, this changed. Previously, he'd get pretty over stimulated easily and the swaddling helped but by the end of the week he was much less sensitive to stimuli. Funny how it changed almost overnight.

What Harrison does that isn't as fun is this strange wake/sleep/fuss/sleep/wake/fuss thing from 10:30-2:00am. It's like clockwork. There have been a few nights where it ended at midnight but it's pretty reliable. I went through all kinds of worrying about things like reflux, intolerance to something I ate, etc (he also spits up more during this period), low milk supply etc.. until we realized the pattern. It is definitely worse if I've had any caffeine, like decaf coffee specifically (but thank heaven not chocolate or decaf black tea - probably because I ate/drank those things throughout pregnancy). I don't mind the alone time with him (or the netflix binging as I walk/rock/nurse etc) but the mornings are pretty rough sometimes.

Without further ado.. my chubby baby and a few with the adoring sister :). Only one more photo shoot in our (horribly lit) apartment and hopefully our house will have better lighting! Smiley as he is, it's still pretty hard to catch on camera. He has a pretty short window of awake and smiling before wanting to eat and sleep again.

Songs on Mommy's Phone

Since adding Harrison to our family I've made a few compromises as a mother. I cut back my showers to what seems like only weekly, my toilets get cleaned a little less frequently, and my floors.. let's not talk about those.

Of course I've had to make a few compromises with Emerson too. She's had to be a little more independent, she's had to be a little more patient and she's had to entertain herself a little more. Overall, Emerson has handled becoming a big sister very well. She's great with Harrison (or rather, she's great about mostly leaving him alone, save for about one billion kisses, some hand holding and a few lullabies) and hasn't shown any behavior regression (you know, except she's two). The compromise with Emerson has been mostly minimal since Harrison sleeps so much but being up late and up more at night makes mornings pretty rough. I mean, mornings aren't my friend anyway but lately they've been rough. My sweet girl gets up between 6:30 and 7:30 regardless of when she went to bed the night before. My saving grace has been Pandora.

I knew I didn't want to start letting the TV be the babysitter, we've been pretty strict about no screens until she was two and still we don't let her have her own screen time but we don't try so hard to distract her when screens are around. I like to have music on throughout the day and sometimes we listen to "Emerson's songs" (aka the Raffi station) on Pandora. So when I need more sleep (so almost every morning) when Emerson says from her bed, "Mommy, is it morning time for Emerson?" I say, "Yes, but it's not morning time for mommy or Harrison" (to be fair, Harrison has usually just eaten and has just gone back to sleep). So she climbs into my bed, does various things to entertain herself and inevitably asks for 'Songs on Mommy's phone'. It's super cool for her because she actually gets to touch mommy's phone. She only gets to have it on the lock screen and she can only push the home button to turn it on to see the picture. It goes like this:

(Song comes on)
Emerson: "Oh! What this one?"

Pushes button, looks at picture: "Mommy, what this one called?" (if she doesn't recognize it) - shoves phone in my face... sometimes dropping it. Ow.

I tell her and she goes back to reading a book, playing or whatever she's doing when I'm trying to sleep until the next song comes on.

Repeat.

She's always been a musical girl. She's the type of kiddo that sings what she's doing to any random tune (e.g., to the tune of Are You Sleeping: I am painting, I am painting, yes I am, yes I am). Now she's also singing 'Emerson's songs' all day long. Random bits of different songs or the same lyrics over and over. It's stinking adorable.                                                                

Here are a couple of examples of her singing. It's hard to capture the real ad-lib ones. Either my phone isn't handy or the surroundings are too embarrassing to immortalize.

There are a few songs that come on her station that are nostalgic for me and some that I genuinely like. This one in particular, I love what it says.

You & Me
Frances England

You and me happy as can be
Flying through the park on our bikes
On a Sunday afternoon
You and me rolling on the floor
Practicing your somersaults, your cartwheels
Your donkey kicks and more

How did you grow so big overnight
How did you get so smart and bright
Yesterday you were asleep in my arms
Today you're growing off the charts
I'm so proud of you

You and me drawing pictures wild and free
The paint flying, your smile brightens up the room
You and me reading books in bed
Your head on my shoulder
Your eyes on the pages ahead

How did you grow so big overnight
How did you get so smart and bright
Yesterday you were asleep in my arms
Today you're growing off the charts
I'm so proud of you
I'm so proud of you

I mean really, how did she get so big overnight? It's true though. I am so proud of her. She's two, yes, but she is also so sweet and dare I say it, smart. I love to see her brain working away, figuring out how to say what she's thinking and how to share her ideas. This is the sweetness that makes it okay that she's not my baby girl anymore, she's just my girl. And while I'll always treasure the memories of her asleep in my arms, I'll treasure these memories too and look forward to making more.

Two Months

Harrison, sweet, sleepy Harrison. How has it already been two months!?

Our little monkey has started waking up a little. He's alert a few times a day before he starts reminding me how much he likes to eat (I mean, look at him. You don't get cheeks like that by just sleeping). We've started taking real baths, which I'm not sure he really enjoys but Emerson sure does. She's pretty sure Harrison is the best bath toy ever. We've started getting some long looks in the eyes and some different coo-ey noises. We even get the very occasions smile, and are looking forward to more of those.  He's trying so hard to get full control of his neck, and he's getting close!

At his 8 week check up (2 weeks adjusted) he was 10lbs 9.5oz and 21 inches long. I figured he was over 10 lbs since his newborn clothes were getting pretty tight and he was starting to fit into 0-3. He's getting so chubby! I've really soaked up his sleepy and cuddly stage, and I'm still enjoying it because he does still sleep a lot, but I'm also looking forward to more of those smiles and continued development.

We were a little late getting his 2 month pictures but I finally managed to accomplish it during a nap time, so no sister appearance in these ones, unfortunately.

A little bit of a smile!

aaaaaahhhhhhh - chooooooo

Almost have that head under control.

And now I'm done holding my head up. We pretty much love dolling him up!

This is getting old mom! 

My dapper dude.

I mean, just look at that face!

We love this sweater!

She LOVES it when I let him sleep in her bed for one round of glow worm (10 minutes). I keep a pretty close eye on the monitor but so far she's been great and it's pretty adorable to watch her stare at him, stroke his cheek or kiss his fingers.