7 Months

It's hard to think of the new things Jonathan has been doing because we've had a bit of regression in his sleep at night (so I'm a little distracted by my own lack of sleep). But despite waking up at night, he continues to be such a sweet boy during the day!

This month he's be practicing "ma" & "da" but says them randomly - we try to reinforce them when he says them to one of us, but for now it's just babbling. No new teeth as of yet, but he continues to chew on almost any toy if he can get his mouth on it, and that on top of the sleep issues, probably means he's working on it.

We've enjoyed many walks with our other stay-at-home buddies. We're loving the great weather. Although Jonathan did get his first little sunburn (very mild) because his socks slid down and his pants inched up during one long ride in the stroller. He never seemed to notice, so I only felt bad for a day or so. Now that we've been taking him outside, we've noticed that he loves the wind blowing. At our trek to the outlet mall a few weekends ago, he squealed as the wind blew in his face - we were grimacing as dirt blew in our faces - but Jonathan didn't seem to mind.
We're still slowly working in solid foods - he's tried graham crackers and carrots so far - and no real issues that we've seen.

Jonathan had his first trip to the ball park this season, which prompted me to try a new game - catch. He seems to like it (or maybe he just likes eating it! ):

6 months

Jonathan's 6 month appointment was last Friday. It confirmed our suspicions - he has outgrown the 'pumpkin seat'... we were getting a little tired of lugging him in it anyway. He's up to 22lbs, 90z and it just about 29 inches long (that's off the charts for his age group). He also had shots, which he cried about briefly but then smiled at the nurse when I picked him up (he's such a sweet baby!).

He now sits pretty well by himself (I still put a pillow behind him for fear of him konking his noggin when he falls back - which tends to happen when he picks up heavy toys and tries to put them in his mouth!) He is still rolling all over the place. He's starting clasping his hands together and putting them to his mouth. His feet are still endless entertainment and now socks seem to go flying since he pulls on them if he can't get his feet up to his mouth. He's resumed blowing raspberries and smacks his lips in a kissing sound. Just this past week he's been exercising his vocal cords - yelping out and laughing at the sounds he's making...

We tried rice cereal a couple of times - it didn't go over so well. Nothing went flying, but he just didn't seem to like the flavor or texture. We've also tried some small pieces of banana and a bit of potato... those seemed a little more acceptable. We've not been too aggressive with the solids since his weight gain is still so good and he's not seeming to want to nurse any more often... plus Daddy's been traveling and we don't want him to miss out on the fun food adventures! We've given Jonathan a sippy cup with some water which he likes to hold by himself - he chews on the rubber spout and could care less about the water inside. It's good practice for him, though.

Jonathan attended his first Easter Egg hunt - he did spot a red egg that he was able to pick up by himself... we're sure that next year he won't settle for just one!

Breakthrough!

It might be hard to make it out, but there are 2 little teeth poking through the bottom gums! We noticed them this past Monday morning and sure enough they poked their way through by the end of the week.

Not too much is new besides that - Jonathan still rolls all over the place (we put our safety plugs in the outlets already!) and is starting to sit up pretty well on his own.

Here are some other cute pictures from the last couple of weeks:

his first bath in the tub, playing in the snow, waking up cross-wise in his crib, chewing on his lambs ear while he's sleeping, & his '5 month photo' in IU gear

5 Months

Well - the big task this month was transitioning Jonathan from sleeping in his carseat (which we put in the crib) to sleeping flat in his crib...I was dreading it because I was just sure that we were going to be up all night and having to nurse every few hours... Thankfully, I was wrong!

The first night we put him down around 10pm & he woke up at 1:30, 3:30 & 5:30 - each time we just put the pacifier in and he pretty much went back to sleep. The next night he cut out the 1:30 waking...and each night he slept a little longer. Friday night he slept the whole night through! We said it was because he's such a big boy since he turned 5 months old the next day... It's been 2 weeks that he's been sleeping flat and he's pretty much still sleeping through the night. (the pictures were taken Saturday morning when he first slept all night in the crib)

This month we had a reunion with the other families from our birth class - it was so nice to see everyone again and here about their birth stories and how things are going now that they have their new additions. Evan was born in August, then Jonathan in September & Danika in November.

