5 Months!

Evan you are 5 months old today!

Eat:

This month I officially went back to work so you are on a brand new eating schedule!  You have also started rice cereal this past month!  During the weekdays you wake up at 5am and breastfeed.  You go back to sleep until around 6:30 or so.  Then you have around 3 four oz bottles at the babysitter.  You eat when you get home around 4:30 or so, and then you breastfeed the rest of the evening until your nighttime bottle.  We have started putting rice cereal in your nighttime bottle.  We have very recently started spoon feeding you rice cereal and you LOVE it!  You already know what to do with the spoon and you cannot get enough!

after your first taste of rice cereal

Sleep:

At the beginning of the month your sleep schedule was terrible.  You could be passed out in our arms but the moment you hit that crib you would cry.  Finally we decided to sleep train you and you are now a wonderful sleeper!  You wake up around 5am to eat and then go back to sleep for about an hour or more.  Then you take 2 long naps at the babysitter and you catnap in the evening.  We usually begin your bedtime routine around 7:15 and you are asleep around 8:00.  A few times during the month you would wake up and play in your crib, but thankfully you put yourself back to sleep.

Sizes:

My goodness you are all over the place in sizes!  You still fit into some of your 3 month outfits but you are mostly in 6-9 month outfits (although they are still too big).

Likes:

We have been so blessed because you are such a happy baby!  You have many likes so to keep it simple I'm going to just make a list:

• eating from a spoon
• Sophie the giraffe
• chewing on your hands
• grabbing your feet
• eating your right foot
• flying in the air with Daddy
• bath time
• looking at yourself in the mirror
• being dipped by Daddy
• rolling over
• being sung to
• your jumparoo

Dislikes:

There are not many things that you dislike.  However you don't like being hungry and you don't like being put down after you wake up from your nights sleep.  All you want to do is cuddle and love on us!

Firsts:

You are now going to Ms. Bonnie's house (your nanny) while I go back to work full time.  Although I love teaching and conquering other challenges in my day, I miss you dearly.

Enjoying rice cereal in your bottle as well as rice cereal with a spoon.

Rolling over CONSTANTLY.

You are now obsessed with your feet.  You are constantly grabbing them and shoving them in your mouth.

You have a new admiration for Joey.  Whenever he is around you can't keep your eyes off of him.  You reach out to touch him, but he usually just walks away.  Don't worry.  Soon enough he won't be able to get away!

Evan we cannot believe that you have been around for 5 months!  Oh how the time flies!  You seem like such a big boy now and I cannot imagine what our future holds with you.

Let's Party

A while ago we threw a housewarming party for some of our friends in town.  My inspiration for the invitations came from pinterest (where else?) and I took that theme and added to it a bit.

The front of our invitations

The back of our invitations - I covered up our address and rsvp info for the internet

The invitations were made out of 2 paint chip cards that were attached together with double sided tape.  I printed off the information on clear labels.

What else can you do with paint chips?  Why make banners of course!  One hung above the fireplace and the other in our foyer.

To continue with the paint chip theme, I quickly stuck two chips in the mason jars that were holding our plastic forks and knives.

Finally, I made little paint chip labels to let everyone know their drink options!

Add caption

Dessert...

Evan was fussy due to all the noise and people.  His nightly routine doesn't usually include a lot of people passing him around.  Needless to say, by the time everyone left he was exhausted and passed out.



And just for fun....

Baltimore Lovin'

Once upon a time an anxious mom left her baby overnight for the very first time.  What was worthy of taking me away from my precious little boy?  Why one of my best friends of course!  This past weekend, my best friend got married and I was lucky enough to stand by her side as she became a Mrs.

Matt and Evan dropped me off at the airport on Friday morning.  Before a tear could escape, I sucked it up and got myself together for security.  I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with how well I handled my weekend away from Evan!

