5 Months

Height: 27 inches (87th percentile)
Weight: 18 pounds 3 ounces (81th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.8 inches (94th percentile)??
Milestones: Ryan has discovered his feet. He constantly puts his legs up in the air, grabs his toes and tickles his feet a minute, then SLAMS them down on the ground...before doing it all over again. His feet are one of his favorite toys. He has also mastered rolling from tummy to back. Which means he no longer gets ANY tummy time because the second you put his on his tummy he immediately rolls over and then gives you a huge grin as if to say "Ha ha i win!" I *think* he knows his name. He'll usually turn and look when you say it...unless he's just flat out ignoring you. It drives me crazy when he does that, because i could jump up and down and make monkey sounds and he'll flat out ignore me if he feels like it! But if *he* wants attention? No way are you allowed to ignore him. He's such a silly monkey. He turns to find noises and sounds and voices. We've been working on sitting up. He's getting so good! I still have to be right next to him because when he leans too far back or sideways he just falls head-first to the ground (i found this out the hard way), but he can now sit up straighter and for much longer than just a week ago. Possible separation anxiety starting.
Favorites: Playing with his feet, pulling mommy's hair, pulling the cat's tail, pulling daddy's beard, sticking EVERYTHING in his mouth, and eating baby food!
Sounds: He can now blow bubbles and make raspberries. He usually wakes up in the morning and from naps and just babbles and coos and talks to himself for awhile.
Foods: Ryan loves all the Stage 1 baby foods, even the peas and green beans! It's so cute when he eats because he'll take a bite and then go "Mmmmm" and open his mouth for more.
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: He's finally sleeping through the night!! I don't know what changed, but he suddenly doesn't wake up a million times a night to be pacified, doesn't need a nighttime bottle, and generally sleeps pretty soundly until morning. This is particularly awesome for me, especially when i get my butt in bed on time (which isn't very often). Jake, however, has insomnia or something because he can't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning and then has to get up (if i'm working) with the baby. He's working on it, though.
Other News: Now that the weather has been nice we've been to the park a couple times. I also got Ryan a little toddler swing for the backyard. He isn't as excited about swinging as i thought he would be, but we've been out in the backyard almost every day and he loves to just look around and watch the squirrels, birds and neighbor kids playing. Today we went on a walk in his stroller. He sat up straight like a big boy and was watching EVERYTHING. We'll definitely be doing that more often!
  This weekend was Jana's baby shower. She is such a cute mommy! Sprout is one lucky little boy, too, because he made out like a bandit! I also got to meet teeny tiny Cullen Sandlin. He is soooo cute! I don't even remember Ryan being that little, it seems like such a long time ago already :(

Veggies Aren't So Bad

We have successfully started Ryan on veggies! We started with peas. He didn't seem to particularly like or dislike them. After three days of peas (to make sure he didn't have any allergies or reactions) we gave him carrots. He LOVED them and kept making "Mmmmm!" sounds whenever he ate a spoonful and protested *loudly* if we didn't give him another bite quickly enough.

He has also started sticking out his tongue at us. Every time he smiles he now sticks out his tongue and it is so adorable. My munchkin is growing so fast!

He still loves computers, TVs, and phones. Here his daddy is teaching him how to play games on the computer.

Lastly, he can very, very briefly sit up all by himself. He quickly face-plants on the floor so we have to be right beside him when he does it, but it's progress.

