5 Months

5 Months ~ April 27 - May 26

I think it is safe to say that Jack is definitely no longer that tiny baby anymore. He is doing so many things now that make him seem like such a big boy.  It's a little sad, but also pretty exciting.  

Here's a look at what Jack was up to during his 5th month of life:


Long story short:

-Milestones: first airplane flight (Houston to Phoenix), first road trip (Houston to Austin), first solid foods
-Likes: Rolling to his tummy, trying to sit up, screeching, chewing on everything, putting everything in his mouth, obsessed with his feet
-Dislikes: Having his clothes changed, sleeping through the night, loud noises
-Sizes: Size 3 diapers, some 3-6 month clothes, some 6-9 month clothes
-Height (at 4.5 months): 27.5 inches (99th percentile!)
-Weight (at 4.5 months): 16 pounds, 10 ounces (62nd percentile)
-Sleep: still waking up 1-3 times per night, unfortunately. He slept through the night ONCE this month- such a tease.  About once a week, he pulls a stunt where he wakes up in the middle of the night and decides to stay awake for 2 hours.  Not fun.  His naps are still all over the place as far as how long he will nap for, but he has become very consistent with not being able to be awake for more than 2 hours at a time before he is ready for a nap.  So at least there is some positive sleep progress there.  

Long story (very) long: See below :-)

18 Weeks (April 25 - May 1)

Jack started off his 5th month off with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hemmasi (and David's uncle).  They drove over from Austin to visit just for the day.  It was fun to see them!  Just a couple days later, Jack and I headed out for our trip to Phoenix. I was so nervous about flying with him (alone!), but he surprised me and did really well. Travelling with a lap child is definitely not the most comfortable experience, but we made it work.  We loved spending time with family, and I loved getting to introduce Jack to my friends and some of their kids. Jack also got to meet his great grandmother Helen.  He even got to help her celebrate her 94th birthday! The weather was SO nice while we were there, so we got to spend a lot of time outside.  Jack loves being outside, so we made the most of it with lots of walks, and plenty of time sitting outside playing and enjoying the bug-free outdoors time! 

A few firsts this week:
-first flight
-meeting his great grandmother
-first time in a swing

Jack, David, Uncle Karim

He is obsessed with staring at the bottle warmer while he waits for his milk.

I love that he sleeps with his little booty up in the air

Ready for our first flight!

This nap on the plane lasted all of 30 minutes

Playing on my lap (tight quarters.. especially when the person in front of me reclined his seat)

Great Grandma Helen

Cooking lessons with Mimi

19 weeks (May 2-8)

This week, David joined us in Phoenix.  Jack had a huge smile on his face when he saw him! 


A few firsts this week: 
-First sink bath

-Drinking water from a cup
-First pee on himself (I think we are pretty lucky that we made it this long without this!)

Sink bath - Drying off with my old baby towel

FEET!!!!!!!!

Meeting one of my best friend's twins

Loves ketchup like his mom!  

Aunt Sarah!

 20 weeks (May 9-15)

This week, we celebrated my first Mother's day with a very nice Mother's Day brunch celebration.  It was so special to be able to spend my first Mother's Day with my mom and my grandmother.  Last Mother's Day was when I announced to my parents that I was pregnant. It's crazy what a difference a year makes!  
We flew back to Houston this week, and Jack surprised me yet again- he was great on the flight! It was definitely a lot easier having David with me on this flight though.  It was sad to leave Phoenix and my family, but it did feel good to get back to our house, our own beds, etc.  

Because we were out of town, I had to take Jack for his 4 month check-up a few weeks late.  I love our pediatrician, and it was actually kind of fun to check in with her and hear her talk about how great he is doing.  He did much better with his shots this time and only cried for a few minutes.  Jack is 16 pounds, 10 ounces, (61%) and 27.5 inches (99%).  Tall little man!  We got the go ahead to start solids, which I was really excited about. I had been feeling like Jack was ready for quite a while now.  He was always SO interested when we were eating, and I just in general feel like he is a hungry guy and ready for a bit more than milk.  So yay! 

