5 months old

Cort turned 5 months old on Sunday!!! I can't believe he is almost half a year old! In somes ways it seems just like yesterday that he was born and in others it seems so long ago.
He has changed so much and is so much fun. He is so smiley and happy. Chris and I were talking the other day about that and just pray that he will always have a view of life like that. Everything is so new and exciting. It's like he just really takes in everything with such wonder! The littlest things excite him and all it takes is one quick happy smile from you and he beams from ear to ear! I pray that he will always have this joy and that as he grows up he will take great pleasure in things that God will bless him with.
We went to the doctor this week and he weighed 12lbs 12oz. Yea! That means he has put on a pound this month and that he is actually a little closer to the 8% now instead of 5th. He still doesn't like to eat very much but I think the solids have helped him put on some weight. He is being strictly bottle fed so that we can monitor his intake better but I am still pumping. He gets partial breastmilk, partial formula. I don't like it - i wish that I was still nursing him but it seems to be working out okay so I just keep hoping I'll get use to it.

Here is a recap of his past month and all of his new things.....
1. Started rice cereal and on his 5 month birthday gave him his first veggie - sweet potatoes. I made them and it was really easy. I like making them for several reasons - 1) cost - it is def. cheaper 2) I think there is better nutrition ounce for ounce because I use breastmilk or formula to thin it instead of water 3) I enjoy cooking so it's fun to cook for Cort too 4) I try more fun things like avocado than are in the jars. So far I have made sweet potatoes, butternet squash( we will try this next) and avocados( which you don't actuall cook) I will still use jar baby food - you can't beat the convenience and there are some things that I do not want to try to cook. He seemed to enjoy the sweet potatoes. Later this week I tried avocado - he liked it too but not as much as the sweet potatoes. His daddy does not like my choices so far because he does not like sweet potatoes or avodcados very much( or squash for that matter). That just made Chris sound like a really picky eater which he isn't but, anyway, here's a few pictures of cort and his veggies...














































2. He plays so much more with his toys. He likes his exersaucer a lot and gets better about manipulating the toys on it everyday. He still favors toys that make noise over toys that you just play with. He is a big music fan - just like Daddy. His favorite songs are sesame street. Chris downloaded several when he was younger and we played them during bath time and now they are a must have for long road trips - he can be screaming in the back seat and after two seconds of manah manah he is quiet. ( other favorites include rubber ducky and elmo's song) It's so funny - we wonder how long it will work. He plays in his jumper a little bit too but doesn't know how to jump in it yet.














3. Okay, there really is a tooth coming in now. I can see the corner of it on the bottom but is one really, really, really slow process. I just wish it would go a head and cut through. His little hands are getting to get raw from all the chewing he does on them.

4. Bathtimes get more and more fun. He is starting to kick and splash a little bit and we sometimes prop him up just in the sink instead of his baby tub now.













hello, little ducky, how are you?



















Do you want to play little ducky?
(notice how our modest little boy is making the picture G rated all by himself ;))


















You have to love pruney little feet!

5. He loves TV - we have to turn it off to keep him from watching it all the time. He will crane his neck or turn upside down to see it. Here he is after trying to sit up - he fell over on to Chris and noticed the TV so he decided to just stay there a while! It's so funny how much it fascinates him. We try not to let hime watch it to much. About two times a week or so he'll watch a baby Einstein Video while Chris and I cook or eat and he loves it - it's like we given him this great treat or something.












6. He loves horseplay. He likes to be hung upside down or tossed. He loves to be tickled or for you to blow rasberries on him. He loves animal noises - his favorite use to be the horse, now it's the monkey.

7. He got to go the beach again, to the lake, and to the pool. So far his favorite was the beach. He thinks the pool is a little cold right now.

8. He is back to sleeping through the night( though we still give him that 10:30 feed while he is still pretty much asleep to get a few more ounces in him) Yea!!!!!!

9. He is sitting on his own pretty well with his hands propped but only for a short while.

I love being Cort's mom. There are days that are hard and days that I feel like I don't know what I am doing -especially when it come to all the eating issues but with all of that I take such joy in every day with him . I want to make sure that I don't get too bogged down with all the details like how much he has eaten or why he won't nap longer and just enjoy this fun time with him.