5 Months

Dear Tyler,

You are 5 months old today.  The time flies by so much faster now that I have two beautiful babies.  You are the happiest little boy I have ever met.  You smile ALL THE TIME, especially when you see your momma, which of course makes my heart melt.  Everyone notices how much you love your momma.  You kick your feet and flap your arms when you see me and you smile so big. (I think grandma is jealous because she always makes comments about how much you love me.)  Daddy says he doesn't mind being second fiddle and that's just as well because you totally love me and I LOVE that.

You started to roll over early in your fourth month and now you actually like being on your tummy.  You love to do your mini-push ups so you can see what is going on around you.  When you spot a face, you smile so big.  (Because smiling is your favorite thing to do.)  I think you will be scooting around very soon as there are so many things for you to get in to.  And of course you want to get a hold of that dog that keeps licking your face.  You can also sit pretty well for a period of time before you topple over.  This is your favorite way to play with your feet, especially if you have socks on.  You don't fall over very often and you know how to get back up when you lean forward.  I think that's pretty good for 5 months.

You are a drooling fool!  I probably go through 2 bibs a day just for drool.  I keep checking for teeth but I'm not feeling anything yet.  I guess I'll just have to keep giving you cold teethers and washies for now.

You HATE the paci!  You won't even keep it in your mouth for a second.  I only try to give it to you because I think you might like it for your itchy gums.  You love to suck on your arm or fingers and you get very mad when I offer you the paci.  They always have the paci clipped to you at daycare, but I never see it in your mouth.  You are usually playing with the clip and trying to put it in your mouth, but just to chew on.  Maybe this is a good thing and I won't have to traumatize you by taking it away later.

At your 4 month appointment, you weighed 20lbs and I suspect that you have picked up a few pounds since then.  You are a VERY big boy.  You like to wiggle around when you are eating your bottle and that sometimes makes it very difficult to hold you.  I have to cross my legs and put you in the pocket my legs make when I sit down to feed you just to accommodate your size and your squrimyness. 

You eat peas, green beans, squash, carrots, peaches and pears mixed in with your rice cereal twice a day along with your 5oz bottles about 6-7 times a day.  I don't think you like carrots very much because you get mad when I feed them to you but you still eat them because you LOVE to eat.  You open you mouth very wide to get the spoon in your mouth and I have to have the next bite ready or you get a little mad and lean up in your seat and grab my hands.  You giggle when you see your bottle and try to grab on to it and put it in your mouth before I sit down with you.  I'm very scared to see how you eat when you get older.  If you are as active as I think you will be, then you will be eating us out of house and home!

You sleep anywhere from 8-7 in the morning, except for those few nights when your teeth were really bothering you and you kept waking up at 4.  You are so easy to put to sleep right now.  I feed you a veggie with your rice cereal, give you a bath, put on your jammies, turn on your music and give you your bottle.  You know this routine so well that you have both fists in your mouth and you kick on the changing table because you are ready for bed.  Even if your eyes are wide open when I lay you down in your crib, you fall asleep within minutes.  Hopefully soon, I will be able to add in a bedtime story for you.

Your favorite toy, and mine too, is your jumperoo.  I'm not surprised because you love to be upright and this thing lets you spin and jump and see all the action that's going on around you.  You love to spin the little sun and lizard and you love to nom on the butterfly teether.  You can even reach the bird and frog above your head and you try to pull them down to nom on.  I think your favorite part is being able to watch your sister run around.  You yell if she's not playing with you and she quickly comes over to pull on your jumperoo or spin you around.

Speaking of your sister, you love that little girl and that makes me very happy.  You stare at her in amazement and you follow her around the room.  If she lays next to you, you reach out to touch her.  Of course she complains that you're hitting her, or poking her, or scratching her, but it doesn't stop you from grabbing a handful of her hair and tugging with all your might and smiling the whole time.  My dream is that the two of you have a wonderful relationship and are close.  (And I pray that you don't fight or beat each other up too much.) 

You are my little ray of sunshine.  You make me happy and apparently I make you happy too.

Love always,
Mommy