4 Months

Height: 25.75 inches (74th percentile)
Weight: 16 pounds 11 ounces (79th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.25 inches (84th percentile)
Milestones: Ryan smiles and laughs all the time now and i will do *anything* to get this to happen. It's true, parents do and say some seriously weird things just to coax out one of those little baby laughs. Ryan is also a bouncing fool, and when you stand him up on his legs he will stand up for several minutes at a time. He is no longer content to lie on the floor and play by himself, he wants to be involved in whatever is going on around him and is very vocal about this. For example, if you leave him playing with his toys and walk out of his sight he will soon start whining or fake coughing until you reappear...at which point he gives you a HUGE gummy grin and goes back to what he was doing (but looking back to make sure you're watching him of course.) He talks alllll the time and he wants to be heard...he's even been known to make a phone call or two just to talk on the phone. He is also starting to put everything in his mouth (i already pulled out a piece of cat litter) and grabs hold of whatever his little arms can reach (mainly my hair).
Favorites: Ryan loves to bounce...and bounce...and BOUNCE in his jumperoo. Jake thinks he's going to skip crawling and just start walking one day because he always wants to be on his feet.
Sounds: Lots of "ooooohs" and "aaaahs" with a couple "g" and "b" sounds thrown in. He talks a LOT.
Foods: Similac Advance formula, and we've gotten the green light to introduce baby foods. Of course Grandma Susie already let him have sweet tea and Papa gave him some cheese...
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: On New Years Eve little Peanut went 10 whole hours without a peep. So from then on we started just pacifying him instead of giving him a bottle if he woke up at night. Well....i guess it was just a fluke because he started needing to be pacified 5 times a night. So now he'll go about 4-6 hours, suck down a bottle while still asleep, and then sleep the rest of the night until 9am (for a total of 10-12 hours). He's a pretty great sleeper now, even with naps. It's such a difference from just 2 months ago when we were struggling with every nap and every bedtime. Now he'll sometimes pass out before he even makes it to the bed!
Other News: Ryan's freaky-fast growth spurt has now slowed down. I think he might actually last close to the 5 or 6 month mark in the 3-6 month clothes! He's still increasing his percentiles on height, weight and head circumference though (they all increased ~5% since his 2 month checkup).
  I was actually starting to relax about SIDS since Ryan is now 4 months old...until i found out that 2 of the babies from my September Moms forum have died of SIDS recently. I'm glad i chose a video baby monitor because it's much easier to just flip on the "baby tv" and make sure he's breathing instead of having to sneak in his room and stick my finger under his nose every 5 minutes. But i found myself checking the monitor much too often, so i ordered the Angelcare movement monitor. It's basically a square pad that goes underneath the mattress and can detect even the tiniest of vibrations. I was skeptical as to how it could possibly sense the slow, deep breathing of a sleeping baby all the way through a mattress....but it totally works! I've only had it a couple nights but it gives me peace of mind and i don't check the monitor as often. The first false alarm is going to scare the crap out of me though.
  Peanut has been spitting up a bunch lately, so if you're visiting and want to hold him i suggest you bring a poncho.
  Ryan has recently discovered: Sophie the Giraffe. She is a natural-rubber teether that looks and sounds just like a dog's chew toy. But he LOVES her. He will munch on her for hours! We've also been introduced to the "Silly Sandra" books (Sandra Boynton) by the Sandlin Family. They are AWESOME, and our favorite is the Belly Button Book. Her illustrations are so cute.

(Visit my blog laurenbolton.blogspot.com to view the videos)

Why i was *really* late for Ally's bday dinner:

Ryan Giggling

Sophie the Giraffe: Nom Nom!

New Year With a New Baby

This is going to be an amazing year, and i can't wait! Ryan is growing and changing so fast. I was just reading his 3 month blog and noticing all the things he can do now that he couldn't just a few short weeks ago. Amazingly i still miss being pregnant and ever since i came out of my funk when Ryan was about 2 months old i've wanted a second baby...and that hasn't gone away. I'm wondering if that will change once Ryan is mobile and i'm completely exhausted chasing him around? We have his 4 month checkup (and second round of vaccines) coming up in a little over a week. I'm not looking forward to the shots at all...his little legs must have been sore last time because he was fine until a few hours after we got home and then he just wailed as if the world was ending. I will update with all the many changes for his 4 month blog, but here are some pictures from the past month.

A Year Ago Today...

