Jacob - Five Months

I was wrong about being back soon with a house update and I'm almost two weeks late on this post.  Maybe one of these days I'll catch up.  Maybe.  We have all been sick around here and after eight nights of literally no sleep due to taking care of sick kids, I did what every mature, grown woman does.  I called my mama and cried like a baby :)  Gran came to the rescue and stayed for almost a week helping me to get the boys back on track and babysitting a lot so that I could get errands for the house done.  She was a lifesaver and I am so grateful for her!  So I guess I have a few good excuses for being late on this post, but nevertheless here we are...

This little love muffin, as I like to call him, steals our hearts a little more each day.

Stats:  He weighs about 14 pounds based on our home scale.  We don't go to the doctor this month, so I don't have any exact measurements.

Sizes:  Size 2 diapers, some 3-6 month and some 6-9 month clothes depending on the brand

Schedule:  A few days after I posted about his fourth month, we moved to a four hour schedule.  Ahh... the beloved four hour schedule.  It doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference, but boy does it.  Miller and I would spend most of the morning outside enjoying the gorgeous Fall weather, while Jacob took a long morning nap.  We were rocking right along with it until Miller got sick and then Jacob started waking up at night.  We still aren't sure if he woke up because he heard Miller up, if he wasn't feeling well himself, or if it just happened to all coincide with a growth spurt for him.  A few days after Miller was sick, Jacob did start having some congestion and slight fever, but he was never as sick as Miller.  After a week and a half of Jacob not sleeping at night I tried going back to the three hour schedule and it worked like magic.  Ever since I went back Jacob has been sleeping all night again.  He still has a lot of congestion.  I'm hoping that once it clears up we can get back on track with four hours between feedings, but for now will stick with what works.

Sleep:  We still swaddle Jacob from the waist down and he goes to sleep with a paci and his lovie.  He loves his lovie and if he is crying and you give it to him he will rub it all over his face and immediately stop crying {most of the time}.  He isn't napping well right now, but I'm chalking it up to the fact that he can't breathe through his nose.  At least he's sleeping at night again.  Hallelujah.

Eating:  Jacob is still nursing, but I've had to start supplementing with some formula.  I just don't have enough "extra" breastmilk in the freezer for when we go places and he also needs a small bottle after his last feeding most nights.  During this feeding, he squeals and screams off and on the whole time he nurses and until you give him a bottle.  I guess maybe he is just extra hungry.  Or maybe I just don't have much milk by the end of the day.  Whenever he has a bottle, even if it is 8 oz. which I know is more than enough, he will scream bloody murder when you take it away.  It takes him a few minutes with a paci to calm down and realize that he is full.  And then he usually spits up a ton of it anyway indicating he probably had too much.  We still have not started solids, but will soon.  I'd like to wait until he isn't sick before I throw something new at him.

Likes/Dislikes:  Jacob loves his playmat, but only likes to play alone for a few minutes at a time.  He still likes his bouncy seat, but not as much as he used to.  We've put him in the exersaucer a few times and he didn't seem too thrilled with it, but I think it's because he's still working on holding his upper body upright.  He loves to be held and bounced when he is upset, but doesn't like to be rocked.  He definitely has a bit of a temper and can go from super happy to super angry in about two seconds.

Milestones:  No major milestones this month.

This has been such a crazy, chaotic season of our life and I am desperately trying to soak up every bit of baby Jacob that I can among the busyness.  Sometimes I find myself wishing for January, when we'll be in our house and {hopefully} settled.  Then I get so angry with myself and remember that in January, Jacob will be even bigger and even closer to being a toddler.  So I am forcing myself to stop and relish every minute of his chubby, drooly, cuddly self while I still can.  When I ignore all of my silly to-do lists and the disastrous house around me, he's pretty easy to enjoy :)