5 Months

5 Months!

Date

May 16, 2012

The official 5 month picture

Weight/Size
Elliott had a weight check at the pediatrician's last Thursday and was 11 pounds 14 ounces. He was 24.5 inches.  He was gaining about an ounce a day so I'd guess that he is about 12 pounds 5ish ounces today.  We see Dr. Miloh next Thursday for a liver appointment so we'll get another weight check then. 

 

 

Elliott is wearing 3 month and 3-6 month clothes.  He is totally out of newborn and 0-3 month clothes.  The outfit he is wearing in these pictures is actually 6-9 months.  It's a little big.  He is wearing size 1-2 diapers, but his tummy has gotten so round that they are tight around his belly!

Sleep

This varies a lot.  Some days he takes no morning nap, some days he takes an hour morning nap.  Some days he goes down for his afternoon nap for 2 hours without a peep, some days I am in there every 15 minutes rocking him.  He sleeps great, every night, from about 9 pm to between 12 and 2 am.  He is up every night, without fail, between 12 and 2 and again between 4 and 5.  I nurse him and he's back to sleep again until between 7 and 8.  Not a night goes by that I don't rock him at some point.  He stopped sleeping with me in bed after his acid reflux got really bad about 3-4 weeks ago.  We just couldn't get comfy together.  He's been sleeping naps and night in the rock n play. Even though we love it so, Elliott is getting too long for the miracle blanket.  He sleeps so good with it, but he gets mad that his legs are all bunched up.  We tried the halo sleep sack swaddler which is longer, but he busts out of that within an hour.  Just last night we went back to the merlin magic sleep suit now that he is officially within the correct weight range.

Movement
Elliott wants to stand all the time.  He likes standing on our laps and he likes when we lay down in bed and let him stand on our stomachs.  He is still rolling from tummy to back, although he will stay on his tummy for longer now.  He is SO close to rolling from back to tummy.  He can get almost there and then his arm gets in the way and stops him from going all the way over.  Spencer had the same problem at this age. Elliott loves it when we blast him into the air and do baby benchpresses.  He started playing in the jumperoo last week.

Communication
Lots and lots of cooing and prebabbling.  He hoots all the time.  Michael came home from work and Spencer, Elliott and I were hanging out on the bed together.  Michael asked if there was an owl in the room.  He laughs when we do something silly or when we tickle him.  He can make eye contact like nobody's business.  We have entire back and forth conversations that last minutes made entirely and of hoots and grunts.

Sweet Remembrances

1.  Elliott's first picnic in the park

2. Elliott's glamour shots at Sears (that we still haven't received.....don't even get me started on THAT one)

3. Elliott starting to sit in the high chair and liking it.

3. Elliott going in the jumperoo for the first time and loving it.

4. Going an entire month (6 weeks actually) with NO blood draws.

5. Being completely off (completely unneccesary) seizure medication and having no ill effects from the weaning process. 

Spencer took this picture!

Food
Nursing 8-9 times a day. Still supplementing with pregestimil formula and duocal.  If his liver enzymes are looking better we are looking forward to decreasing the formula and duocal as his ability to digest and absorb fat improves.

 

 

We're going to ask Dr. Miloh if there is any reason we can't start solids because of his liver issues.  This boy is ready to eat.  We'd like to start at the beginning of June if we get the go-ahead.  Banana is at the top of our list.

Mood
Happy!  He fusses when he wants to be standing and he's not.  He fusses as he's getting tired.  He cries when he gets too hungry.   Other than that he's a pretty happy guy.  With that said, I decided to take both kids to Target this afternoon.  I was nervous about germs, but we have permission from his pediatrician to rejoin the world.  I was so happy because he didn't cry in the car at all on the way there and I was thinking, "this is going to be great.  We're really doing this".  I got him out of the car seat, into the front carrier and we walked into the store.  He was fine.  We walked over to the carts.  I pulled a cart out.  Elliott started crying.  Screaming, actually.  I spent 10 minutes (hiding in an aisle) trying to calm him down.  He just got louder and more upset.  Nothing I did worked.  After 10 minutes I decided to leave.  Spencer and I were both pretty disappointed.  We love ourselves a Target trip.  The only thing I can think is that he was completely overwhelmed because he is 5 months old and is familiar with only 1) our house and 2) hospitals and doctor's offices.  Maybe Target was too much for him.  Or maybe he was on fire because it was 106 degrees and he is used to a life of air conditioning.

Medicine
No more keppra! He took his last dose on April 26th.  It's too bad that we had him on antiseizure medication for 4 months when he never needed it.  He is still taking ursodiol for his liver.  He is still on a multivitamin.  We started him on zantac for acid reflux last week.  It's helping a lot.  Spencer was on it too at this same age and eventually he just stopped having problems even with no medication. 

Likes and Dislikes

Likes: standing, being tickled, blasting off like a space ship, the jumperoo, sittting in the high chair (most of the time), sucking on his fingers.

Dislikes: going to Target

Mama's Mental Health
I'm adding this heading this month because between 4 and 5 months has been huge for me.  It's the first time that I haven't felt like I was going to lose my mind since Elliott was born.  #1) All of his health issues are resolving.  There were no more seizures to worry about (apparently there never were!) and his liver stuff just keeps getting better and better.  He's also gaining weight and the threat of a feeding tube seems to be less and less of an issue.  I no longer spend hours each day reading medical journal articles online.  The only thing I'm worried about, daily, is not knowing if we're going to do a liver biopsy or not.  #2) We're definitely out of the newborn phase.  I can sit Elliott in his seat or the rock n play and take a whole shower (it's still quick), without him crying the whole time.  That's HUGE.  #3) We have more of a routine, which makes each day more predictible, which makes me less crazy.  #4) Elliott's nursing is way more efficient which gives me more time in between.  I have an app on my phone for tracking when he nurses and for how long.  In January, we were nursing for 9ish hours in a 24 hour time frame.  We're down to 3-4 hours now. That's also huge. #5) He is sleeping so well independently.  Yes, I still nurse and rock him to sleep.  There is no "just put him down drowsy" fairytale in our family.  Yes, I still have to rock him a fair amount during naps and 1 or more times during the night.  But he sleeps on his own way more than with my assistance.  Again- HUGE!

Well, it looks like I took more pictures than I had headings for.  And I didn't even include like 40 of the pictures I took.

If you made it all the way here, thanks for reading.  I print these monthly reports for Elliott's baby book, which is why they are so detailed.  I have this delusion that Elliott is going to care when he's an adult.  Maybe his wife will.  I commend you for your dedication.

I took this just after midnight last night, so technically it was the 16th. 

This is sumo baby.