Month 5

Yesterday, Ben turned 5 months old. I'm trying not to think about how close that is to being half a year old. But I do think about that a lot. Wah! Ben has continued to amaze us with his sweet nature, his quick and ready smile, and his awesome sleeping skills. We are back in our groove of sleeping 10 hours a night. Yes. Oh thank you Lord, yes! Granted, we still have nights here and there when Ben will wake up and want to nurse. I've been chalking this up to growth spurts. He is definitely a growing boy! He seems to always be hungry sometimes, and I am not always able to keep up with his appetite. We've started supplementing formula once a day when he's at daycare so that I can hopefully build up a good stash of milk before we wean. I would love to make it a year nursing him, so that's what I'm pumping myself up for. Nyuk nyuk!

Despite his voracious appetite, Ben just hates rice cereal. I've tried mixing it with formula. Hates it. Breastmilk. Hates it. Hates big bites. Hates tiny bites. Hates it, hates it, hates it. So I think we may just skip the cereal and move right on to veggies. I have a friend who teaches a homemade baby food class and she has offered to show me the ropes of baby food making. It might seem like a no-brainer - like, just mush up some carrots and call it a day! I tried making baby food for Owen and apparently it was horrid. Bless his heart, he gagged until he threw up. So I'm getting some professional help this time around!

We often get remarks, both from friends and from perfect strangers, about how easy-going and sweet-natured Benjamin is. He truly is just the sweetest little thing. He is very curious and loves to look around at what's going on around him. He is quick to smile and giggles often - especially for Owen. Ben continues to be fascinated by anything Owen says or does. It is just so precious to watch them together! Yesterday morning, we heard Owen go into Benjamin's room as soon as he woke up and the two of them just hung out together - Owen on the floor and Ben in his crib - for a while until I went to get Ben up for the day. Oh, I love my boys!

Other things Benjamin can do now that he is 5 months old:

• Push waaaay up and arch his back while on his tummy
• Crane his neck and turn his head to look at whatever has got his interest - sometimes he looks like a little owl rotating his head around to look at whoever is holding him
• He still loves to jibber jabber and has now added high pitched squealing to his repertoire. He only does this when he's very excited or if he is getting frustrated. It gets your attention quickly, let me tell you.
• His activity chair/exersaucer is a new favorite toy. He doesn't like to sit in it for long, but he is learning to spin around to all the different 'stations' and can manipulate all the different toys to rattle, spin, play music, etc.
• Sadly, he doesn't like being held like a baby much anymore. He would much rather be sitting up and looking around. He is quite a social little guy, but he also loves sweet moments of one-on-one conversations and interaction with his mommy and daddy.

It's hard to believe another month has already passed. November saw many happy celebrations - Owen's birthday, my birthday, Thanksgiving, and visits from both sides of our family. December has lots of fun in store with the premier of The Sing Off, hopefully a trip to McComb, meeting Santa for the first time, Benjamin's first Christmas, and more time with our families. There is certainly a lot to look forward to, but I am happy just enjoying each moment along the way and savoring these times with my children while they are still so young.