5 Months (I'm late!)

Gage Beck (as I like to call you),

Oh my has this month been fun! I have never seen so much change in you before!

First of all you have GROWN! My tiny baby is not so tiny anymore! On February 1st (4 days before you turned 5 months), you weighed in at 14 lbs 9 ounces and 26 inches long. You are in the 90th percentile for length and the 50th for weight. I couldn't believe it on length since you were SO SHORT when you were born! I knew you weren't gonnna be a shorty like your Daddy (j/k Ryan lol).

You are absolutely perfect. I've always thought you were cute, but this month you've just about killed me with cuteness. I have had so many people comment on your big eyes, and boy do you use them! You notice EVERYTHING. You love to look outside, you love to follow Jack around the house watching his every  move, and you LOVE watching other little kids play. When you get together with other babies your eyes are glued on them & you will just laugh!

Speaking of laughter, you have laughed so much this month. You laugh when we play peek-a-boo, when we jump towards you, when you see kiddos playing or laughing, when Papa Keith gets down and crawls and flips on the floor (Momma and Daddy laugh at that too), when we make the "vroom vroom" noise, and when we make poot noises with our mouths! You're eyes light up and you just giggle!

You have became quite the eater. Besides still wanting to nurse every 2 hours (sometimes an hour and a half!), you are now enjoying:

• avocado
• peas
• sweet potatoes
• butternut squash (you're absolute favorite)
• oatmeal cereal
• bananas (you just tried them once and didn't care for them! we will try again though!)

We plan to introduce some new veggies and possibly some fruits soon. I just wanted you to learn to love your veggies first! We laugh because you look like a baby bird, especially when you're eating squash, you open that mouth so wide and cannot wait for the next bite! You get mad if I don't feed you fast enough! Right now you eat veggies usually once a day, but I think you are about ready to move to twice a day.

This month you gave us your first scare. On the last night of January you went to bed just like usual, and we heard you fussing in your crib. I went and picked you up and as I lifted you, you projectile vomitted! You did it twice and it freaked us out! We thought maybe you had really over ate, but within 30 minutes you had tried to puke 5 times and you were looking really pale and acting so sick. Let me tell you, I was so scared. I grabbed all your things, got dressed, and got ready to go to the ER, crying the whole time. It was so sad, I looked over and your Daddy was rocking you, gently rubbing your sweet little face, and telling you how he didn't want you to be sick and how much he loved you-- with big tears in his eyes. That was the first time I wished I could take your place and take that sickness all on myself. Gager, it broke our hearts to see you feel bad and scared us to death! We took you to the ER where you had to have a finger prick, xray, & a big ol shot in the leg.You had your first ear infection- it had caused the vomitting. We got home at 2:30 am, but we were just thanking God you were ok!I will never take your good health for granted & thank God for that everyday.

You are getting more predictable and we have a very loose schedule, as we are on the go alot!
Usually, you want your first nap about an hour to an hour and a half after waking in the morning. You then usually want an afternoon nap, and sometimes an evening cat nap as well. You sleep anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours! It just depends on the day :) You still wake up in THE BEST mood, all smiles! I love walking in, seeing you open your eyes and when they meet mine they light up! You are such a joy!

Nighttime on the otherhand, is a much different story! I won't go into all the details, but let's just say you are waking up from 1-8  times throughout the night, depending on the night. I must say, over the past weeks it has got better though! We still love our nighttime routine of bathtime, then reading books with mom & dad, then on to rocking, nursing, singing, and being soothed by the white noise machine. Your crib is still in our room and you still like to swaddled from the waist down. Some mornings (and rough nights) you join us in our bed and you LOVE to be snuggled up to momma and daddy!

I'll end with things you love this month:

• playing in your jumparoo (you have almost started jumping in it)
• having playdates with Gracynn Mae
• flying with Daddy
• practicing sitting up
• pracitcing rolling over (you stubborn stubborn child haha- you've done it over 10 times but only when you want to!)
• grabbing & chewing on things (you are so good with your hands now & EVERYTHING goes to your mouth now)
• listening to us make all kinds of weird noise & giggling
• eating and nursing
• watching Jack
• taking walks in your stroller
• visiting your grandparents
• date nights to Chilis and Target

We love to see you grow and change. You are the biggest blessing in our lives. I can't even remember what we did before you. Thanks for being our little munchkin that brings us smiles, laughs, and fun everyday. We love you Bubby.