5 Months!

Harrison is now 5 months old!  How did that happen?!  Some days it feels like we have been together forever, and other days I just can't believe how fast time is flying by. The past month was a very fun and busy time for us, with a lot of new experiences for Harrison.

Harrison's first Easter

Harrison is now eating solids more, but sweet potatoes are still his favorite. We had some GI troubles for awhile and went back to a "bottle only" diet for a few days, but we're starting to get back on track.  Our newest introduction is peas.  The baby blender is still proving to be an awesome investment, 1 cup of frozen peas makes 8 servings of baby food!  Besides the money it saves (which honestly, is awesome), I find making his food to be kind of fun. When I transitioned from breastfeeding to formula feeding, a lot of the "I'm doing something good for my baby" feeling went away with it.  Its nice to have some of that feeling back :)
Harrison is now scooting backwards as well as moving in "circles."  His head and arms will remain in the same spot, but little-by-little his lower body will move around in a circle.  He's very frustrated right now that he can't move forward.  He reaches out to grab something on the blanket in front of him, and you can just see him trying to will himself forward.  Soon enough I'm sure!

Harrison is sleeping in his crib for naps now too (YAY!)  Up until recently he was still sleeping in his swing for nap times, simply because that is what was working.  He is now far too big for that and would wind up curled over in the bottom of the swing, so heavy that the swing would actually stop moving.  His nap times were getting shorter and shorter and we knew it was time to move to the crib.  Part of me was worried that once we started napping in the crib, he would no longer associate the crib with "nighttime" and "this is the time I sleep 10 hours for Mommy", but hopefully it wont be a problem!

Harrison slumped in his swing

Since Daniel and are still sharing a room with Harrison, it has become custom now for us to wake up to Harrison pulling down his mesh bumper and smiling at us. Every day begins with my little boy smiling at me.  This makes waking up early in the morning so much better!

"I can see you mom!"

Good Morning!

A few other new things:

Harrison is now reaching his arms out when he wants to be picked up--another thing I taught him that I'm sure will come back to bite me ;)  He is also learning how to "give hugs" and "give kisses".

His newest interest is in animals.  He absolutely loves my parents' dog Winston.  Whenever Winston comes into the room his face just lights up.  Harrison is learning how to "pet the puppy" and Winston even snuck in a kiss for Harrison yesterday.  Harrison has also become aware of our cat Scooter. He doesn't seem to notice the other cats, I'm not sure why.  Maybe he remembers Scooter mewing to him when he was in the womb :) Harrison has "pet" Scooter a few times, and its reassuring to see the cat simply sniff and nuzzle back.

Harrison and Scooter

Harrison is SO CLOSE to sitting up on his own.  As long as he has something in front of him to keep himself entertained, he can sit there on his own.  He is good with catching himself if he starts to topple over as well.  Once he loses interest in what is in front of him however, he gives up and falls over.  We also have given up using his Bumbo chair.  On more than one occasion now he has quite literally thrown himself from it.  He also loves standing (with help of course).

Harrison's favorite toys right now are his Jumperoo and stuffed animals.  When we purchased his jumper, we assumed it would be like all other toys where it would hold his interest for about 15 minutes a day, and after about a week would be garbage.  Definitely not the case!  Harrison will jump in that thing for an hour at a time, just laughing hysterically. Best. Investment. Ever.  We have also started playing "anticipation games" with Harrison.  We will start by either holding our hands or a stuffed animal above him and slowly come down to tickle his neck--the stuffed animals give kisses :) He has learned what the end result is and it is adorable to watch him squirm with excitement.  His favorite stuffed animal right now is his new Sock Monkey from Nana Pat.  I think its creepy looking, but he seems to love it!  I have found that Harrison enjoys sucking on stuffed animals 10x more than sucking on a pacifier or his hands.  Half of his laundry every week is stuffed animals who's limbs are just soggy.  Ick.  I cant complain though, it will be a lot easier in the long run to take away a stuffed animal than it is to take away a thumb!

Yummy Sock Monkey

Harrison's hair is finally coming back in!  He was rocking a pretty decent mohawk for awhile there, but it looks as though things are starting to fill in.  Over the last day or so he has started developing a "Conan O'Brien" bouffant.  Hopefully that is not permanent...

Check out my hair!

We continue to watch our little man grow before our eyes.  It is all happening way too fast.  Sometimes it feels like Harrison is more of a toddler than a 5 month old.  I practically had a heart attack while taking his 5 Month picture on our living room chair for fear that he was going to leap off.  It seems so long ago that he was just a little blob who could be placed anywhere and not move.  We are quickly realizing that the time to baby proof the apartment has come! We are anxiously looking forward to the upcoming spring months and getting excited to be outside more!  Here is to month 6 :)

5 Months