Dear Chase-
Over the weekend you turned 5 months old! Hard to believe. Be sure to check out Months 1 & 2, Month 3 and Month 4 if you’re interested. This month was a big one!
One of the biggest changes this month was that you started solid foods! I could tell you’d probably be ready to eat earlier than six months. I initially tried to hold off because I wanted to give your inner digestive system as much time to develop as possible but at about 20 weeks you made it clear that you were quite ready to start eating. You could sit up on your own for short periods of time, were super interested in everything we were eating and constantly made attempts to grab food off our plates! Plus you were maxing out your formula, usually getting 34-35 ounces per day. We bought you a high chair that you absolutely love! (For those of you wondering, it’s this one and we love it: Graco Blossom 4-in-1 Seating System.
We decided to try babyled weaning with you and it’s been a huge success! You’ve tried cooked sweet potato, avocado, carrots and butternut squash and you love them all but sweet potato and avocado are your favorites! Mommy cuts them into french fry shapes and steams them so they’re soft. Sometimes you like to pick them up yourself and sometimes mommy holds them for you and lets you guide her hands to your mouth. I’ve also let you chomp on cold cucumbers, green beans and raw carrots just to try out the texture.
You’ve also tried oatmeal and you love that as well. Mommy makes it herself because she didn’t love all the crazy ingredients in the store bought kind! (Moms: I just put rolled oats in my food processor and process until I have a 1/4 cup, then boil 1 cup water, add the oats and simmer for 10 minutes with some cinnamon. They get super thick once they cool, so feel free to add some breast milk or formula to thin out the portion you’re serving if you want to. I like to leave them thick).
Squish tried oatmeal! A video posted by Lindsay L, RD (@theleangreenbean) on
You’re very good at guiding the spoon to your mouth and sometimes you even take the spoon and get it in your mouth yourself! Right now you’re eating solid foods twice a day. Usually around lunch time I’ll give you a few finger foods – 2-3 slices of avocado and 2-3 veggie sticks. It can get a bit messy but you actually manage to get almost all of it in your mouth. Around dinner time you eat about a tablespoon of oatmeal.
You’re still drinking your formula as well. We bought these Born Free Glass Bottles and absolutely love them! Now that you’ve started eating some solid foods, you’re drinking 5-6 bottles a day…anywhere from 24-31 ounces.
You still don’t love it when meal time comes to an end 🙂
Another big development this month was that you figured out how to roll from back to front at about 19 weeks. Last month you figured out how to roll front to back but you really haven’t done it since you initially figured it out. This month you got back to front and you will not stop doing it.
The problem is that you still hate being on your tummy. And even though you know how to flip back over, you refuse to do it. Instead you just lay there and scream. This made for one VERY long week since you would flip over no less than 100 times per night and pretty much the only way I could get you to sleep was to hold you…so me and you spend several nights on the couch just so we could get some sleep. After about a week, things got a little better. You seem to be content to sleep on your back or side initially and then once you wake up, you tend to flip on your stomach and sleep that way for another 2 hours or so. You’re still sleeping in your pack and play because you haven’t quite mastered sleeping through the night. Usually you’ll sleep from 9 to midnight, eat, sleep until 6:30 or so with a few relatively quick wakeups, eat and then go back to sleep til 8:30 or so. You like to rock with mommy in the glider to help settle down before bed and I think this month we’ll be ready to try the big boy crib and see how that goes! You usually take a couple of naps during the day but the timing varies.
You wake up happy and tend to stay that way most of the day! We got you a Jumparoo last month ( Moms, we have this one: Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo and you’ve really started to like it this month. You are LOUD when you want to be.
It’s impressive. Now that you can roll around, we spend a lot of the day on a blanket on the floor playing with toys. You have a Curious George monkey that you love and you still love Mortimer the Moose the best. You love books! One of my blog friends sent you a big shipment of amazing books and we’ve been having fun reading them. Sophie the Giraffe stays in the diaper bag and you love chewing on her when we go places.
You still do well in your carseat and when we go out to eat you’re usually happy if someone holds you.
You like being in the Ergobaby but mommy’s really hoping someone gets her the Ergo360 for her birthday so that you can start facing outwards! The weather is finally getting warmer so we’re getting back into our afternoon walks.
More big news- you’re big enough to sit in your stroller facing forward instead of in your carseat! We’ve taken a few walks with daddy.
We even took you to the park…but there was snow on the ground so we can’t wait to take you again when it gets a little warmer. We have this stroller- BOB Revolution SE Stroller and it’s amazing! You’re always rocking your Babiators!
You like to watch daddy work out and go to the gym with mommy to see your crossfit family. The loud sounds don’t bother you at all.
While you’re generally happy, you certainly have your moments of discontent:
Usually this happens in the witching hour…sometime between 4 and 6 pm. Some days are rough but we always survive 🙂
You love your daddy. He can make you laugh like no one else!
