5 months {Nolan}

Size: At Nolan's check-up last week, he weighed in at 14lbs, 12.8oz and was 24.5in long [he's our little pip-squeak!] Wearing all 3-6 and 6 month clothes, size 2 diapers and size 1 shoes. Given the fact that he was sick and not eating well for a couple weeks, the pediatrician is still pleased with his growth.

Illness: Sad to say, Mr. Nolan had his first "illness" in the last couple weeks. We knew something was up when he basically ate only half of what he normally does for several days in a row. With him already being a little lad, my mommy alarm went off and I knew I just had to get him checked out. To the surprise of the pediatrician, he had a double ear infection! He never spiked a fever higher than 99.9 and overall acted mostly himself, but didn't eat much. His antibiotics (good 'ol amoxicillan) took care of that mean 'ol ear infection and he had nice normal ears 10 days later.

Gross mobility: Nolan has shown that he can roll all directions, but still struggles with tummy to back. He has been working hard at sitting upright unsupported over the past month-- not quite there yet, but can sit unsupported for a few seconds without toppling over. When he's on his tummy, he has started to press up a lot more, raising his chest off the floor and kicking those sweet little feet!

Fine Motor: When we feed him, he's like an octopus--arms and legs flailing all over the place! Nolan will see and grab for anything--hair, earrings, necklaces, faces, phones, burp clothes, bibs, toys, anything! And with all that grabbing, he's putting everything into his mouth to test it out. And his newest toy to grab--his feet!

Communication: Giggling, laughing and squealing all happened this month and he loves to be tickled! He will talk up a storm sometimes and have so  much to say when he wants to. I can honestly say that he really only uses crying or screaming when something is really wrong in his world (hunger, dirty or really tired). In the past several days, he has been squealing and squeaking a lot (and he loves it when Jonah squeaks back to him)!

Sleep: There's not much of a set schedule, more of a routine these days. With the time change and the ear infection, he's been all over the place! He's still falling asleep by about 8:30, occasionally 9, with a last bottle of around 4 ounces to give him the knock-out punch and will usually sleep until around 4 or 4:30 (sometimes 5 or 5:30). Most mornings he's on his tummy or partially rolled onto his side in his sleep sack and doesn't usually need a paci to fall asleep or stay asleep anymore. Naps are still hit or miss--at least 2 a day with one being around 2-3hrs and the other between 30 mins-1hour, with the occasional power nap in the evening (20 mins or so).

Feeding: Welcome to the world of solids! We started Nolan out with rice cereal right after his 4 month check-up (since he is a little pip-squeak) but then stopped by the end of the week due to his boycotting of food altogether (which we discovered was from his illness). We started back up over the last 1-2 weeks and he's taken to it like a champ! So far, he's a lover of sweet potatoes, pears and bananas. We've been trying to sell him on the rice cereal, but he just doesn't seem to like it all that much. He does seem to do better with it when other food is mixed in with it. I think we may try oatmeal in the next few days to see if he prefers that. Overall, I would say he will eat about 1-2 tablespoons of cereal with 1-2 oz milk and 1-2 oz of food in one sitting. For the most part, we've been sticking to solids once a day, but am hoping to start moving to twice a day in the coming weeks. Milk consumption is hard to really say what is "normal" since he's not quite back to eating what he was eating before he got sick. I would say he's still on this schedule: nursing between 4-6am, AM bottle 4-6oz, lunch time bottle 4-6oz, afternoon bottle 4-6oz, dinner of cereal/food and bottle of about 4oz, then 4-6oz at bedtime. Overall, he's still about 75% breastmilk, 25% formula fed.

Personality: Golly, I love this kid--he's such a ham! Nolan absolutely lights up when you talk to him or play with him and will squeal, giggle, squeak and give you big grins! Really, it's like I have a totally different baby than the one I had 3 months ago. He is still a cuddlebug and loves to be walked around to observe the world around him. Whenever Jonah is around, he's absolutely glued to him, watching his every move, smiling and laughing at him! You've really got to meet this kid--he's adorable (and I'm totally biased!) :)

Loves: being tickled, playing peek-a-boo, his Auggie Doggie lovie, blankets, his hands, grabbing hair, reaching for a spoonful of bananas or pears, frozen banana in his teether, being held, lots of kisses

Dislikes: being hungry or dirty, having gas (he's a pretty gassy little guy!), nose suctioning or saline drops, medicine

Happy 5 months, Nolan!