A few milestones this week:
-Tummy time bath

-Trying to sit up
-Sat in the "big boy" seat of the shopping cart 
-Leaning/diving for things when being carried

Guy bonding time

Playing outside with Mimi

Tummy time bathtime!

Meeting Tank the desert tortoise

Mother's Day outfit

4 generations of Grants

My first Mother's Day

 

Flying back to Houston

 

21 weeks (May 16-22)

This week was pretty uneventful.  It felt good to just be back on our normal schedule after being out of town for 2 weeks.  The main exciting event of the week was starting solids! 


A few firsts this week:
-Screeching
-Straightening arms while on tummy to push his chest up
-First solids: pears 
-Second solids: sweet potatoes
-Turning in circles when on his tummy 

22 Weeks (May 23-29)

This week we took Jack on his first road trip.  We spent Memorial Day weekend in Austin visiting with David's family, and we attended the wedding of a family friend.  The drive to Austin is about 3 hours.  I was actually more worried about a long car trip than I was about a flight with Jack. Jack really dislikes being in his car seat so the nice thing about flying is that he could just sit on my lap, whereas in the car, there's no way around him having to be strapped into his seat.  On the way to Austin, he slept for 30 minutes and fussed the rest of the way. Luckily, on the way home, he did much better and slept for an hour and a half and was pretty happy the rest of the time.  We had a nice time visiting with David's family.  Some of his family members from overseas were also in town, so we got to introduce Jack to lots of people.  Unfortunately, Jack slept terribly the entire time we were there- it was exhausting for everyone.  He just really seems to be out of sorts when he has to sleep somewhere unfamiliar to him. Hopefully this will get better with time.  

A few firsts this week:
-Jack is now very interested in details (tags, stickers, he loves to touch my face, etc.)
-He can sit for a few seconds on his own, but as soon as his head gets off center, he just tips over
-New foods: squash (he LOVED this), avocado (he HATED this)
-"Denture chomp" - he smacks his lips together like an old man who forgot to put his dentures in
-Much to my dismay, he is beginning to make crawling-like motions. He's not up on all fours yet though. I'm SO not ready for him to be mobile...

Baby's first trip to Bucee's - the Costco of convenience stores

Jack's first wedding

Aunt Renee and Uncle Joel

Playing with Grandma

Happy Memorial Day!

Finally starting to figure out this thumb-sucking thing

4 Months

4 Months ~ April 26, 2015

Couldn't resist including this hilarious outtake.  

Jack has been in our lives for one third of a year now!  Month 4 was a busy one for Jack. He has changed a ton and is doing so much now!  Here's a look at the past month in the life of Jack...

Long story short: rolling back to tummy, putting weight on legs, visit from Mimi, 1st Easter, sleeping in crib

Long story long: see below

13 weeks (March 21 - 27)

Jack became a bit of a narcissist this week when he discovered and fell in love with his own reflection.  How could he not, though?  I love holding him in front of our full length mirror, because once he catches a glimpse of his reflection, he will flash a huge smile and then hide his face in my chest like he's playing shy.  It's so cute!

This week my mom was in town again for my birthday.  As always, we loved having her! Jack loves his Mimi (so do I), and it is so nice to have an extra set of hands to help!

Another discovery this week- his feet.  It's so funny to think that he never even realized before that he had feet.

Also worth mentioning- Jack had his first ride in the "big boy" side of the stroller!

Jack continues to be a poor sleeper, unfortunately (for both of us).  The hardest part is just that he is inconsistent. It's hard going to bed at night not knowing what kind of night we will have.  HOWEVER, out of nowhere this week, for 3 DAYS IN A ROW, he slept through the night!!  It was amazing.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a random stroke of luck, because it has yet to happen again. Sigh.  Also new in the sleep department, I started trying the occasional nap in the crib this week in anticipation of transitioning him to the crib soon.  

