5 Months

Weight-15.0 pounds (up from 14.8 at four months)

Length-26.25 inches (up from 25.50 at four months)

Clothes-3-6 months

Diapers-size 2, We are just now at the half way weight so we will probably be in this size for a while!

Eating-Every 2.5-3.5 hours.  Since I am nursing him we don't really know how much he is eating, but we think around 5-6 ounces.  He usually eats for about 8-10 minutes at each feeding.  This month he started taking 3 bottles of breast milk a day.  He is still nursing for his evening feeds and all of his Saturday and Sunday feedings.

Sleep-Between 11-12 hours a night!  We are still swaddling him at naps and at night.  He is taking about 3-4 45 minute naps each day.  A few weeks before school started we began slowly moving his bedtime forward.  It took about a week and a half to get it where we wanted.  Now we start getting him ready for bed around 7:30 and he is usually in bed by 8:00.  He is sleeping until around 7:30 each morning.

Other-The biggest news about this month is Ethan started going to the baby sitter!  He began when he was 18 weeks.  We started with 3 days the first week because I had three professional development days that I was required to attend.  The following week I had more PD's and our open house night so he went to the sitter's every day.  He has adjusted really well!  The first two weeks she had several kids there (he is the youngest) because school hadn't started yet.  Once school started, she was down to just three kids, a 1 year old girl, a 2 year old girl, and Ethan.  I knew that Ethan would love the social interaction and I was right!  Ms. Loffie said that he just loves watching everything that the other kids are doing!  She also said that Olivia and Addi love to kiss and hug on him!  While he's there he's eating well and (for the most part) napping well. She has worked really hard to keep him on the schedule we started this summer.  We've had to adjust his afternoon naps a little, but we've made it work.  Adam usually drops Ethan off around 7:45 and I pick him up around 4:00.  On Thursday's my mother-in-law picks him up so I can stay and work a little later.  Abby has really enjoyed this arrangement because she not only gets to see Ethan, but she also gets to play with the other two little girls at Ms. Loffie's!  I'm really glad that things are going well with Ethan at the sitters.  I won't lie and say that it was an easy adjustment for mom or dad!  The first few days were very difficult!  Even now it's hard (especially on Mondays) to not be with him all day!  I'm having to learn how to be a mom and a teacher, which is very difficult.  For the past 8 years my life has revolved around school, and now it doesn't.  I'm learning that most of the things that I used to think were important can wait until after 8:00.  Dishes, laundry, house cleaning, emails, blogging, etc. will have to wait until after my sweet baby is in bed.  From the hours of 4:00-8:00 I'm busy playing with my baby boy!

What else has Ethan been up to this month?  Well, he has learned to sing!  It is so sweet!  He only does it in the car or when he is in your arms and you are trying to rock him to sleep.  It is the sweetest voice I have ever heard!  He will just sing and sing and then all of a sudden he's quiet and you realize that he's asleep!  He has also started rolling (from his stomach to his back) over this month!  It only happened a few times and he always looks so surprised after he does it!  He hasn't quite figured out what he's doing that has caused him to roll!  He still really hates being on his stomach, so it's hard to get him to do it very much!  We Skyped with my mom and dad one night they could see him roll over, but he wouldn't do it!  Ethan has also really improved on his eye hand coordination!  He can find his paci that's clipped to his shirt and after only a few tries he can get it in his mouth.  It's really funny to watch.  He's also drooling like crazy!  He is constantly chewing on his paci, thumb, or a toy.  Everything goes straight to his mouth!  That includes his feet, Mommy's hair, Daddy's hands, you name it!  If he can get his hands on it he tries to put it in his mouth.  Ethan now sits in his high chair while we eat dinner.  He loves being a part of the dinner conversation.  We are hoping to teach him at an early age that we sit at the table to eat and we stay there until we are all finished.  We do let him play with some toys while we eat, but he really likes sitting up high and being able to see and talk to Mommy and Daddy.  He still doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to Charlie.  I think that will change once Ethan is mobile and when he starts eating solid food!  A few weeks ago I began putting him in his exersaucer.  He really likes it!  Of course he wants to put all of the toys in his mouth!  He just keeps going around and around because he will see new toys behind him.  Once he sees those new toys he's determined to get to them!  He forgets all about the ones right in front of him.  He is just so much fun!!!!  I can't believe how much he has learned already!  He just amazes me!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my sweet five month old baby!

Here is the video of him singing himself to sleep!