Month 5

Rolling

Olly has been leaning to the right. Each time he inches closer and closer to the floor. Several times he almost made it all the way but promptly returned to the center. On the last day of November he finally did it! He touched the floor with his head and rolled onto his back. He seemed a bit surprised himself. I encouraged him to do it again so I can capture it but he was camera shy or maybe too exhausted from the previous roll. This is as far as he got:

Now he's pretty much mastered this move but only on his right. I'm trying to get him to roll back to his front on the right too so he can cancel his moves out. However he is more interested in doing push ups and moving backwards these days.

Elimination Communication

We have moved up to a potty! He is getting so strong and heavy (21lbs) that it's impossible to keep a strong hold on him if he starts squirming on the toilet seat. The last straw was when he wanted to do a backflip off the toilet and almost did it before I caught him. The first few time on the potty was messy and discouraging because the splatter guard didn't block any pee and it just went all over the floor. David told me I need to pull him back as much as possible and tilt him forward. It helps to have something in front to distract him since he is all about grabbing things! I let him pull a wipe out for me and take him off immediately. I'm hoping he will associate the two and in the future will only pull on the wipe if he's done. In case you are curious we are using the Ikea Lilla potty. That's right $4! David likes to use the bigger one (Lockig) which is easier to clean since it comes apart but I think it's too wide. I just use a spray bottle to rinse it.

First Words

He was playing on the mat and suddenly stopped playing, looked at me and said BOO BOO. The b's were formed very slowly and deliberately. I immediately understood he was saying POO POO. I said poo poo slowly back to him so he can see me forming the p's. I took him to the potty and he did a big poop. On that particular day he also only used two diapers for the whole day, a new record! It was a great day.

Car Seat

After having to bend his legs Cirque du Soleil style too many times I decided it was time to switch out of an infant car seat. The limit is 22lbs and he was a little over 20lbs at the time. He is much happier now but still doesn't really like car rides. I remember when I was reading about infant car seats it said on average they last about a year. The second stage car seat we have can be used by infants but after knowing how tiny babies can be I have no regrets using an infant car seat even though it was only for 5 months.

Laughter

Baby laughter. Highlight of my day!

It's the most wonderful feeling when he looks at you and smiles, which is pretty much 100% of the time. Then you start to laugh, which makes him laugh, and soon everyone is laughing.

He laughs the most when David kisses his neck and when I do blue steel or say "spin, spin, spin!". Although if he's in a happy mood he will laugh if you laugh.

I just want time to stand still right now. He's growing up so fast and starting to become his own little man! There's one more week till he's 6 months old so we will be starting solids soon. He's already had a tiny taste of a smoothie that he grabbed from David and I gave him a teeny bit of banana and pear. He can sit up unassisted for a good 15 seconds before he topples over. We are also going to start sleep training over the Christmas break which means he will start sleeping in his crib instead of snugly beside me. I don't think I'm mentally ready for him to leave the bed but he's starting to hit me with his hands and waking up dad so it needs to be done! I'm so sad just thinking about it. Everything is going so fast. What happened to my dependent immobile baby? Sigh.

I'm ready for drumsticks mom!