5 Months Old!

Elijah continues to grow and change everyday and his 5th month did not disappoint! Here are a few things he's up to now...

* No new weight/height stats this month--he'll go back to the pediatrician for his 6-month check-up on March 17th, so we'll know that info then

* He's wearing size 3-6 month clothes all of the time now. Sometimes the sleeves or pant-legs are a little long for him with certain brands, but that's easily fixed with a little rolling-up!

* He is wearing size 1-2 diapers (since we had bought a huge box of them at Sam's) but once they are all used, we will be transitioning to size 2's.

* Sleeping continues to go very well. Eli will typically take 3 naps during the day and sleep from 8-7:30ish in the morning. No complaints here!


* Eli LOVES to roll from his back to his belly ALL THE TIME! However, the problem comes when he wants to get off his belly. Both Mark and I have seen him roll from belly to back many times before, but lately he always seems to get "beached" and gets pretty frustrated if left like that for an extended period of time. Just today, he actually rolled back to his back after being on his belly, so hopefully this won't be a problem for him too much longer.

* He is now able to bounce around in his Jump-A-Roo, that was given to him for Christmas. In the beginning, we would have to put a book under him to be able to reach the floor, but now he can reach all on his own. Guess he's growing some more!

* Eli continues to be increasingly vocal. His newest thing is to start screeching really loudly at the randomest times. He's been known to startle quite a few people with this new ability.

* He is actually playing with his toys now, even reaching-out to grab certain ones that he wants nearby. It's fun to see him more alert and anxious to explore the world around him.

* The smiles are coming more and more each day. It completely melts our hearts every time he flashes that big gummy grin of his!

* Speaking of gums, Eli is most definitely teething now. EVERYTHING goes straight to his mouth for inspection and the drooling has increased. He really likes to chew on ice cubes in his mesh teether. No teeth visible yet, but that's fine with me! I kind of like that he's still toothless, because he seems more like a baby to me without them. Silly, I know.

* Eli's experienced quite a bit of snow in the past month. He even went on his very first sled ride with Daddy! Hopefully, next year he'll enjoy the snow a little more than he did this year.

*Last weekend, Mark and I put him in our church's infant nursery for the 1st time. We used to be able to take him into the church service with us, where he would sleep most of the time, but those days are long gone. After spending the previous 2 Sundays either in the "Nursing Mom's Room" or the "Crying Room" during most of the service (leaving poor Mark by himself), I decided it was time to take that next step. The nursery workers said he did great and he was even asleep in one of their arms when we came to pick him up afterwards...go figure!

* The poop-saga continued this month, but we are figuring out ways to keep him more "regular." Eli's been drinking a few ounces of prune juice most days of the week to help keep things moving. Poor kid would sometimes go 2 weeks without a bowel movement! Our pediatrician did not seem overly concerned, since he's nursing, but it bothered Mark and I big time. I will spare all of the details, but let's just say the prune juice is doing its job...sometimes a little too well. But, at least our little guy is "going" more regularly now.

* His personality is coming out more and more each day. Mark and I love how excited he gets to see us, and he's beginning to respond more to silly noises, faces, and actions with tons of giggles and squeals. We can't get enough of our little guy!

Elijah's 5th month has been awesome! I can't believe the next update post will be his 6-month one! It seems like only yesterday, people were telling me at his birth to just wait until he was 6-months, that the fun changes would really start happening. Now, that time is almost here! One word...wow!