5 Months

Will is 5 months old. He is growing so fast and is definitely not a little baby anymore. The first thing everyone says when they meet him is, "Wow! He's a big boy!" Yes, yes he is. I'm not sure what he weighs, but I'm sure that he has gained some weight since last month.

Will got sick for the first time. Around September 2, 2011 Will started getting sick. He had his shots several days prior, so I think it may be related. It started with a runny nose, then he was coughing a bit. He also sounded pretty hoarse when he cried. He was super fussy and cried constantly. I must have caught the same thing because I also had runny nose and really sore throat.

We also started "sleep training" with Will on September 5th. Basically its a method of letting your baby cry himself to sleep. The first thing that is stressed is establishing a bedtime routine and doing it at the same time every night. For example, at 8pm, I feed Will a bottle, then give him a bath, then read him a story. Then I swaddle him, top him off with food, then lay him down in crib. If you want more details on how the process works, feel free to ask me or visit this link to a great website: Cry-out Method . It helped SO much. It is so nice having Will be asleep by 9pm so I can have an hour or two to myself to do what I need/wish.

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When Will is laying down, he will try to pull himself up into a sitting position. He will pull his head up as far as possible like he is doing some crunches. If I grab his hand, he can pull himself up into a sitting position.

When we try to strap Will into his car seat, he will arch his back so that the straps wont fit. While it can be frustrating, it makes me laugh every time.

He is definitely getting more curious. He loves to grab things and study them. He'll hold it in one hand, then pass it to the other. Though eventually, everything ends up in his mouth, including his books.

Will went swinging at the park for the first time this month. I was a little hesitant because I figured he'd be way too small, but after padding him with a blanket, he loved it! He was so content and happy to just sit there and swing. Also notice in the picture that he enjoyed eating his blanket the entire time.

His hair seems to be coming in more and more. He fell asleep in my arms the other day, his head was sweaty, so I had a little fun with his hair.

While he still fits in his 3-6 month clothes, they are definitely getting pretty snug and I doubt that he will be able to wear them much longer.

He can touch the floor in his jumper, barely. But he still hasn't got the concept down of bouncing. He is getting more interested in the toys around him, but he still doesn't like sitting in it for very long.

He eats cereal 1-2 times per day and he loves it. He hardly spits any out or gets any on the bib. He just gobbles as much of it up as I'll give him.

He grew out of his personal bath, so I have started giving him baths in the big one. I'll just fill the tub up with 2-3 inches of water and lay him down in it. He LOVES it. The first time, he just kicked and laughed for about 15 minutes. Every night, he continues to love bath time and will enjoy the water until I pull him out.

No matter how good I swaddle him, he can somehow manage to slowly move his hands up to his mouth and out of the blanket.

Nap time is getting WAY better. When I can tell that he is tired, I will swaddle him, put him up in his crib, and leave him. Usually, he will cry for a few minutes then fall asleep. Occasionally, he'll scream hard enough that I will go back in there. Then after a few minutes of me rocking him, I can usually put him back down.

Will wants attention all the time. And you can't just hold him. He wants to be talked to, played with, etc. When you ignore him, he gets upset and starts to cry. If he sees you leave the room, he gets upset and cries. It makes it hard to get anything done.

Will hates tummy time. In fact, it is impossible to make him have tummy time because every time I put him on his stomach, he'll roll over as quickly as possible. I was trying to take some pictures of him on his stomach and I had to hold him down in order to prevent him from rolling. He didn't like it at all.

Notice the giant tear rolling down his nose.

Still upset that I forced him on his stomach

Will loves to "fake cough". He'll just sit there and do these wimpy little coughs. Cute and funny. At first, I wasn't sure if he was coughing, sick, or what. But eventually, I could tell he was faking it. It's funny cause he'll cough for a minute, then just start laughing.

Sometimes I swear Will must be telling a funny joke. He'll be jabbering and jabbering, then suddenly he will crack up at himself. I wish I knew what he was saying.

Will has almost read all of 1 and 2 Nephi. I started to read a chapter or two to him every night. He does really well and is content while I am reading. He also likes to look at picture books.

Will lights up every time he see's Lance. He gets the biggest smile on his face. He especially loves it when Lance makes weird noises at him.

I can't believe he will be half a year old next month. For some reason, that sounds so much older. He really is a good baby most of the time and we love him more every day.