5 Months!

So, I'm behind by 4 days in wishing my sweet boy HAPPY MONTHDAY! 5 months. I cannot believe it. 

Wasn't he just born? 

Some big milestones have been happening over at the McLaughlin home. First, little Jackson has been in his own room and crib for one week now. It's tough on me not having him next to me at night anymore, but it's certainly the right move. He would go to bed around 8, and we would have to tip-toe around him to be sure he didn't wake up. So, that's when we knew he would get better sleep if he was in in his own room.

Needless to say, as a first time parent I'm now obsessed about sleep and figuring out what's best for Jack to keep him well-rested and sleeping through the night.

Bedtime is as follows (at least for the last 3 nights, we're still trying to nail down a pattern)

-Feed: 6:45 (solids, usually rice cereal)
-Rock/Nurse if still hungry: 7:15
-Asleep (and swaddled tightly): 7:30/7:45
-Wake up: 2am (or 3am, but never earlier than 2)
-Back to sleep (feeding or rocking): 2:30 (we try to let him self soothe a bit before going in there.)
-Morning wake up: 6:00am

Bah. I don't like the 6am wake up calls lately. We're working on different patterns to see what works best for Jack. I'm not quite ready for cry it out at night. I know it's different for every family, but he goes back to sleep so quickly and it doesn't bother me, so I ride with it.  It's the morning wake up that I can't seem to get a handle on. Trial & error is the story of my life these days!

We have also started our little man on solid foods! Well, they're really just mushy foods but it's a start.

He really loves his rice cereal. 

I really love to feed him. We have some fun times getting super messy. 

After about three weeks of rice cereal, (mainly because that was all I could do considering the move) we introduced some veggies. We started with sweet potatoes. 

Ya, not so much.

We then tried broccoli, carrots & peas. Nothing took. He hated all of it. So now, I have resorted to mixing these glorious veggies with his rice cereal, and he seems to take to that really well. 

Mastering Parenting=Learning how to trick your child. 

We keep adding more and more of the veggies, and less and less of the rice. He hasn't suspected a thing. It's been so fun seeing his personality come out in little ways like this. 

I have found the more his little tummy is very satisfied and full, the better naps this little bugger takes. We're on two "solid" meals a day (morning and evening), and breast milk during the day as much as he likes. This has been working out well and his naps seem to be longer. 

 

There I go, back on sleep again. 

He just gets SO cranky when he doesn't nap. 

My little sweet terror. I love you so. 

 

We are enjoying every second watching his personality come through, and all of the curve balls he throws at us keep our lives interesting every day. I'm sure baby #2 we'll completely have a handle on, right? 

 

Ya, sure. 

 

 

He's SO dramatic. Seriously, though. He really is.