You’ve started taking an interest in the dogs and cats. If they come near you, you’ll reach out to try to pet them. Occasionally you’re a little grabby so we’re working on that.
We had one health scare this month. Mommy noticed a pretty pronounced ridge on the back of your head so we took you do the doctor and they sent us to get x-rays so we could make sure your plates weren’t fusing early. It was scary, but the x-rays came back fine and we think it’s just the plates in your head moving around as you grow.
And you’re certainly growing. You’re already growing out of some of your 9 month clothes. You can wear some 6-12 month clothes but you’re also wearing lots of 12-18 month clothes…and size 3 diapers. When you were at the doctor last week you were 19 1/2 pounds! We bought you a swim suit, a couple summer hats and your first pair of shorts! We’re ready for warm weather!
Mommy loves you, sweet boy! Can’t wait to see what the next month brings!
Love,
Mom
PS…Just a reminder that we’re having another Pin It Party this Thursday! Check out the last Pin It Party post for all the details and join us!
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Such a sweet post! My little boy is turning 6 months tomorrow…what a milestone! We’ve bought his highchair and massive bibs this weekend so we’re all ready to start the babyled weaning fun.
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yay!!! enjoy it!
Great job with the food, buddy! It is so fun to start exploring new tastes and textures. I have to ask where you got the age stickers, they are so cute!
pretty sure they’re from here: http://www.lucydarlingshop.com/
What a sweetheart! I hope to do BLW with my 2nd. Eleanor’s digestive issues made starting solids really confusing and stressful – it’d be nice to have a more relaxed approach this next time around
fingers crossed it works out!
Awww so adorable! I love following along with the recaps so I can kinda see what to expect for two of my friends little boys (one turns 3 months this week and my other friend is due with her son next week!!!) #babyfever PS I love BLW my godson did it and he’s the only 4 year old I know that asks for kale!
haha love that!
Oh my gosh I just love the letters you write to him! Some big developments this month 🙂 He is just the cutest!
I love this post! I just started following your blog a few days ago, and I love it. 🙂 Our son turns 5 months this weekend, so it’s fun to see so many similarities between Chase and him. Looking forward to more baby updates and delicious recipes too. 🙂
yay! so glad you found me!
That little sweetheart! I can’t get enough of the beautiful cuteness!
How much is he weighing now? We just moved up to size 3 diapers with Cam who will be 4 months on Sunday. Love our big boys, we like to say it’s bulking season 🙂
eeek! he’s already 20 pounds!!
So sweet!
My cousin did Baby led weaning and had such a great experience. When I have my own wee-one I will try the same!
yay!! it’s so much fun!
He has the CUTEST little smile! I love when babies get to that really expressive age. Also, his khaki pants are killing me.. so cute!
He’s a little cutie bug! You’re making me MISS my babies. I’m going to have to get my photos and videos out so I can relive those days. Eating is one of the cutest times ever. They’re like little birds. haha! SO sweet. xoxo
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aw I hope one day to be able to do this with my kids. I know if I don’t that I will forget everything. That’s just how I roll haha.
Omg! How do you handle his cuteness?!?!
it’s hard 🙂
He has the most angelic face! I can hardly believe he ever has his moments.
I guess he did find his voice! How adorable! Make me miss those early days. 🙁 I remember 5 months being a big turning point with both my little ones. It’s like the age they seem more like a baby and less like a newborn. It’s so fun! Enjoy every moment–even the tough ones. I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but it goes by soooo fast.
agreed…definitely getting more and more baby like!
he is seriously SO ADORABLE!!! That face! starting solids is so so fun. penelope can be picky, even now, but she eats a good variety of food and i’m always excited when she tries new things!
Look at him, rocking and rolling with solid foods! I’m so impressed, he looks like he is doing such a great job! He is so stinkin’ cute though, Lindsay! Who do you feel like he looks more like?
most people say my hubby. i can see me as a baby sometimes in him!
Such a cute post! He’s adorable, Lindsay!
Such a gorgeous baby! BLW is great, looks like he’s doing so well!
thanks! he’s loving it!
He is one seriously cute chunk. If we have a 2nd one we’re getting that high chair. Love it.
he is just too cute!! yay for baby weaning, we are doing the same!
woohoo! hope it’s going well!
He is so adorable! Such a sweet post.
So sweet and so many changes this month!
I got the same BOB stroller but in black. How big do they really have to be before they can sit in it without the carseat? I have a feeling it will be a long while before I get to use it without a carseat since my girl is measuring pretty small.
i’m not sure on the exact size. it has a pretty nice harness that helps hold them in place, but i’d just make sure she has really good neck control and can hold her head up for a while before putting her forward facing!
He is adorable and growing so fast! We’ve been doing baby led weaning this time too and loving it. They’re so proud when they have control of putting things in their mouth! Hope the rolling/sleeping thing works itself out soon. That is tough!
yay! glad to hear babyled weaning is going well!