Howard Trio Plus One: Graham at 5 Months

I cannot believe how sad I feel about Graham being 5-months-old. It's going way too fast! With our other three I felt like the first six months went by slowly since they were preemies and they were slightly delayed, plus it was just SO MUCH WORK. Don't get me wrong, life with Graham isn't perfect as he doesn't sleep well at night so I'm in a sleep-deprived state much of the time, but this time around I realize how fast babies become preschoolers, and I'm truly enjoying our little 5-month-old right now. He is just so sweet, innocent, and adorable. Plus, although he is not a chunky baby by any means, he has squishy cheeks and I can't help but smooch them constantly!

Age: 5 months

Weight: 13 lbs 10 oz (still a lightweight!)

Length: about 25 inches (he didn't gain much weight last month, but at least he got longer!)

Size Clothes: 6 months

Naps: I am doing something I said I would never do...I'm nursing Graham to sleep. I'm disappointed in myself because that means I am the only one that can put Graham down for naps and at night, but he was having such a hard time going to sleep that I felt like it was the only solution. Many naps he isn't completely asleep when I lay him down, but he is drowsy, so he is able to relax and fall asleep. His naps in his crib range from as short as 30 minutes to as long as 1 hour and 30 minutes, with most being about 45 minutes long. Most days he takes about 4 short naps, and many naps are taken in the car seat and some are in the Ergo if we are out. Up until this month I would put him in the Ergo to nap at home if he was having trouble falling asleep, but now that I figured out that nursing him helps him sleep I resort to feeding him so that I can lay him in his crib instead of wearing him in the carrier. We still don't have much of a nap routine because his day starts anywhere between 6:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., but I just watch the clock and put him down for his next nap after he has been awake for 1.5-2.5 hours. I would just wake him every day so that his naps are at approximately the same time each day, but preschool drop off makes it difficult since if he wakes up at 6:45 he is very tired by the time we leave for school at 8:45 and he falls asleep in his car seat. Maybe it's time to accept that fact and just let him take his first nap in his car seat so that a routine is established. It is so hard to figure these things out as a parent!

Night Sleep: Graham is still sleeping in the pack n play in our room. I put him down for the night between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., depending on when his last nap ended. Most nights he wakes up about 45 minutes after he falls asleep and needs to eat one more time before falling asleep for a "longer" stretch. I say "longer" because his stretches aren't very long at all and many nights he wakes up again around 11:30 p.m., which is awful since it's so hard for me to wake up at that time. Sadly, our sleep regression has continued and I'm EXHAUSTED. I've had a few nights that he only woke up 1-2 times, but most nights he is up 3 times (around 11:30, 3:00, and 5:00) and many nights he has trouble falling back asleep so I'm up for hours. Our other three were much better at falling back asleep than Graham is, so I guess in hindsight we can be thankful for that! I don't know why he has such trouble falling back asleep as he mostly seems happy. Maybe it's because he's becoming more social at this age and he thinks it's great one-on-one time with Mommy since the other kids are awake?! I'm hoping and praying that this gets better soon as it's really hard for me to be a happy Mommy for the other three when I'm sleep-deprived and they are constantly testing the limits these days. (NOTE: He did sleep through the night two nights ago and didn't wake up until 5:30 a.m., but I have no idea how that happened and I'm not sure it is going to happen again anytime soon!).

Eating: I feel like we've taken a slight step backwards in this area because a) he's waking up so much at night and b) I'm nursing him to sleep at nap times. In theory I want to follow the "eat, play, sleep" schedule that I did with the other three, but now that I'm nursing him to sleep it's more like eat, play, eat, sleep, which isn't very efficient on my part. Maybe it's time to just accept the fact that he likes to eat before he sleeps so I'm not feeding him so often during the day. Currently he's eating about 8 times during the day and 3 times at night. He's also easily distracted while he's eating, so it's becoming more difficult for him to eat when the big kids are around, or if he simply decides that smiling at me is more important than eating (which is cute, but a little frustrating since he's tiny!).

Food Intolerances: This past month I inadvertently tried dairy as it was in a probiotic I bought for myself and I didn't realize it until after the fact. For a few days after I took the probiotic I noticed dark specks in Graham's stool, which I thought could be blood. It just so happened that Graham had his 4-month check-up two days after I took the probiotic, and he had a poopy diaper right after we got to the appointment, so I asked the pediatrician to check his stool for blood. Sadly it was positive, so he has a dairy allergy. A couple of weeks later I decided to give gluten a try, and the day after I had eaten one slice of bread Graham had those dark specks (blood) in his stool again. It's sad that he has these allergies, but at the same time it is good to know for sure that I am doing the right thing by cutting these out of my diet. I am assuming that soy is a problem as well since soy protein is closely related to milk protein, and our pediatrician advised me to avoid it (in babies the problem with dairy is the milk protein, not lactose intolerance). I'm happy to say that over the past four days I have eaten avocados and Graham has NOT had a reaction, so at least I can add that healthy fat back into my diet!

Likes: Graham loves to suck on his fingers. Right now he is happy if he has two fingers in his mouth, and usually it is the first two from his right hand, but at this point any fingers will do. We were hoping he would be a pacifier baby since it's hard to break the finger sucking habit, and he does still take a pacifier, but he seems to have figured out that his fingers are always there so he prefers them. I'm torn on what to do about this since we are in the midst of trying to get Jack to stop sucking his thumb at night and it's hard on all of us, but at the same time Graham is the fourth child and it's imperative that he knows how to self soothe. Ultimately, I don't know that there is much we can do if he decides he prefers his fingers over his pacifier anyway. Graham also loves to watch his big siblings play. He loves to "talk." He enjoys his piano activity mat. He is also just starting to use his exersaucer and today he thoroughly enjoyed it for about 15 minutes while I ate dinner.

Dislikes: Graham seems to prefer being on his tummy so that he can watch everything going on around him, so he often gets upset if I lay him on his back and walk away (he is okay being on his back if I engage him with a toy or his activity mat first). For the most part, though, Graham is a happy baby!

Milestones: Graham is soooo close to rolling from back to front, but he hasn't quite done it on his own yet. Every day I think, "There he goes!" But then he flops back onto his back. He also isn't grabbing his feet yet, but just this past week he started grabbing his knees. He is holding his head up really well so he is able to play in the exersaucer for short amount of times. He can also sit up unassisted for a few seconds, but he still needs a stronger core. He definitely plays with his toys now as he enjoys inspecting them and putting them into his mouth. Graham has started laughing, which is so fun to hear.

Places he's been: A few weeks ago we all went back to Monte Vista for Labor Day weekend, and I believe it was Graham's third time up there already. He has been with me to drop off and pick up the other three from preschool every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since school started after Labor Day, although he has probably been asleep for about half of those drop offs and pick ups since the times interfere with his nap times.

First backyard fire in Monte Vista

Things he does that makes us smile: Smile. Laugh, screech, coo, and make other cute baby noises. Practice rolling over. Practice sitting up. Scoot forward on the floor (he makes forward movement like an inchworm). Do little jumps in his exersaucer. And I absolutely love watching him interact with his big brother and big sisters.