Five Months

I keep thinking I'll catch up but so far since returning to work I just haven't been able to. I'm trying to keep at least the monthly posts going though!

Playing around before taking the monthly pictures

Nathan is more active, and reaching to grab things. He loves chewing on things and grabbing his feet. He also will just grab at anything including hair. Neil HATES that. He grabs his hair back and we try to explain that Nathan doesn't realize he's hurting anyone when he grabs. And boy does he have a grip. When he grabs my hair it's hard to get him to let go.

Grabbing his feet!

Sleep has been just awful. I looked at my notes and Nathan did much better when I first went back to work around 3 months. Since he hit what I thought might be the 4 month regression at about 3 and a half months, he tends to only sleep in 2-3 hour chunks and this is just wearing on me. So just last night we are starting to let him cry. My only hesitation is whether or not he's hungry. I think he might need to eat once at night. I can usually tell if he ate because he will nurse really well for about 10 minutes and then zonk out and go in the crib really easily. When he isn't really eating, he doesn't really eat, kinda dozes off every so often, and it can take me easily an hour to get him back into his crib and asleep. Also, there have been times Dave has given him a bottle and he just doesn't want it.

With the crying, we are talking to him and explaining that it's bedtime, time to sleep. Then Dave goes in at intervals if he continues to cry. We've only done this one night so far and I wonder if me sometimes nursing, sometimes not, is going to just confuse him. But honestly it needs to be done for my sanity (and Dave's too I think). The sleep deprivation is just killing me at this point. I am having a lot of trouble focusing and just in general thinking, memorizing, etc. I don't even catch up on weekends because Neil is up bright and early.

Daycare is still going well- they tell me what a great sleeper and happy kid he is. And he is really happy around us too. He loves to play peek a boo, definitely knows his name, and I think knows who mommy, daddy, and Neil are. At daycare they say he's not really on a schedule but in a routine depending on when he gets up for the day (which is still not consistent). He sleeps, then wakes up, diaper change, eats, then plays for a bit, and then sleeps. At daycare he eats every 2-3 hours or so. They say it varies but is consistent each day. So, for example, if he seems more hungry than usually he consistently eats every 2 hours on one day but the next he consistently eats every 3 hours.

Nathan has discovered more sounds and says the "h" and "m" for sure. I need to pay more attention but he babbles quite a bit. I think we have another chatterbox on our hands!

We are still messing with the bedtime routine in attempts to get him to sleep longer at night and also because sometimes he just won't go down at night and I need to get to sleep since I get up early. Generally though we change both Neil and Nathan into pajamas at the same time, then read books to Neil and whoever is not reading holds Nathan and lets him watch as much as he wants to. Neil goes to bed, and I walk downstairs and nurse Nathan. He always falls asleep. We put him in the crib after he's asleep. Sometimes he wakes up pretty quickly after that; other times he sleeps for a few hours. (Yes this means I do not get any time to myself yet. I try to go to bed most nights when I put him in the crib the first time and if he wakes up I nurse him in bed and get him back in the crib again.)

Nathan still doesn't seem to want the wubbanub. He prefers to sleep with a blanket but he pulls it over his head so I don't want him to have that in his crib overnight. It's ok at daycare where someone is watching. So I'm also trying to figure out what I can give him or do to give him some comfort. (We've tried things that smell like me.) It seems like what he really wants is something up against his face.

Even with all the sleep troubles though, he definitely can go to sleep on his own and does. He seems to do that more during the day and when he wakes up from naps even at home during the day, he doesn't cry. I walk in and he's awake just content. For some reason at night though when he wakes up he does seem to cry. I would think it would be the opposite since it's dark at night, which should signal sleepiness.

Nursing and pumping are going well. Nathan still gets 3 5oz bottles at daycare. I actually pump more than that so I'm continuing to build a freezer stash and have donated some milk to another mom in need. Nathan is still distracted nursing so sometimes I walk away to nurse him in peace and quiet. He likes to look up at me as he nurses, and of course grab my hair. :)

Nathan still likes to stand and loves both his jumper and exersaucer. He also really loves his brother and will smile at Neil pretty easily most of the time (which really makes Neil happy as well). I am also experimenting with letting him "sit" on his own. He doesn't sit up straight but leans forward and bit and eventually ends up laying on the floor but he does seem to like it. Part of the problem is that he is fascinated with his feet so he's leaning forward to grab them with his hands.

I already talked about myself and sleep deprivation. On a more positive note, I am definitely below pre-pregnancy weight before both kids. (Actually I'm 4 pounds above my overall goal weight, which I haven't been able to achieve as long as I have really weighed myself consistently and tracked it.) My pants are falling down. I am going to pull out my pre-pregnancy work pants again and hopefully they will work. I'll be surprised if they don't at this point. I think weight is still distributed a bit differently, and I'd like to get back into some kind of exercise because it also helps me mentally. Work is good- the job change has been interesting to coincide with pregnancy and having a baby. Hormones have been pretty hard to deal with but for the most part I'm able to keep it in check while at work. I do miss having friends around but I know that will come with time as well. But I am definitely getting more comfortable at work, getting to know people better, etc. The job itself is something I do like to do and get excited about and that's always a good thing or it can make getting up every day hard.

Clothing: 3-6 months in most closthes, 6 months in Carter's brand. We aren't putting him in pants or shorts really- sometimes the one piece outfits.
Diapers: Size 2
Shoes: None yet
Weight: I weighed him at about 16 pounds.
Height: I do not measure this until I can get them to stand. No doctor's visit so no height.