Happy 5 Months Caleb!

that smile gets me every time

I love this baby boy Oh so much!

he can sit for a couple minutes unsupported- but still doesn't sit super straight

he wants to bite everything! but we are still waiting for those little teeth to show up

sometimes I wonder what his little mind is thinking about 

His Stats:

Our estimate is that Caleb is a little under 16 lbs (we think he gained a lb in the last week since I started supplementing) and somewhere around 27 inches long. He still wears 6 months clothes, but some of them are getting a little short on him. He still has pretty, deep blue eyes. He grew out of his size 2 diapers in less than 2 weeks (I was so sad I bought a big case of them that won't go to use, especially since we use only about 1 diaper per day (at night) and cloth the rest of the time) . I also moved the cloth diapers up a snap to extend the length. His hair is getting longer and still sticks straight up, so I usually use a little lotion to make it all stick up towards the middle (kind of like a fohawk) so at least it looks a little more styled, but I don't think Daddy likes that too much, haha.


We still don't know for sure who he looks the most like:
Daddy

Daddy at almost 5 months

His happy face kind of looks like Daddy's

Mommy,

Mimi and Mommy (at 5 months)

Mommy

his sad face kind of looks like Mommy's

or most of all he eerily looks like this Kroger baby...and to make things even weirder, I clearly remember passing by a picture of this baby when I was shopping in Kroger after I had just found out I was pregnant with Caleb and for some reason I felt like my baby was going to look like him. I had forgotten that until I saw this ad again-

it is kind of crazy how similar they look- the smile, the sticking up hair (not pictured well here but is at the other Kroger we used to shop at)...

Skills/Milestones:

•  hold objects with two hands, including his bottle

those eyes

• rolls from is tummy to his back (since he was 10 weeks) and almost from his back to his tummy (he just did this yesterday- a few days after he turned 5 months)

• scoots by pushing off my hands, he can also rotate himself 360 degrees (and he does this almost every night in his crib)
• knows to put one foot in front of the other, we have deemed this his "fake walk"

• sits for a couple of minutes with out support

that face...and excuse the "girl" paci- it is his favorite and we were given it for free when we registered at Target (for some reason they gave us the "girl" little bag of goodies)

• has discovered his toes

this makes diaper changes a little more difficult

• babbles still, but most often his noise of choice is to "blow bubbles" these days

• kind of said "hi"- we know he has no idea that he happened to babble what sounded like a word (and thus doesn't really count), but it's still cute to watch the video

• He is starting to understand "peek a boo"
• He has figured out how to make the exersaucer bounce (but he moves his feet like he is stomping...hasn't figured out how to 'jump' yet)

• For the past 2 weeks has taken 2, 1-2 hr naps! Praise the LORD!!!!!! (except for today for some reason)
• Night time sleep is still ehhh...the longest stretch he had was 8 hrs! This was a miracle. He also had stretches of 6 and 7, but on an avg night still wakes every 3-4 hrs; we have tried to set a limit to how many times we will actually pick him up and feed him at night (2). So this has resulted in a lot of crying at other times (he's cried for 2 hrs in the middle of the night between feedings quite a few times)
• He is finally, FINALLY starting to not SCREAM every time we ride in the car. Sometimes he still does, but at least it's not every time! I am so thankful he is getting better because I don't feel like I am torturing him every time I run an errand.
• The Moby wrap is no longer our go-to for sleep- it seems to have lost it's power completely as Caleb is now much too observant for it. (made me a little sad to realize after wearing it every day for the last several weeks, I probably won't wear it again until our next baby)
• can do a "mini" push-up

those elbows are almost straight- such a huge improvement from a couple months ago! ;)

Likes

• He had his first swing ride and LOVED it

• Loves the songs "The Wheels on the Bus", "How Deep the Father's Love For Us", "Jesus Paid it All", "You are My Sunshine" and "Jesus Loves Me"
• His paci
• thinks it's hilarious when I "eat" his toes

• His lovey
• His exersaucer

this boy just loves to stand and has loved it since he was 4 weeks old

• Teething rings, but most of all our fingers or his- pretty much anything he can put his mouth on
• being read to especially Moo, Ba, La, La, La (before Nap Time), The Little Blue Truck and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Jesus Storybook Bible

the most important true story he will ever be told

• His praise baby DVD

He is mesmerized by the songs and babies- we try not to show him much tv at all, but in the morning I usually recently starting putting on Praise Baby so I can make my breakfast, put dishes away, etc

• spending time outside! Thankful for this hammock weather we've had lately

Daddy and Caleb time

He has my heart

what a selfie

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Characteristics

• He is energized by people, and often gets super excited after they leave as if he has all this excess energy he doesn't know what to do with.
• He is very observant and can follow me across the room
• Has started knowing when Daddy comes home/leaves. One day he even made a sad face every time Bryan left the room and a happy face once he came back in.
• He is determined- especially when it comes to getting what he wants in his mouth- he will even pull down his activity gym bar to get the little toys that hang into his mouth.
• He is a fast learner

Some fun events from this month:

• Visits from Mel, Sarah and Laura and her sweet Mom!

he was happy right before we decided to take this picture

he kept laughing at Sarah- he thought she was so funny!

so fun to see this old high school friend!

• celebrated Mom (30th! eeeeek!!) and Mimi's birthdays

Daddy surprised Mommy by throwing her a surprise party the weekend before her birthday and then surprised her again by staying home on her actual birthday

Caleb smiles the most for his Daddy

At Ruggles Green, where Daddy and Mommy had their first date

Family fun at the nearby park

The very spot Dad proposed to Mom a little over 2 years ago...wow a lot can change in 2 years!

Dinner with the family for Mom and Mimi's Birthdays

so happy!

he looks so old here

had a fun time holding the balloons

• celebrated his first Valentine's Day- I am a little obsessed with taking his picture (sorry, but I just think he's too cute and right now he can't protest when I take a million pictures)

The first two weeks of Caleb's 5th month of life were extremely difficult (sleep wise and thus sanity wise for us), but the last two weeks of the 5th month he has made HUGE progress and we are so, so, so, soooooo thankful.

Our bedroom has had a made bed for the last 2 weeks. Our bed hasn't been made one day in Caleb's 5 months of life until now. I used to joke with my roommates in college and right after that the state of my room was a metaphor for the state of my life. If my room was a mess, then more than likely my life at the time was crazy and also a mess. Our room has been a mess for 5 months, haha. So maybe that tells you something.

Our Sleep Saga, as I have decided to call it is quite a long story and thus I decided to make it its own post.

The end of Caleb's 5th month of life I can feel God restoring my joy. I am ashamed to admit it, but I was getting to a very bad place- a place of bitterness and resentment and wondering how long I could endure not sleeping very much at all. After nearly 60 days in a row of only sleeping 1-2 hr chunks at night and not resting during the day, I was going a little crazy. Caleb has been a really tough sleeper for pretty much half of his life and the other half just an okay sleeper. I know we aren't alone in this, and that there are thousands of parents who have gone before us and struggled with this same thing. God has used this to discipline me and teach me patience and unconditional love. More  on that here