Five Months Already!

Cannon, five months

My Baby Canterbury,

You have grown so much this month!  You are now 15lbs and 2oz and still very tall.  Your eyes are looking more like Daddy's every day as they turn from a dusty blue to a pretty green color.  You love to flash your big gummy smile every chance you get and laugh hysterically without too much prodding.  You especially like it when daddy makes funny noises on your neck, ears, and tummy.  Your laughing is still a lot of darling shrieking and exaggerated gasps that make anyone around laugh too.

As you get older and more aware of your surroundings you are learning more about what to do with your little body.  One of your favorite new things to do this month is to play with your feet.  You like to grab your little toes while I change your diaper or while you are just laying on your back.  Another diaper-changing hazard has come with your new love of rolling over.  You rolled over before but now you can't seem to lay down without flopping back and forth!  You love to roll on the changing table and when you are supposed to be sleeping in your crib.  It often makes me nervous when you roll over in your sleep because you sometimes forget how to roll back onto your back and get stuck face-down.  While you are a master sleeper, if you get stuck you cry and cry until I come rescue you.  Other than rolling, your sleep pattern has not changed too much since last month.  You go to bed around 8/8:30pm and sleep until 6/7am.  You take a 1-2 hour nap in the mornings then a 3 hour nap in the afternoons.

After you wake up from your naps, your favorite thing to do is JUMP!  I put you in your little jumper and you cannot help but jump as high and hard as your little legs will take you.  It doesn't seem to matter whether you are jumping straight up or if you are flinging yourself backward, any jumping will do.  Once you have had enough jumping you like to cuddle up in my arms and eat as fast as you can.  Sometimes daddy gives me side glances that are meant to say 'like father like son' as you guzzle your formula, try to watch baseball over my shoulder or stick your hands down my shirt.  This past month we went through a couple of days in a row that you were considerably grumpier than normal.  You have a track record of spitting up A LOT but I decided not to bring it up to the doctor at your four-month visit since it didn't seem to be bothering you.  With acid reflux in mind I took you into the doctor to get his two cents.  He said that you do have acid reflux but that it does not need to be medicated since you are still gaining weight properly.  He also suggested that your volume of spitup could be a result of lactose intolerance and asked me to try a (really expensive) kind of formula without lactose in it.  I agreed.

After leaving the doctor's office I decided to make a stop at a new grocery store that opened near our house and to get some lunch.  While at the grocery store I spotted individual cups of Greek yogurt on sale and decided to buy myself one to eat with the sandwich I intended to buy at our next stop.  I wheeled our groceries to the car, then threw my yogurt in the stroller and walked over to Subway.  Not knowing previously that this was literally the world's smallest Subway I wheeled you in to stand in world's narrowest line, forcing at least 12 different people to have to move out of our way just to stand in line.  We sat down at the only available table and positioned the stroller in the only open area: the entryway.  I would have left, but you were very hungry and I didn't want to feed you in the hot car.  I pulled out your bottle and started feeding you with one hand while stirring my yogurt with the other.  We were about halfway through the bottle when another table opened up that would allow us to move the stroller out of the entrance!  I set your bottle down on the table and attempted to navigate the stroller to the other table with you and my yogurt in the other arm.  Unfortunately, as the stroller turned its handle knocked your glass bottle to the ground, where it shattered into a million pieces.  At the same time, my lactose intolerant baby that is not supposed to have anything save pureed veggies and formula stuffed his little fist deep into my yogurt and then plunged it into his mouth and spread the rest all over his face and clothes.  Since your burp rag was buried deep in the stroller and Subway keeps their napkins behind the counter I did what any gross mom would do and stuck your slobbery, yogurt-y hand in my mouth and pushed the stroller into place.  Luckily we were now the center of attention and had no problem guilting people into helping clean up the shards of glass as I tried to get the blueberries out of your shirt.  You were quite pleased with yourself.  Once the mess was cleaned up we left without eating lunch.

We tried the new formula for two weeks before deciding that it made no difference in your ability to spit up 300 times a day and continued feeding you 6oz of Kirkland formula 5-6 times a day (every 2-3 hours).  During the experimentation with other formulas we decided to stop feeding you solids temporarily to limit our variables.  I don't think you agree with this decision, though your digestive patterns are much more regular now which seems to make you happy.

Aside from your spitup rituals you have the world wrapped around your finger.  You have started to put your head down on my shoulder when you get tired and I can't help but melt.  When you are awake you like to try and grab at Tank, spend time outside, blow bubbles, spit at people then smile, pull long hair, or try and fit objects of all sizes into your tiny mouth.  We have been told on several separate occasions this month what an 'agreeable' baby you are.  I have decided that 'agreeable' is the perfect word for you.  You make yourself known if there is something to know and if there is not you just fill your time being cute and flirting with girls.  You are easy to take around and don't mind adjusting to our schedules when necessary.  It is typically very easy to have an adult conversation with you on my hip or knee and it makes me love you all the more.  Thank you for being such a sweet boy.  I am enjoying  you more every day.

Forever,

Mommy