Friday night we enjoyed a DELICIOUS seafood meal to celebrate Bekah's and Chris' wedding-eve.  The evening was filled with laughter, wine, and fun.  We finished it up with an all-girl sleepover where we had full intentions of holding the Just Dance Olympic Games.  After fashioning medals out of cardboard, foil, and a gold tag, we decided to adorn the bride to be with her prize and lay around instead.

Bridesmaids and the bride

 

Saturday was wedding day!  We enjoyed breakfast at Bekah's and headed to the hotel to do our hair and makeup.  Once we arrived at the venue my jaw dropped.  It was absolutely GORGEOUS!  She was married outside a mansion and had the reception inside.  I have some pictures of the venue, but not nearly enough.

Bekah got ready in a dazzling bridal suite.

Dinner was to die for! Steak and crab cakes!  The cake...I wish I had smuggled some back on the plane.  Maybe I'll invite myself to their one year wedding anniversary celebration to eat some of their cake top.  I'm sure Chris won't mind!

Showing off our Aggie Rings

I'll leave you with this beauty...

4 Months!

Evan was 4 months old on August 4th! 

Eat:

Evan you are still nursing like a champ!  We did have a drop in my milk supply which caused a not-so-minor freak out on my part.  The problem seemed to be my sleeping habits (or lack thereof) and working out too hard at my boot camp class.  I have now dropped the boot camp, wake up later in the morning, and take an herb called Fenugreek and that has helped bring my supply back up.  You seem to be a constant snacker which can be a little frustrating at times but we are working on that!  This past weekend you bottle-fed exclusively while Dad was home with you and I was at one of my best friend's wedding in Maryland.  It went very well!

Sleep:

We have very much been struggling to get you to take longer naps during the day.  You tend to only nap for a short period of time and not as often as you truly need.  We think this causes you to become overtired at night and then in turn lead to more nightwakings!  We aren't getting that 7-9 hour stretch at night that we once enjoyed, but we are getting a good 4-5 hour stretch some days of the week.  You are now sleeping in your crib most of the time!  You lay down to sleep in your crib every night, but after you wake up to eat I have a bad habit of falling asleep while you are eating and then you never make it back to your crib.  Oops!

 

Sizes:

You are ALL OVER the place in your clothes sizes.  If it's a Gerber or Carter brand, you are anywhere from 6-12 month sizes.  Generally you still fit into 3-6 month sizes, but you even have some newborn shorts that fit you well.  I petition that all of the baby brands get together and make their sizes actually match!

Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs 10 oz (24 percentile)
Height: 25 in (51 percentile)

Likes

Hands down your favorite thing to do is chew on your hands!  You CONSTANTLY have them in your mouth.  When you are not chewing on those 10 fingers, you love chewing on your Sophie (it's a giraffe teething toy named Sophie).  You are loving your nightly bath time.  You splash in the water with your feet and hands with a big grin on your face.  We sing songs and you are NOT happy when we take you out.  You enjoy being bounced around, riding in your stroller, and playing on your playmat.  You have completely mastered grabbing at your toys and even try pulling them down to chew on.  You love talking and laughing with Mommy and Daddy.   We still let you enjoy watching Baby Einstein once or twice a day. 
  

Love those lashes!!!

Dislikes

You still don't enjoy being on your tummy, but you don't stay there very long!  We are working on getting you to sleep in your crib again.  So far it's been tough, but there has definitely been improvement.  You HATE being taken out of the bathtub.  It's obvious that you miss the warm water and play time.

Tracy and I with Evan and Baylor

Baylor and Evan - best buds!

Firsts

You can now roll over from your tummy to your back as of July 5th!  Now any time we put you on your tummy, you immediately roll to your back. 

On July 16th we moved into your first real home!  You are no longer an apartment dweller and I think you could care less about it.  You are however, enjoying your crib for the first time.

Closing on our home

The most exciting event this month was by far your baptism.  We enjoyed our weekend to the fullest celebrating you!

Oh Evan, you are becoming more of your own little person these days!  We have loved your smiley mornings and fussy nights.  We love you more than you can imagine!!

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