Obadiah Ryker: 5 Months

I can't say too much happened during the past month.  It flew by for Momma - been struggling with finding a work/life/kids balance.  And it is rough!  But little man just keeps on making me smile.

How am I growing?
I don't have any measurements this time around.  BUT, I am *fairly* positive we just had a recent growth spurt.  All of the sudden some of his outfits are pretty snug! 

What's new?
He is officially laughing!  And at the most random things.  I've *almost* gotten a laugh while playing with him on the changing table or during tummy time.  But two times he has had the most genuine belly laughs: First, at a friends house.  They have a golden retriever named Levi who Obi apparently thinks is hilarious.  We were eating outside and Levi started barking at something and Obi just started laughing and laughing.  That persisted throughout the night.  Levi got right in his face and barked a couple of times - Obi would startled and then laugh.

It. Was. Adorable.  But NOTHING could get him to laugh like that again....

And then, just yesterday, his sister got him to laugh while splashing him.  It didn't last long though.  After the first few splashes, he was pretty much over it.

AND he loves trying to sit up.  He is going to have a crazy six-pack.   ; )

How am I sleeping?
What can I say?  This whole sleep thing is like a roller-coaster.  One minute I think we've got it down and the next, we're up and down all over again.  The last two weeks he was up two or three times a night.  And it has been killing me.  BUT, fingers crossed, the past 3 or 4 nights have been much better.  Sometimes he is up only once.  Other times, it is twice, but he goes back to sleep very quickly one of those times. 

A lot of people have suggested starting solids or rice cereal.  But, with Aelah, I had read a ton on the subject.  Without a lot of the knowledge at this point, I do remember that starting either of those things doesn't necessarily help with sleep.  AND, we are firm advocates of waiting to introduce anything but breast milk until after 6 months due to the gut being immature.  But that point isn't too far away.  Once he is able to sit on his own, we plan to start introducing a few solids via baby led weaning (aka baby led solids).  Not a ton of purees and mostly a bit of what we eat.  After all, "food before one is just for fun."  However, I am definitely anxious to see if it does help his sleep or not.

Eye-balling my pizza during a picnic outside!

The only one looking at the camera....  <3