5 Months Old

It is hard to believe that another month has gone by - a month completely spent at home! I took Eli's 4-month pictures on my first day of working from home in March, and I certainly didn't think that we would still be at home a whole month later. I can count on one hand the number of places we have been in the past 30 days. There are so many places I want to go and things I want to do with Eli. I hope it isn't too much longer before we are able to once again go to parks, restaurants, the library, and the Science Center. There is a great big world out there waiting for Eli to discover! 

Still no belly laughs yet, but as you can see, Eli loves smiling and screeching, and when Daddy tickles his tummy, he gives a high pitched snort. Time has seemed to stand still this past month, but there is no denying that Eli is growing. He is still currently in size 1 Pampers during the day, but we have moved up to size 2 Huggies at night. (I've discovered that the special elastic waistband on Huggies prevents any late night leaks!) He is wearing 3-6 month clothes, but in onesies and sleepers, his feet are starting to stretch out the fabric and pull at the neckline. He still often requires an outfit change at some point throughout the day, but we have found the bandana bibs to be helpful in catching any of the drool or watery burps. It is possible that he is teething, which would explain the extra slobberyness. We are doing baths twice a week, usually on Mondays and Fridays. As Eli becomes more active and as the weather warms up, I am sure we will move to a more frequent schedule. We are still using the special baby bath bassinet, but he is quickly outgrowing it. He is working on his head control and not quite steady when sitting on his own, so for now, we will continue using the bassinet a little while longer. When we put him in the monkey chair during meal times, Eli likes to thrust his hips in the air, as if to eject himself out! When you raise him up to a sitting position, he generally gets his legs underneath himself to go all the way to standing. His legs are pretty strong, and he has a sturdy stance when he plants his feet. We think he is watching his sister and trying to imitate the things that she does, and because of this, he may be an earlier walker - yikes! Two new things we introduced Eli to this month were the Bumbo seat and the baby carrier. Next up in Month 5: food! Eli's diet has been exclusively breastmilk, so we plan to start with the introduction of rice cereal, then move on to fruits and vegetables. Stay tuned!

There have been a few new things for big sister Emmy, too! She has finally figured out her tricycle. She no longer pushes with her feet on the ground, but now she uses the pedals like she's suppose to. On nice days, she loves going around and around in our cul-de-sac. For our walks around the neighborhood, she has discovered a new way to ride on the stroller with Eli. I'm sure we are testing its weight limits! On our walks, she loves saying "hello!" to all the dogs in the neighborhood, which have been named Charlie, Marshall, Rubble, and Sky. Lastly, she is doing a much better job at staying inside the lines when coloring. She continues to like "school stuff" with Grammy and is working on learning her lowercase letters and reading a clock. During meal time when the clock is in view, a common question is "What is it on nowwwwwww?"  

This month was also a milestone for Mommy - I turned 34! With the social distancing rules still in place because of the coronavirus, it is a strange time to have a birthday. Since my birthday was a Thursday and a weekday, we followed our usual routine of playtime in the morning and work in the afternoon. Boomer was able to work from home that day, and he made every effort for it to be a special day for me. I even got an extra hour of sleep in the morning while he dressed and fed the kids! Then in the afternoon, he took them over to my parents' house so that we could have an uninterrupted dinner at home. We decided on take-out from Cracker Barrel, followed by a milkshake from Sheetz on our way back to pick-up the kids. Emmy and Eli had a fun time with Grammy and Grandpa. They sent us a few pictures, and we got a good laugh out of Eli's face as he is looking at his big sister. We used to be worried that she wouldn't want anything to do with him, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore! I had a second celebration tonight during our Saturday take-out tradition with my sister, her family, and my parents. They helped make it a special birthday after all!