5 months...

My sweet Baby Liam is 5 months old as of yesterday, and I honestly can't believe it.  I know I make some cliche comment about how time flies every time I post, but seriously???  5 months??  I really think Liam's babyhood is going SOOOO much faster than John Parker's did!  Liam is a totally different child than JP - in good ways :)  I didn't realize how difficult John Parker was at that age because I had absolutely nothing to compare to, but now that I am watching Liam progress through these baby phases, I see that he is an absolute dream baby.  John Parker was wonderful too, just more difficult to figure out - probably some of that had to do with the fact that I was a first time mommy too! :)

SLEEPING:
Liam is a GREAT sleeper; he will put himself to sleep for naps and bedtime and requires NO rocking, walking, training, etc...  He just does. In fact, if he's tired, he will fall asleep sitting straight up in someone's lap - he requires no persuasion to fall asleep (haha).  I've been home all week for my annual Christmas vacation week, and literally, at 10am, I put him down for a nap (awake) and in 10 minutes or so he is sound asleep, usually for at least an hour and a half.  He does the same thing around 130 or 2 and catnaps sometime in the evening around 6pm.  Naps were a nightmare with poor little JP, who wanted to be awake ALL THE TIME and fought sleep incessantly, so I'm not used to this!  He also sleeps from 9pm - 8am every night.  He is just an awesome sleeper...

EATING:
He nurses at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 7pm and takes a 9 ounce bottle of half breast milk half formula just before he goes to bed at 845 or 9pm.  When I work, he gets 7 ounce bottles of breast milk at 12pm and 4pm.  I have a good milk supply with him and can pump somewhere between 6 - 7 1/2 ounces when I'm away from him, but still have a little bit of a deficit on the days I work, so we've been supplementing the bedtime bottle with a little formula.  He's a big eater!!  About a week ago, we introduced oatmeal cereal at his noon feeding - after his milk, he gets 1 tablespoon of oatmeal (cereal) mixed with enough breast milk to make it a pudding consistency.  He didn't like it too much at first, but now he enjoys it.  I will probably start mixing in a little bit of veggie baby food in a week or two, and start a second feeding around 6 months.

WEIGHT: Approximately 18 pounds.  This is with me doing my at home method of getting on the scale with and without him, so somewhere in that ballpark.

CLOTHES:  12 month or 9-12 month.  He can wear all of JP's 12 month Christmas outfits from last year :)  He's in a size 3 diaper.

MILESTONES:
Rolls over from tummy to back consistently, and he is trying to roll over from back to tummy...  He can roll all the way to his side and almost flip over, but not quite yet :)  He sits supported and can sit unsupported for a small amount of time - he does the tripod sit very well.  He can switch toys from one hand to the other and maneuvers them very well up to his mouth, and he has just started taking out and putting back in his pacifier.   He loves chewing his hands and just about anything else too!  He will also pivot around on his belly to get toys and has really good head support on his tummy.  It took a while - I think because of his size (his head is wayyyy off the charts), but he's doing really well with tummy time now :)  He also loves giving kisses and makes such sweet little noises and laughs.  He laughs at EVERYTHING and is such a quick smiler!  I'm so charmed by him!  He is precious...

Visit with Santa :)