Dear Bryce,

You are 5 months old today! This certainly hasn't been the easiest month, but you're so stinkin' cute it makes it all worth it. You're still a skinny little guy weighing in today at 13lbs 12oz. Right now you wear mostly 3-6 month clothes and are in size 2 diapers. Nursing is still going well and depending on how well (or poorly) you sleep at night the number of times you eat each day varies. Here's what else you've been up to this month!

Leading up to your 4 month birthday, your sleep drastically improved. Unfortunately we've had some setbacks in that department this month. You're still getting swaddled right now, but maybe you're ready to stop. I'm just not sure I'm ready for the super restless nights I think we'll have if we forgo the swaddle. Last night was better because I just let you soothe yourself back to sleep a few times you woke up. I think I need to do more of that. It's just hard because when you're fussing I can't sleep. It's easier for me to just run in and feed you real quick so we can both go back to sleep quickly, but I think I'm enabling your middle of the night eating habits by running to you too quickly.

I thought your sleep would improve this month because we started you on some solid foods. You are eating pretty well. You usually do well with your rice cereal now and have tried many veggies and a few fruits too. We tried bananas this past Sunday and I think you're allergic, so we'll steer clear of those for now. Sometimes it's hard to feed you because your hands are ALWAYS in your mouth. It's almost impossible to get a spoon in there. You're very content in your highchair though and I can leave you there after you eat and you stay happy.

Even though your hands are constantly in your mouth and there's been an increase of drool this past week, I don't see any signs of teeth coming in yet. Maybe I'll be surprised and one will pop through soon. I'm not in any hurry for the teeth to come though! I should've mentioned this last month, but we have had a big improvement with your hiccups and spit up. You never spit up nearly as much as your brother did when he was a baby, but sometimes you'd projectile spit up after the hiccups. This hasn't happened in a long time. You still occasionally get the hiccups, but they don't seem to bother you as much anymore.

You do have really dry skin. The doctor didn't seem concerned about it at your 4 month check up and just said to put vasoline on it after baths. I think it's helping some, but you still have little red, dry patches on your arms and legs. I'm hoping they get better soon.

You are very loud. You make these crazy growling, yelling noises when you're awake and playing. It's pretty cute. Daddy always says you're growling like a tiger. You still enjoy playing on the floor, but you no longer stay still. You are a barrel rolling machine! Sometimes you can make slight forward progress when on your belly, but no crawling yet. Just tons and tons of rolling. You are constantly bumping into things and if I even leave the room for a second, you've moved clear to the other side.

You don't really show any real interest in toys yet. You'll sometimes hold onto Sophie and chew on her. When you're in your bouncy seat you will now pull the velcro toys off the bar. You love to watch TV and you rarely take your eyes off your brother if he's in the room. You have the greatest smile and do a super cute bashful smile just for Mommy.

I'm anxious to see what this next month brings. I'm not sure if you'll get the hang of crawling in the next month or not, but it'll be a whole new experience for us since Brennan never did it. Even with the middle of the night wakeups we've had this month, I just love you so very much. I still think you're a pretty easy baby. You just go with the flow and much more unscheduled than Brennan was (which also might explain why you don't sleep as well). You still do great in the car and we're hopeful you'll be a trooper for a little trip we're taking up to Vermont next week.

Love you bunches!

Love,
Mommy

Bryce at 4 months

Today at 5 months.

This one is blurry, but I love how happy he is. He didn't want to sit up straight in the chair, but wanted to lean forward. Love his silly grins!

And just in case you're curious what Brennan was up to at 5 months, click here!