We’ve had Z with us for almost 6 months at this point, and the fact that I’m just telling you about the last two months should tell you that things are kind of chaotic around here. Great, but chaotic.
A few highlights: We bought a minivan! We love it, and it’s much more suited to all the stuff we carry around and also to me sitting back with the kiddos on longer trips. We also needed a new water heater, and ever since that was replaced, our washing machine has been making clothes dirtier than they started about 15% of the time. It’s under 3 years old and I use it every day. It’s highly inconvenient. Nobody has been able to offer a solution outside of a new washing machine, so that’s likely.
Z has been un-put-downable for almost two weeks, which means I’ve “lost” roughly 3 hours of my day that I usually am awake and able to do things (or rest) while he’s asleep. And also slept a lot less than usual. He’s needed held that much. Plus, I’m used to him being happy to be put on the floor to play, and right now, that lasts about three minutes. I usually chalk things like this up to a phase, but he sounded like he was in pain, and it wasn’t getting better. We finally went to the doctor late last week and he has an ear infection. Hopefully that’ll be better by this week.
Z AT 4 & 5 MONTHS
Z is my little snuggle bug. He loves to be held, but he is increasingly wanting to move. But if he can’t move himself, he wants to be held so he can move by proxy. He rolled over (back to tummy) right before he turned five months old and got his first two teeth right after. I moved him to his crib not too long after he started sleeping in sleep sacks instead of being swaddled, and he did amazing the first night, and not as great after that. We’re working on it, but this ear infection has really coincided with that. I can’t tell if we’re having sleep issues or just ear and teeth pain at this point.
Z loves C and she loves him right back. It is so incredibly sweet.
Z reminds me of C in that we can go anywhere and he’s so interested in what’s going on around him that I don’t have to worry about him being all that fussy. It also means it’s a little trickier than it used to be to get on-the-go naps out of him unless we’re in the car. Speaking of, he seems to have finally calmed down a little in the car. He used to wail if he wasn’t asleep.
Also much like his sister, he loves to stand. When we were at the doctor last week, she was trying to examine him seated, but he kept insisting on pushing up and standing. He smiles the biggest when he’s standing or you’re playing with him. We joke that he thrives on a diet of breastmilk and eye contact
SLEEP
Before the ear infection, we weren’t doing too badly.
He usually fell asleep in 20ish minutes, needed a little more milk 45 minutes later, and then would get up once or twice to nurse at night. Sometimes he’d go back to sleep on me if he was still our room. Once he moved to the nursery, he went back to sleep in the crib, but it took me about 45 minutes to get him down.
Right now, with the ear infection (and apparently 4 top teeth working their way down), he falls asleep in about 20 minutes, and then sleeps for a half hour in the crib. I try to get him back down in the crib once, and then by the time I’m ready for bed, I’ve just been letting him sleep on me. The incline of sleeping on me helps his ears not hurt so much, and I’m much more likely to get some rest with him on me than I am with him waking up after 30 minutes. I usually register that he’s awake once in the middle of the night, nurse him, and then he goes back to sleep on me. But sometimes he’s in pain and wails for hours.
Naps are often only about 30 minutes, and usually on the go. He sleeps in the carrier or the car seat more often than anywhere else.
I usually start getting him ready for bed between 6:45 and 7, and put him down for the first time around 7:30. Non-ear infection Z would generally get up around 8:30 and then sleep till somewhere between 12 and 2, nurse, and then get up close to 7. Ear infection Z joins me in bed between 9 and 10 and usually wakes up when I wake up.
FEEDING
Z is a great eater for me and has exactly no desire to take bottles.
It’s a little frustrating, but we really don’t need him to take bottles most of the time. I feed him before I leave if I’m going to be away from him, and he either snacks on like an ounce of a bottle out of desperation if he gets hungry, or he gets crabby till I’m back. It’s not perfect, but it’s okay. He loves watching me eat, but isn’t that interested in food for himself just yet.
SCHEDULE
I have notes for a 5-month day in the life post, but we’ll see if I find time to polish it up. Our schedule is still more dependent on C than Z. But he usually gets up between 6 and 7, naps around 9 while we’re outside or on our way to an activity, again around noon if the nap was short, and again around 2 or 3. He’s in bed by 7:30 most nights, and then we do it all again.
THINGS I DON’T WANT TO FORGET
- How completely enthralled he is by C.
- He loves playing peekaboo with a few stuffed puppies we have, and looks so genuinely delighted to see them.
- If he won’t nurse to sleep, his preferred method of falling asleep is to back pats that feel just a little too hard to me, but he wails if they’re too gentle.
- How proud he looks when he stands.
- He gives me the most genuine smile that seems to say, “Oh, thank goodness, there you are!” when we’ve been apart for any amount of time and he sees me.
- How much he loves playing with fringe and tags, a lot like his sister.
- His giggles when I pretend he’s punching me in the face.
- He looks at books so intently, like he knows exactly what’s going on in them.
THINGS WE USE AND LOVE
- Copper Pearl loveys. When he started having his hands free at night, we gave him these loveys to occupy himself with. It wasn’t magic, but he does like them, and I love how much C loves her loveys.
- The Taylor Swift Method. – I wasn’t sure this worked as well for him as it does for C, but it’s clear now that it does. @heysleepybaby describing Taylor Swift music as baby Ambien will forever live in my brain. By bedtime, Z is usually tired enough that I wouldn’t say the playlist is magic, but if he’s ever fighting a nap, we turn this on and he settles quickly and is asleep within two songs most of the time. My Spotify Wrapped for the last two years has been heavily influenced by this playlist, and that’s apparently not stopping this year.
- Haakaa Baby Food Feeders. I started freezing a little breastmilk in these for Z to chomp on while he’s teething.
- Standing Play Center. We didn’t have one of these for C, and just used my parents’ occasionally. Well, now I need more places to safely set a baby down (and hopefully keep him happy), so this has come in handy many times.