Some other firsts in February included: rolling across the living room floor, putting his feet in his mouth & patting our faces (one of Mommy's favorites! :o) He's also come back to blowing raspberries, which he hadn't done in about 2 weeks.

March started with what we thought might have been his first cold - lots of sneezing & a runny nose, but it only lasted for about a day. Accompanied by ongoing drooling & chewing, perhaps it was related to cutting teeth, but we can't see anything yet.

More 4 month firsts

Jonathan got to take his first plane trip last weekend when we went to Texas to visit Kendall, Vivi & the boys. He did REALLY well. The timing worked out that he fell asleep just as we were taking off and he didn't seem to have any problems with his ears hurting! We had several people who got off the plane before us who said, "I didn't even know there was a baby up here"... I'm glad we could keep everyone happy! He was his usual cheerful self, smiling at the flight attendants, gate agents and anyone else he made eye-contact with at the airport. Having him be in such a good mood sure made the trip easier for us too!

The flight attendant gave us a certificate for his "first flight" as well as 2 stick-on wings (one to wear and one to scrapbook). The pilot was sweet and let us take a picture of Jonathan with him in the cockpit.

On the way to Abilene, we stopped at a Sonic to eat (we cried the day the one in Bloomington closed... well, not really, but it was a sad day :o) No tater tots for Jonathan just yet!

We had a great visit with Kendall, Vivi, Noah, Silas & Jonas - Jonathan adjusted well to living with a fuller house over the weekend -although he awoke at about 4am each morning. The boys loved on him and took turns holding him. He giggled & smiled while they played with and around him. We went to church with them in Hamlin, where Kendall has taken a job as a worship minister. It was nice to see him in his element... of course I missed most of the service because Jonathan: 1)needed to nurse when we first arrived, 2)spit his paci on the floor before spitting up & 3)poo-ing enough to soil his clothing... so goes the life of this mother! ;O)

Another first for Jonathan was that he has successfully mastered the art of rolling over from his back to his belly. He did it the first time the morning after we came back from Texas. He now roll both directions, but tends to roll over his left shoulder more often...He also has been moving his legs and getting his bottom up in the air - just a matter of time before he'll be crawling!! Break out the Pack-n-Play - it will be the only way to contain him!

The same day he rolled over, he began blowing 'raspberries' when Kyle was holding him at dinner (at least he saved one new activity for Kyle to witness firsthand!).

I'm not sure we can handle many more firsts this month, but one more we are tackling is putting him in the crib at night to sleep. Sunday night was our first attempt. He did fairly well, sleeping about 4 hours before crying out enough for us to wake-up, and he went right back to sleep after we popped in the pacifier. After that he woke again at 3:30 & 5:30, but I didn't have to nurse him to get him back to sleep...so we'll count that as a blessing. We'll see how it all turns out.

One thing he has not been doing as much of is "talking" - he used to babble non-stop when we sang to him, but he now seems to be studying our faces more...so maybe he's soaking everything in and concentrating too much to babble?...

We are loving this stage as he grows & changes!

Dancing Baby

We'll post more about our trip to Texas, but here's a cute little video of Uncle Kendall doing "dancing baby" with Jonathan that I just had to post!

New Moves

Kyle had a business trip to Japan last week...so of course that's when Jonathan decided to try out some new moves. During the course of the week he started grabbing his feet (especially when we're about to change his diaper...which is sometimes helpful...and sometimes not!) and his big accomplishment was rolling over from his belly to his back for the first time! Fortunately, with Mommy being at home with him, we were able to video tape this momentus occasion! Jonathan even showed off for Daddy when he came home Friday afternoon. He continues to roll to his side when he's on his back, but he still hasn't figured out how to get his arm out of the way enough for him to roll all the way over.

We had a lot of company during the week - spending most of Sunday with Grandma & Grandpa, visiting with Great Grandma Ruby & Papaw; Grandma & Lauren spent the night one night and Memaw came by for some visits too.