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

Obadiah Ryker: 4 Months

So much has happened in this past month!!  Little man is becoming his own little person.  He is talking more and more, entertaining himself for short bits of time, standing (with assistance) as much as he can, and changing every single day.

He also got to meet his family in Michigan!  6 more aunts and uncles and 7 cousins...he was surely loved.  And Aelah loved showing off her baby brother.  We did learn, however, that he doesn't like to travel.  Sleeping in the car is a no-go for this guy.  Maybe, and I mean, maybe we would get a 45 minute stretch (at home he'll sleep almost 3 hours)...and then he was pretty fussy while he was awake.  We turned an 8 hour trip into 12 - with about two hours of that being intentional "stop and stretch" time.  Definitely a couple of long days - but glad he got to meet the rest of his family.

How am I growing?

He's definitely a small little guy.  And we love that about him.  Some of his 3-6 month stuff is still too big!  His official measurements for this month are 14 lbs 2 oz (33rd percentile) and 25.5 inches (68th percentile).  Under weight and a little tall.  At this point, Aelah was in 6-9 month clothing and weighed over a pound more than he does now!  Here's a comparison photo.  For everyone who thinks he looks like Aelah...I think you might be right....

What's New?

He rolled for the first time (back to front) just days after turning 3 months and not shortly after that he rolled the other way (belly to back) but he forgets he can do that from time to time.  Belly time is still the worst - if we make it two minutes without a melt down we're doing great!  We also dedicated Obi to the Lord this month.  It was a great day - perfect weather for a patio lunch after church and time with all of our favorite people (missing just a few).

How am I sleeping?

We definitely hit the 3-4 month sleep regression shortly after turning 3 months.  It was rough.  I felt like everything we had accomplished had gone out the window.  He was no longer able to self-soothe and was waking more often than ever.  After a crash-course refresher, I was reminded that it's right about this time that sleep cycles actually start to occur.  It isn't all deep sleep all the time.  Plus there's a ton of development.  And, apparently, Aelah did the same thing about this time.  So, instead of what I thought I should do - make bedtime later, I actually did the opposite and made bedtime earlier.  It worked!  Bed between 6:30 and 7, up once to eat, and then wakes for the day between 6:30 and 7.  Plus two solid naps during the day.  It isn't always perfect.  But we're finding some sort of rhythm.  And I'm glad for that.

Now for some pics!

At his Great Aunt Linda's wedding...looking dapper!

Baby feet!!

Easily my favorite picture right now.

All set for a pool day with his cousins!