5 Months Development & Milestones

Dear Asher,

You are so interactive now! Within the past few weeks, you have let your silly personality come through. You are grabbing at toys more than ever - even today you are doing so more than yesterday! It's amazing how we wake up each morning to you doing something new. I am in awe of how much you are playing with your toys, reaching for Suki and Sumo, and following us around the room with your eyes and now turning your head when we go out of view.

Like all babies, you have your moments; but your budding personality is suggesting that you have a relatively patient and calm demeanor. There are times when you'll sit and watch me make Suki and Sumo's breakfast, make coffee, and get your bottle ready without making a peep. You'll even smile at me when I glance at you sitting happily in your Bumbo seat (which you are almost too big for!).

You are sweet, loving, and silly. You laugh when mommy does funny things like "the wave" with her arms. You love to reach for and pet your doggies. Luckily, they are patient and loving just like you. They don't even flinch if you tug on their ears. :)

You love to meet new people and are generous with your smiles. You still save the best ones for mommy and daddy, though. ;)

You know who your grandparents are, all 4! You get so excited when you see them. You are very lucky to have so many people who love you. I think we are all the lucky ones to have such a wonderful little guy to love!

I love to watch you grow. I love to watch you play and learn and develop. You are growing so fast and I am blessed to get to spend each day with you to witness it all happen. You are so very special.

I love you, little Asher!

Love always, Mommy

5 MONTHS OLD!!!

Asher is healthy and growing a strong! He has just acquired his second cold, though, and it's all my fault! He caught it from me but seems to be handling it much better than I am. Both of his first colds have come from me so if I could stop catching things we would be much better off! Hopefully the diet revamp helps - post updating on that coming soon!

SIGN LANGUAGE UPDATE - 5 MONTHS

We gave in and got the rest of the Baby Signing Time DVDs, a cardboard signing book, and "Mr. Hopkins" plush frog during a sale.

Asher's Intermittent Signs:

• "More"
• "Milk" - only while eating, not to ask for milk.
• "Banana" and "Carrot" - Similar
• "Eat"
• "Up"

He makes excited noises when hears a word he's familiar with during the signing DVDs. He's started yelling out with glee when he hears "train"!

MILESTONES @ 5 MONTHS

• Almost sitting by himself! Will "tripod" for several seconds along, then topples over.
• Rolling quickly, either side, 360 degrees
• Trying to crawl! Sometimes going backwards and gets so frustrated!
• Grabbing and holding toys.
• Reaching for toys, dogs, phone...
• Still saying "aaa-ooooo" and "aaahhhh". New sounds will come up every once in awhile and especially in when he's playing!
• Trying to grab spoon and hold bottle. Usually ends up pushing them away by accident!
• Gazing at lights.

TEETHING SIGNS

Every so often we'll think he's having teething pain, but then we'll realize he had gas or something else. There have been a few days where his temperature has been elevated (99-99.7) and I thought this could be related to teething. I don't think I feel anything under the surface of his gums yet, so we're still on TOOTH WATCH!

SOLID FOOD UPDATE - 5 MONTHS

Because we've had a few traveling days thrown in where we were mostly on the road and are still getting back into the swing of things while catching up on work with our shop, we haven't stuck to an official baby solids feeding schedule quite yet. Some days we'll have breakfast (fresh mashed bananas mixed with formula), some days dinner (Happy Baby pureed carrots or squash), and some days both! I think Asher will appreciate knowing what to expect and when, so within a few days we'll get back on track and put a real schedule in place.

Foods we've introduced:

• Bananas *Favorite
• Avocado - Reaction, rash and redness
• Carrots *Favorite
• Butternut Squash 
• Apples - Not too fond yet.

POSTPARTUM UPDATE

Feeling mostly back to normal now. Back to pre-pregnancy weight, just need to do some toning up! Still losing a lot of hair, but I guess that is to be expected for awhile. :( My hormones would probably be mostly leveled off if I could stop forgetting to take my birth control pills!


At 5 months, we couldn't be happier with our little man. He is such a blessing and so fun to watch as her gets bigger and bigger each day. While I miss my tiny little baby, I am so excited for each new stage!


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Happy { Belated } 4th

You may have noticed that I have been M.I.A. for the past week. We were on VACA! Well, as much of a "vacation" as you can have driving 12 hours away with a 5 month old. ;) On our last day there, I came down with a serious cold, perhaps even the flu, so now I am fighting a sinus and ear infection that has led to laryngitis. Ugghhh. I WILL BLOG ON!

We went to John's parents' (Asher's Nonna and Grandpa's) North Carolina house for a week. John's brother's family went, as well, with their 3 kids so the house was full of life! In fact, the entire street was full of life as John's aunts and uncles all have houses there, too, so the whole week was filled with family, family, family. It was wonderful seeing everyone and many were meeting baby Asher for the first time. He loved every minute of it! Well, except for the drive...

I have so much to share from our week and will be breaking it down into several posts because there is just SO MUCH. Today, I'm going to share our wonderful family vacation pictures and July 4th pics. Asher was out by 8pm, so this year wasn't as exciting for him as future firework-filled Independence Days will be. But we were still festive!

