Cinco en Julio

Cinco en Julio....it is like a variation of Cinco De Mayo.

Highlights:

-discovered his feet!

-starting to put everything in his mouth, with great vigor and excitement

-does not like direct sunlight (who does, honestly?)

-direct sunlight makes him sneeze

-got on a schedule

-started sleeping in his "own room"

-is starting to figure out how to roll from back to tummy

-had small tastes of his first food

-stopped swaddling :( (kinda)

-had his first swim!

-likes being on his stomach more than in the past

-went to his first baseball game!

-started throwing the cutest squeak into his giggles
-giggles much more often

-spit bubbles, all day, every day

-chatting up a storm
-starting to play games
-loves his Pa
-Went to Zoo/Aquarium for first time

The sleep saga continues. My mother  in law told my sister in law when she had her first baby to remember that everything is a phase and whether it is good or bad, it WILL change. Man that has been true for us these last couple months, but especially this one. It seems like Ezra's sleep habits have changed every.single. week. It has kind of thrown me for a loop. After three days of good sleep habits there will be three days of not-so-good sleep habits. Can I even call them habits? Maybe I should just call them days. He sleeps pretty well overall, except for when he doesn't. On the whole it looks like things are going in the right direction. We are working towards that magical thing I have heard whispered here and there:"sleeping through the night."As of right now, he is working his way back to only eating once during the night. Some nights he will do once, some nights twice. {But some nights he wakes up every two hours and makes mom and dad want to pull their hair out.}

In an effort to encourage positive sleep habits we have tried several different things. One of those things was taking him out of our closet and putting him into the room that shares a wall with our own. Ezra is scared of the dark and during the night, if he wakes up and cant see--he gets scared. So, a room with a nightlight makes it so if he wakes up he doesn't panic. This is the only reason he is in a different room. Once we go back to Ithaca he will be in our room with us again, since, he/we don't have any other choice....and I want him to be in our room.

He started breaking out of his swaddle consistently, more during naps than at night, at 4.5 months. This would wake him up mostly because he would immediately grab his binky and pull it out of his mouth. So, we moved him back to the LoveToDream swaddle (we call it the peanut swaddle.) It isn't a traditional swaddle. It makes it so there is still some control with his hands, he can suck on the little wings, but he cant flail his arms around or grab his binky. I do miss my little baby burrito though. Baby peanuts are cute too.

First baseball game!

Z went through a bit of a growth spurt this month and started eating every three hours instead of every four, like he had been doing since he was 6 weeks old. This is also why he started waking up twice at night. Starving baby. The three hour feeding only lasted a couple weeks. The last few days we have gone back to 4 hours. He wakes up around 7, eats, plays until around 8 then sleeps for an hour. Wakes up at 9 and we go for a walk or play until 11ish. Then I feed him and he goes down for his long nap. On a good day he sleeps until 1 or 2. He has been doing pretty good and getting more consistent here. Then he wakes up and eats again. We usually go out and run errands or see friends, whatever, during this time. Around 3:30/4 he will take another nap and eat again. Then it is bedtime at 7.

When I say that he had small tastes of his first food, I mean small. I let him try and suck on a piece of watermelon and cantaloupe, for about 10 seconds. He was not very fond of either. I gave him a little pinky-dipped in mashed sweet potatoes. My dad let him taste a piece of sauerkraut. Overall he has not been a fan of anything that tastes different than what he is used to. We will start solids around 6 months.

Looking up at Daddy. This kid sure loves his Pa. He is pretty obsessed with Kyle these days. Once I had to have Kyle leave the room while I was trying to nurse him because Ezra wouldn't nurse he just wanted to look at/smile at Kyle. 

My favorite view, my favorite face.

Ezra is very serious when placed in a situation that is new to him. He won't hold onto or play with toys. He won't suck on his hands. He won't smile. He just looks around with a furrowed brow and takes it all in. He also holds incredibly still. It is honestly like an animal that has just noticed your presence--ya know what I mean? That's how Z is when he is somewhere or doing something unfamiliar. He has to analyze his surroundings before he will return to his normal demeanor. You know he is relaxed when he will start to coo or blow spit bubbles, smile and play with toys/suck on hands.

This month it seems that he has really started to GET things. I don't know exactly how to explain this, but his interactions have just become so much more aware. For example, the other day we went out on the front porch and he was sitting in the bumbo. My phone was playing disney songs and sitting on a bench. He furrowed his brow and looked from me to the other side (where the phone was, but he couldn't see) and back again over and over just confused about where in the world that sound was coming from. He knew that something should be over there making noise, but it wasn't. He is also starting to understand moods and whether things you are telling him are happy or stern. When I said he "plays games" above, I mean, he will snuggle against me and I will say some variation of "snuggle snuggle snuggle" and then he will pop his head up and look at me (smiling/giggling) and then dive back into my body again. We do this over and over a couple times a day. I never want him to stop and I never want to forget it!

Walks each day. We started using the carrier this month and I might be a little obsessed. 

Riveted. Also, check out his hair.