Levi at 5 months

Mr. Cheeks

Oh, month 5, how I despise you and love you all at once. The fifth month of a baby's life is just one huge developmental leap and it wreaks havoc on the poor unsuspecting baby (and parents).

Almost all month Levi was fussy. It varied from day to day, but it was trying at times. His naps didn't change, but he started waking up most days in the 5 o'clock hour, anywhere from 5:20-5:45. He was thrilled to see us at that time and would not go back to sleep. He finally started reaching for toys and bringing them to his mouth. He even started rolling back to belly a couple of weeks ago. He did it 2 times each day for 2 days in a row, then one random early morning in his crib after breaking out of his swaddle, but hasn't repeated since. He gets his hips over, but struggles with his shoulders.

His fussiness came to a climax 2 weeks ago, on a Monday. He wouldn't let me put him down all day. The next day is when he started rolling and a couple of days later he was a different baby. He is now generally very happy and can stay awake quite a bit longer between naps. We're still at 3 naps plus one catnap at the end of the day (usually), but I'm thinking he'll drop the catnap soon.

We moved Levi from the pack n play in our room to the crib in his room a couple of weeks ago and he did fine. He still needed his paci 1-2 times a night, but then he started busting out of his swaddle regularly. We would usually be up to replace his paci the first time he cried out, plus pull the tail of the miracle blanket to tighten it, then the second time would be a paci plus complete re-swaddle. The swaddle made the turn from a solution to a problem. I got desperate and ordered Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. I had heard about this when Isaac was this age but thought it was stupid (and of course his swaddle transition was flawless). I'm ready to try anything at this point. I ordered it probably more than a month ago and would occasionally use it for one nap a day, and it didn't lengthen the nap any, but he did fall asleep quickly and easily in it. We finally decided to try it last week and ditch the swaddle at night for good. His first night went great and needed his normal 1-2 paci replacements. It was definitely no worse than the swaddle, and he even slept 30 minutes longer in the morning. We were super excited to try it the second night, but that day Levi got a low-grade fever and 2 hours after we put him to bed was fussing and could not resettle himself. I went in to soothe him and realized he was so congested he couldn't breathe lying flat in the crib, so he ended up back in the swaddle and rock n play for several days while he got over his cold.

Levi is eating around 30 ounces of formula per day and no solids yet. I had decided to wait longer than 4 months because I felt like he wasn't ready for several reasons -- not sitting unsupported, still had the tongue thrust reflex, didn't really show much interest in food. At his 4 month check up I told his pediatrician that I wasn't ready to start him on solids and she agreed, except her reasoning was his eczema that still isn't completely under control, and the potential for food allergies. We decided to wait until closer to 6 months. I may start before his 6 month appointment and I may not, I'll just see how this next month goes. He is still taking a bottle approximately every 3 hours, but sometimes it is closer to 3.5 or even 4 hours before he seems hungry, and occasionally he will act hungry before 3 hours.

Levi is wearing all 6 month clothes, and we just packed away his shorter 6 month sleepers and have moved onto our longer 6 month sleepers (sizes are so inconsistent, even with the same brand!). His hair is almost all gone in the back, even his awesome old man hairline, because he tosses his head back and forth a lot in his sleep. I guess it's his way of self-soothing, at least while he's still swaddled. However, the rest of his hair seems to be growing a little bit more.

At this age Isaac had just started sitting unassisted and did it pretty well, but Levi is nowhere close to sitting by himself. I could tell very early that he was going to be behind his brother in this milestone, but that's ok, because Isaac wasn't even attempting to roll at all at this age. 

Sophie the Giraffe makes him mad because he can't figure out how to get the right parts in his mouth at the right angle. He mostly still likes just looking at her and waving her around.

Five months seems like such a big boy. We're finally moving past the tiny baby phase and I couldn't be more excited. His personality develops a little more every day and I love seeing who is becoming. Rodney and I try to guess all the time how he will be as he gets older, and we think it's the exact opposite of Isaac, go figure. We're going to have our hands full with this one, and I can't wait!