5 months

Months crawled and weeks screeched by while I was pregnant for Wells. The anticipation for his arrival consumed long days. But, then July 24 (the day I went into labor) everything started speeding up and blurring together. Since his arrival on July 28, I can't seem to make days last long enough. But, we deal and savor all these previous moments that speed by. We are three days post Christmas and turning 5 months old. We are back in Louisiana and surrounded with family just like when Wells turned 1 month. It amazes me how much he has grown in this short amount of time. 

Wells hit a growth spurt this past month. He holds bigger and feels more like a toddler. During this spurt, his sleeping patterns were varying. For about 2 weeks, he would wake in the middle of the night one maybe two times. I have two theories on this sudden change in our nights, growth and then rolling into the side of the crib. We set him up in a better position for sleeping and he went back to his 9/10pm to 7am nightly sleeps until he came down with a cold. Also, after asking some of my mommy friends for advice I stopped going to get him if he woke up. He doesn't cry during these wakings. So, I would check on him via our video monitor. Most of the time he would play for a bit and then fall back asleep. At times I think it would be easier to just go get him and nurse him back to sleep because it would take five-ish minutes and I can go back to sleep faster. But, I do believe it's good for him to gain independence and fall back asleep himself. Our house was kicked with a nasty cold leaving both Ted and Wells miserable and at my mercy. Absolutely awful coughing spells, congestion, and everything else that comes with a cold. We've recovered our nights and sleeping after we kicked the colds.

Our four month check up was unintentionally, perfectly scheduled on the spike of this cold. Doc said to let it run it's course and everything else is looking great. Wells is 97% in height, 74% in weight, and his head is around 50% (I can't remember the exact percentage). He's wearing 6-12 month clothes. I'm still exclusively breastfeeding but we have gave him a few sips of water. The first taste was greeted with the best yuck! face ever but he was also grabbing for more. Now anytime I have a glass of water, he is begging me for a sip. Many people including strangers have been asking me if we are feeding him solids. The answer simply is not yet. I plan to exclusively breastfeed for the first year with some introduction to real food at some point. Food for developing motor skills (he feeds himself real cooked food as opposed to puree's) and introduction to texture and flavors. Ideas adapted from Baby-led Weaning with our own personal touch because I am a firm believer that breast is best.

Besides the few days of extreme cuddling as we fighting that god awful cold, Wells is very active. He sits up mostly by himself and is learning to keep his balance. He loves his toys and absolutely can't resist eating books. He has figured out a way to get across the room without steaming rolling. He started this last month with what I was calling the worm. I should have a video of this because it was pretty amusing. He would tuck his knees under his belly which would be excellent if he could figure out how to push off his hands to crawl but we aren't there yet. Instead, knees under belly and nose dive forward. Inch by inch he gets to his destination which happens to usually be the Christmas tree. Then one day about a week ago, he started army crawling! He is all over the place now. 

Wells met Santa, fell asleep under the Christmas tree, and is a fan of getting new toys. Most of all he is always reaching for our wipes container. Typical kid that would be happy with wipe containers than any toy we could buy. He is getting harder to dress and diaper changes are more challenging as he is like a fish out of the water. He loves touching everything. My face, handfuls of my hair, anything on the dinner table, and anything in arms reach. Wells strains to sit up and manages countless stomach crunches a day. He sits up without falling over, most of the time. He talks to himself in the mirror which keeps him entertained most days while I'm getting ready. He naps solid blocks of time more consistently anywhere between two and four hours. He is very curious about he world. He loves people watching and finally realizing he can look out the window in the car. 

The holidays have been simple and sweet. Wells is enjoying the extra mommy and daddy time while we are all out of town. I am too. My favorite part of vacation is being able to spend each day with Ted all day instead of waiting for him to get off from work. Wells managed his third set of flights just fine and we have a few more to go. He loved all the airport people watching, napping in flight, and smiling at flight attendants.We are all loving being around family at my grandparents visiting with my parents, aunt, and my cousins.

Happy five months Wells Emerson!