5 Months

Dear Benjamin, 

Saturday you turned five months old. This last month has been INSANE! There is no other word for it. You hit four months and decided things were going to change then and there. Literally. That day. We've had a lot of growing pains this month. The day you turned 4 months old you decided that you didn't want to be swaddled ever again. You also decided that you would take a pacifier to soothe you. You had absolutely zero interest in one before then. 

This month I kept notes on my desktop so that I would remember to tell you the milestones you hit. The theme of this month was TEETHING (otherwise known as @#%#$^#$^!!!) and ROLLING! Most of this month you've we've been pretty miserable and a lot of our time has been spent trying to soothe your pain. It seemed like the perfect time to misplace your Amber teething necklace, which we seem to have done. [Insert grumpy face here.] Sleeping pretty much went out the window this month. You catnapped during the day, never sleeping much longer than 30-35 minutes at a time. The good thing was that you kept your long late afternoon nap, sometimes sleeping 2 or 3 hours. Mommy likes to nap with you during those ones.

So, here's the run down:

April 10 - You like to suck on two fingers and sometimes your whole fist. You like to sleep with something in your face - either your giraffe or lovey.

April 15 - You've been teething for a while now and today I finally see a little slit and can feel where your tooth is cutting through! You're also constantly attempting to roll over. You can do everything but pick your head up.

April 16 - You rolled over in your crib and got your foot stuck. We moved the blankets out and now you sleep in a sleep sac. Daddy lowered your mattress and Mommy cried because you're growing too fast.

April 18 - Worst teething day yet! I've been giving you Tylenol and Hyland's teething gel. Today I bought you new teethers, including the kind we freeze which you love. You're rolling over a lot without picking your head up and bringing your legs up like you're going to crawl.

April 19 - This morning you figured out how to pick up your head so now the world is yours for the roll. (You've never looked back!)

April 21 - Teething has made you a super snotty and congested. You have terrible post nasal drip that causes you to choke which is waking you up constantly. Mommy put a pillow in your crib since you're not rolling in your sleep yet, to help keep you at an incline. (This helped significantly!)

Daddy and I found ourselves wondering where the heck our itty bitty baby went. You can sit up and play now for several minutes at a time and this last week you've become turbo baby. We lay you on the blanket in one place and a few minutes later you're completely on the other side. Or off the blanket entirely and somehow on your activity mat. Or half way under the crib. Or stuck under the couch. Okay, maybe not totally stuck. But a little bit stuck.You're lifting your butt up a lot and starting to scoot backwards which is scaring Mommy. I'm not ready for you to crawl yet. We have to baby-proof our apartment still!

Appearance-wise I don't know what is going on with your hair. I feel like every month you have less and less, Benjamin Button style. We've started referencing Einstein and Bill Murray when discussing your current do. Neither is a compliment, son. Sorry. I tell Daddy all the time that I'm going to shave it and let it start back from scratch but he just laughs at me. 

Your tooth is almost completely in now (THANK GOD!). You're still a drippy, snotty baby but it's not nearly as bad as it was. You're showing a lot of interest in Mommy and Daddy eating and later this month we plan on introducing you to food. I just know you're going to love it!

Tomorrow you have to go to the doctor (womp womp) but last night I took your measurements. Daddy and I feel like you've slimmed out a bit from all the fast action this month but I measured you still at 26 inches (the same since 2 months) and 19 lbs, 7 ounces. I'm obsessed with your chubby thighs and baby bottom. I wish you could be naked all the time just so I can see that cute little derriere but I really don't need you peeing on everything.

And with that I leave you with a little story about last night. Oh. My. Goodness. Last night. About 2.5 hours after you went to bed for the night, you started fussing, so I went over to shush you and give you back your paci. You did this several times and eventually started crying. When I went to check you then I could smell that you had pooped, which was weird because in your entire 5 months, you have NEVER pooped during the night. I picked you up and carried you over to the couch to change you, thinking it would be easiest for me because then I could nurse you, put you back down, and go to sleep. Well, you must have had one heck of a tummy ache (sorry!) because there was poop everywhere. You started flailing and crying with your eyes still closed, half asleep and got poop on the couch! So then I'm yelling for Daddy to come help me and I feel bad because he's asleep in the other room but I'm holding up a half naked Benjamin and trying to clean up poop and it isn't happening... and then you proceed to pee ALL OVER US both. So, now I'm carrying your half naked, poopy self to the bathroom where we proceed to take a bath IN THE DARK because I don't want you to fully wake up. After our bath I put you in clean pjs, nurse you and put you back in your crib. Not a half hour later you are SCREAMING for me. You chose last night to start rolling around in your crib. Yay. Out went the pillow. Out went the blankets. Even your lovey. Now all you have is Giraffe. Now instead of sleeping you just roll around and scream/cry for me to help you. Good times. Five months is going to be exciting!! Bring it! 

I love you forever, 

Mama