14 weeks (March 28 - April 3)

Jack met some pretty exciting milestones during week 14.  He finally began to put weight on his legs, AND on April 3, he rolled back to front! I actually missed this first milestone, sadly. He was playing on the rug in the living room, and I walked into the kitchen to get a drink.  When I came back, he was chilling on his tummy like no big deal.  I couldn't believe I missed it!  And he didn't roll again for another few days, but now he rolls all the time.  However, he has yet to figure out how to roll tummy to back (which is actually easier to do), but oh well- he'll get there eventually. His head and neck control is getting better and better.  I can ALMOST carry him around on my hip, which will be basically life changing when I can have one free hand while holding him.  

His new talent this week is blowing raspberries. He does it all the time now and makes a giant mess while at it.  

Jack is starting to show some affection and attachment to his Lovie which is so cute.  He still refuses a pacifier, so I'd love for him to have SOMETHING too soothe himself with.  

This week we attended the baptism of our friends Gerald and Nary's daughter, Ella.  Ella was born just a couple weeks before Jack.  It was so fun to finally meet her!

Another first this week - Jack's first mini visit to daycare.  I had a doctor's appointment, and amazingly, the doctor's office offers childcare during appointments.  It was hard to leave him with people I did not know, but he was happy when I left and happy when I picked him up, so I call that a win.  

15 weeks (April 4 - 10) 

We celebrated Jack's first Easter this week!  Our neighborhood put on an Easter egg hunt at the park across the street from our house.  Unfortunately, Jack ended up taking an unexpectedly long nap, and slept through the event.  We went over after he woke up though and enjoyed some breakfast and took some pictures.  We'll try the whole Easter egg hunt thing again next year!

New skills: Jack is becoming more intentional with his hands and arm movements and is starting to reach for objects. He's not always accurate with his aim, but it's so neat to see him focus on an object, decide he wants it, and just go for it.  Jack has been discovering his voice for a while now, but this week, he started making some seriously loud and high pitched screeches.  The first couple times he did it, he scared himself and started crying!  

 

16 weeks (April 11 - 17) 

April 11 marked 1 year since I found out I was pregnant.  It's so crazy to think that that small plus sign on the pregnancy test is now our 4 month old baby boy!  Another big event that happened on April 11, was officially transitioning Jack to the crib at night.  I was SO nervous about this transition, and I was absolutely convinced that several nights of crying and even less sleep than usually were ahead of me.  However, Jack really surprised me, and it was MUCH less tramatic than I imagined.  Before this transition, I was a little bit nervous that Jack might roll to his tummy in the middle of the night.  Sure enough, on the first night in the crib, he did just that.  I barely slept the rest of the night and was watching him on the monitor like a hawk with the message of "back is best" in the back of my head.  I went in once to flip him back over, but he just rolled right back to his tummy.  He did the same the second night, and I finally lightened up about it. The SIDS police didn't come, and I realized that I can't stay up all night and roll him back every time he ends up on his tummy.  He's strong enough to hold his head up, and there's nothing loose in his crib, so I figure he's fine.  I just have a stomach sleeper on my hands.  

How cute is he sleeping with his little booty up in the air?!

Like most babies, Jack has always been fascinated with ceiling fans.  But this week, he took it to a new level and began talking to the fan.  He loves to lay on the bed, stare up at the fan, straighten out his whole body as he gears up to let out loud screeches at the fan.  It's pretty funny.  

First kiss from Jack!

My first glass of wine in a whole year!

 17 weeks (April 18 - April 24)

Jack has officially been in his crib for one week, and he's doing great!  He still has his normal 1-3 wakeups at night, but he does seem to be more comfortable in the crib in general.  He was getting way too big for the Rock 'N Play. We are even getting some better naps in the crib during the day!

Jack is SO over this lame baby gym.  "Get these ridiculous toys out of my face, mom."

Unforunately, Jack caught his first cold this week.  A coughing baby with a runny nose is pretty much the most pathetic thing I've seen- poor little guy!  I hope it doesn't last too long!

Happy 4 months, sweet boy!