Five Months with Sammy

Sammy, this past month has been awesome!  It is amazing what the lack of stress can do for a person!  All the months leading up to the end of my maternity leave, I was stressing about how I didn't know how I would leave you, then last month I did leave you and that was even more stressful.  This month, my only stress was how to get you to sleep well again. 

You reached tons of fun milestones.  You giggle all the time, you found your toes, you are completely in love with Bailey, you're ticklish, you love to read before your bath and bedtime with Daddy, you rolled twice now from belly to back (we keep eagerly waiting for you to do it again, but you're stubborn), you give big smooches on demand and just in time for your 5 month birthday you showed us you can sit unassisted!  One thing, that is funny but annoying that is new is how distracted you are.  You can barely eat without stopping to survey the scene.  We couldn't get much more than outakes for your 5 month photo shoot today, because you were busy looking at everything else but me and Daddy.  Please note how you were very distracted by Bailey's wagging tail in the above photo.  So many changes, I love it, but at the same time I can see your babyness slipping quickly from me as you grow and develop which makes me a little sad.

 One thing that amazes me about you is your ability to teach me to go with the flow and follow your lead.  I was stressing about how you were sleeping and eating.  I kept reading that babies do best on a eat, awake, sleep (easy) routine or feed/wake/nap and wanted to try.  I just did it (go nike) and you took it like a champ.  I also needed to start teaching you to nap in your crib and was worried.  You have also taken that like a champ.  You don't nap long in there, maybe 45 min max which is frustrating, but we're working on it.  You pull your pacifier out of your mouth and when you cycle into another sleep stage you get frustrated with your hands not soothing you in the way you like.  By the end of last month you were greeting the 45 minute intruder in your swing too, so I figured if you aren't going to sleep well in your swing you may as well sleep badly in your bed.  Besides if you can go 12 hours of sleep at night in your crib with a break at 9 or so hours to eat, you def like sleeping in your crib!  I'm perplexed as to why you can sleep well at night but not during nap time, hopefully as you get older things will get easier.  The part of the EASY routine I'm missing is the Y which stands for You, meaning mommy time.

It was so warm this month, that we even got to go out in the ergo and played fetch with Bailey a lot.  Every time I bent down with you to get his stick and he jumped around trying to get it before I threw it, you just giggled and giggled and than giggled some more once it was thrown and fetched.  It's one of those magically simple moments that make me know without a doubt that not being at work was the best decision I ever made.

You did a lot of celebrating this month, First you celebrated your first valentine's day.  Unfortunately, I was mean and scheduled your 4 month appointment that day so you had to get shots which resulted in you not being too happy a camper. Grandma and Grandpa came over to wish you a happy first valentine's day.

I'm pretty sure you are thinking shots suck

Then, it was your Auntie's birthdays.  We skyped Auntie Anita in the morning and then you went for your first truly awake trip out to a restaurant to celebrate with Auntie Christine and Grandma.  By the time your nap time was rearing it's head I was getting nervous, but eventually after lunch was almost over I managed to get you to take a nap so I could stay out and shop for a little while with your Auntie and Grandma.

You also celebrated Bailey's 5th birthday by going with us for the first time to Wylie Waggs (Bailey's favorite store).  The girls there who love Bailey were also so excited to finally meet you!

A few weeks later we went to our friend Andie and Hideki's house to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Andre and Mandie's new baby, their new nephew!  The first boy born to our circle of friends.  I'm so excited for you to have another baby to play and grow up with.  It's been a blessing that so many of our friend's and family have had babies all within a year of your birth.

Wine, Bon Chon, Friends and You, what could be better?!

 To round out the month, we celebrated your birthday with awesome warm temps in the 70s so we headed to grandma and grandpa's for a 5 month birthday celebration bbq.

I forgot to list your favorite products last month.  So these are four and five month favorites:
Fisher Price Jumperoo: You LOVE this and I can see that soon as you are stronger, this will replace your activity mat as your favorite place to play
Vulli Sophie and Chan Pie Gnon Rubber Teethers :You love to gnaw on these things.  The little alien looking teether isn't as well known as Sophie the giraffe but you like it even more.
Bebepod: I bought this at a yardsale a few years ago for $5.  You love it and I think it helped you
learned to sit up.
Sassy Rings: You love having something in your hands and these are light and can get thrown in the dishwasher.  Plus if you lose them, they are cheap to replace.
Pretty much all toys, you looooove toys!
Booginhead pacifier clips: Helps me save your pacifier from the floor.  You love to spit it out, but hate to not have it when you are tired. 
Wubbanub: Awesome since you love to hold something when you are falling asleep.
Twinkle, Twinkle Elmo Bedtime Book: You love reading at night and this book is awesome!