...i found out i was pregnant. It was one of the most exciting and the scariest days of my life but it has been an awesome adventure. I love you little Peanut!

3 Months

Height: 24.5 inches (68th percentile)
Weight: 14 pounds 8 ounces (74th percentile)
Head Circumference: haven't measured it but it's about the size of a bowling ball
Milestones: Ryan now carries on conversations with us, especially first thing in the morning and right after his bath while he's drying off and getting lotioned. I'm not quite sure what he's talking about but it seems like he has a lot to say. He's smiling a lot more and initiates the smiling at least half the time. I love when his eyes light up and he grins at me. My "little" Peanut is HUGE! Jake and i were looking back at his newborn pictures and it doesn't even look like the same baby. I love it though, he's our little chunky monkey. And i'm pretty sure he gained a pound overnight. He's gotten much, much better at tummy-time. He lasts several minutes lifting his head wayyyy up and looking around until he's completely exhausted from holding up that huge melon and faceplants on the floor. A few times he's decided he didn't want to do tummy-time and rolled onto his back, but for the most part he still hasn't mastered that trick. Just this past week he seems to be mastering batting and grabbing at hanging objects. He can bring both his hands together while laying down and grab the monkey hanging above him on the playmat, then hold onto it and pull. He love love LOVES the baby in the mirror on his playmat. He will talk to that cute baby for a long, long time without getting bored and he smiles and giggles at him, too. He constantly chews on his hands and sucks his thumb. He has become much more social and talks and smiles at new people if he's not sleepy. He's basically become a perfect little angel whenever we go out and rarely fusses or cries. He saves most of that for when we're at home. He's obsessed with tv, computer and the iPhone. I don't know if it's the glowing light or movement or what, but he will stare and stare so we have to keep him facing away from such things. Definitely my son :P
Favorites: Ryan's favorite time of day is still bathtime, but now he loves when we get him *out* of the tub and swaddle him up in the towel to dry off. He will talk and talk and talk to us! He usually has a lot to say. He also loves Seabiscuit the Seahorse, his "gloworm" that he talks to and pets when he's settling down to sleep.
Sounds: "Oooooooh-aaaaah"
Foods: Similac Advance formula, and LOTS of it. He's moved up to medium-flow nipples. Jake let him lick Dorito cheese off his hands...
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: Ryan generally only wakes up once in the middle of the night to eat. Sometimes we'll pacify him and he'll sleep another hour or two, but either way he still has 1 bottle. He goes anywhere from 4-8 hours for his long stretch. He still enjoys being swaddled but has no problem getting his arms out when he wishes. A month ago we were struggling with sleep. Naps and night time were just impossible sometimes because he didn't want to go to sleep or stay asleep, but now he's in a pretty flexible routine and does great! Unless we let him get overtired he usually goes right to sleep when we lay him down.

Other News: Peanut is rapidly outgrowing his clothes, his car seat, and pretty much everything else. I know he's having another growth spurt now at 3 months but it's kinda crazy! At this rate it seems like he'll be the size of a 2 year old at 12 months, so i'm waiting to see if he slows down a bit. Surprisingly (because he measured short on his ultrasound) he's actually pretty tall for his age. I don't know if this is indicative of his height later or if that's just a baby thing. I think we need to move up a diaper size. Not because the size 2 is too tight, but because it just can't hold all the pee! We're starting to get some leaks and wet clothes and every single time it's because the diaper just can't hold anymore. And i'm not letting my baby suffer, we change his diaper at least every 3-4 hours while he's awake! And lastly this past week the weather turned suddenly icy and Ryan and i got snowed-in at dad's house. It was our first night away from home (and Daddy!) since he was born and i was freaking out that he wouldn't be able to sleep or i'd run out of food or something. Luckily everything went great and he was a sweet little baby, especially since i put him in the "dungeon" downstairs with no windows or light. He slept until 9:30am and even then i had to wake him up! It made me miss being on a cruise ship. Maybe a Disney cruise will be our first family vacation...