Five Months and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fantastic this year although I can hardly believe it's already past and we're into the Christmas season. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we have a lot of parties and visits with family and friends and just a whole lot going on in general. I love all of that usually, but it gets a little (okay, A LOT) harder when you add an infant into the mix. There are nap times and feeding times and fussiness/ stranger anxiety/ diaper issues which can detract from catching up with your long lost buddies.  To our pleasant surprise however, Rory held up pretty well with all the nuttiness going on and charmed everyone although it did take a couple of days to get him back into his usual routine. Thankfully, Sean had six days off this past week so we were able to take turns and get a break. It was a truly wonderful holiday.  

 

Not thrilled with his snowsuit

He is five months old! Not too much new stuff happening with him this month. He's continuing to looove solid foods and would willingly eat himself sick if I didn't limit how much he can have. He's started trying to sit up, although mastering that skill is a ways off. He is still in absolute awe of his big brother. Aiden will walk into the room and Rory starts laughing, Aiden leaves and he quiets down. This goes on all day. Aiden is his absolute favorite thing ever.

 

Another new favorite thing of his: UTTER DESTRUCTION. Okay, I'm kidding, but he's discovered a new game called Knock Over Anything I Can Reach. If I am carrying him around he lungs for whatever is closest, grabs hold and yanks with all of his might. Usually, it's my hair. Today he was a bit milder and amused himself by swatting over an empty bottle:

Next up is...Aiden's birthday. He'll be five. I'm not thrilled about that but apparently there isn't a whole lot I can do to make him stay four. Oh well!

My Birthday Gifts

Four Months

 

Rory is now four months old! Yay for Rory. He is now a plump little baby who has mellowed out...a little bit. This past month he moved from the bassinet in our room into the crib in his room which nice in that we have our room back but it does mean that we're trekking down the hall all night on nights when he's fussy. He's has mostly started sleeping through the night (Hallelujah, praise the Lord! Can I get an Amen?). Of course every now and again he likes to have a night of conferencing with us every couple of hours, just to make sure we're alright and not slacking around sleeping.

He has been working on soothing himself, occasionally sucking his thumb (orthodontia issues aside THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER). I  have to be careful not to rush right in when he starts making noise in the middle of the night because he can usually get himself back to sleep (sometimes he even starts babbling in his sleep, second cutest thing ever). Once, without thinking, I charged right in to put him back to sleep and actually woke him up. Yes, I wanted to bang my head on the wall to try and shake the stupid out.

Personality wise he's pretty much outgrown the colicky crying jags. He is now either the happiest baby ever, giggling and laughing and squealing or he is using all of his power to try and call down thunder upon your head. I like to say that he's just assertive, he knows how to use his voice to express his feelings and does so readily. Sean likes to say "HE'S JUST LIKE HIS MOTHER". Whatever. Not all of us can be laid back go with the flow types like Aiden and Sean. Some of us need to express ourselves a bit more frequently and dramatically. We're the type that are really good at charades.

Physically, he's our little butterball. He's gotten to the point where clothing doesn't quite button up around his fat little neck and this calves are so chubby his pajamas leave marks on them. Despite this apparent chunkiness he's only in the 35 percentile for weight but he is in the 81st for height. He's just started solid foods and looooves everything so far. I'm pretty certain he just likes food in general. I remember Aiden enjoyed starting solid foods and it was a nice playtime for him but Rory is quite serious about the process and shockingly, the food actually stays in his mouth and gets eaten.

Just laying with the dog all nicely.

MUST HAVE MY FIRST TASTE OF HOT DOG!

 We feel like we're getting to see more and  more of his personality and it's so exciting. Aiden, who briefly decided that he was over having a brother, is back to loving helping Rory. He's always running around trying to find the best baby toy or pushing him in his swing or dimming the lights because he's decided they're too bright for Rory.  Rory on the other hand thinks Aiden is the best toy that was ever invented. Aiden will be doing something that I think is way too rough, such as yanking his arms or "rocking" his carseat or any other activity that is thisclose to giving Rory shaken baby syndrome but Rory just laughs and laughs.  Those two are going to be trouble one day soon.