Then, be on the lookout for these topics later this week:

Traveling with Baby + Packing Checklist
Babywearing for Outdoor Activities
10 Days Without Cloth Diapers
5 Month Update - Photos & Developments
Photographing Fireworks

Hopefully I can kick this bug quickly and get back to my frequent blog posts. There is always something to talk about in the world of baby!

Without further ado, here are some pictures from our family vacation to NC:

Our first day in the mountains, we broke out our Stokke MyCarrier for our visit to Chimney Rock. A complete review with more details and more pictures is soon to come, but I will say that this carrier was ideal for an outdoor activity such as this. Asher was 110% secure in the Stokke carrier and that made me feel much better about taking him 2280 feet in the air!

 

My white shorts are a Zulily steal!

Stokke MyCarrier with Bib Accessory

Asher's camera onesie was purchased from Kakabaka on Etsy

The next few days were full of rain (on and off, but mostly on) so they were spent visiting with all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins.... and Asher was in heaven. We also went downtown and checked out the shops and restaurants a bit.

The sun stayed out long enough for us to take the Smokey Mountain Train Ride. It was loooong... but still a fun time. I'm so glad that Asher was exposed to trains so that he has some idea of why I often say, "Chug a chug a CHOO CHOO!"

{ We had an impromptu outfit change for Asher on the train ride home, so that's why there are two outfits going on in these train pics. }

My yellow shirt was a Zulily steal!

 

We decided to visit an indoor (covered) farmer's market to escape the heavy, heavy rain that eventually started and did not stop for the rest of the week...

Lillebaby Carrier - Complete review and detailed pics coming soon!

Now, 4th of July - still raining - complete with my first attempt at night photography using a tripod and remote. I think I'm in love! I'm going to have to play around with this awesome technique some more!

John wore the Stokke carrier with ease. It easily converted from my size to his.

What a fun vacation! I can't wait for next year when Asher will be running around with his little cousins. Oh - they grow so fast!!!

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8 NEW Baby Buys & Lifesaver Products

1. Latchy Catchy
I can't tell you how grateful I am to have this on our bedroom door and the door to our bathroom. We'll switch them to the nursery door and surrounding doors once we move Asher to his crib, too. You can still shut the door - but it's silent! Genius!

2. Bambino Land Burp Cloths
I have come to realize that the more absorbent burp cloths are the ones you'll reach for. These Bambino Land muslin burp cloths absorb what 3 of my other ones would! I always use these when I'm on the go.

3. Sophie the Giraffe ***with PLUSH!!!***
The plush version of the well known Sophie the Giraffe has been the 'go-to' toy. Until he's interested in really chewing on things, he much prefers the plush version. The giraffe shape makes it easy to hold and snuggle with for little ones who can't really grab very well yet, or at all. He's in love!

4. The Diaper Clutch
Just grab this little clutch out of your diaper bag for a quick run to change the baby. Unless you need an impromptu outfit change, as well, but otherwise this clutch is a cute little lifesaver!

5. BIBS
   Some babies just require bibs. Lots of bibs! See my bib post HERE.

 

Bandana bibs from Butterfly Kisses Co. on Etsy

6. Books, Books, & More Books! 
Before bedtime, when baby is a little fussy for no apparent reason (maybe bored), when you want a little extra "bonding time" - books are all around awesome to have and fun to read together! At my baby shower, we encouraged guests to give a book instead of a card (can you believe the price of cards these days??!) so that helped us get a great start to Asher's "library". Zulily also often has great package deals on unique books!

7. OBall by Rhino Toys
Little fingers can hold onto this ball long before their hands follow suit. Helps them with learning the dexterity of their fingers, too!

8. Earth's Best Nursery Wipes
Now that Asher is playing with toys more, playing in his exersaucer/jumperoo, and has his hands and mouth on everything, these wipes are a true lifesaver. They are alcohol free, non-toxic, chlorine free, hypoallergenic... the list goes on yet they still use natural cleansers and germ fighters to keep toys and surfaces safe for babies.

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Baby Sign Language - What's on Your Mind?

Honestly, I was skeptical about Baby Sign Language to a certain degree. I didn't think it would start "working" until 7+ months like all the resources on baby signing suggest and I thought it might be difficult to work into our routine. Boy was I wrong! We started signing with Asher at 3 months and now at 19 weeks, he is already starting to sign to us. For real.

At first I thought I was being "that mom" who might insist her baby is signing when he is really just moving his hands around randomly. But after a few days of wondering if what I was seeing could be real - I know it is! My baby is signing to me!  { I apologize in advance for all the exclamation points. I am just that amazed and excited about this! }

Here's what happened that made me a believer in baby sign language:

Last night, Asher would NOT go to sleep. I tried putting him down 4 times starting at 7:30pm. He would either fuss or just play and talk in his bassinet. I tried feeding him more milk, changed him, let him sit with me and the dogs for a while. He kept signing "banana" and putting his hand to his mouth (which now I know meant "eat"). Being a baby who may or may not be starting teething, I just figured it was just a baby thing. As far as the "banana" sign, I thought it must be that he didn't really know what it meant yet, or he was associating it with the book we had just read with bananas in it. I basically didn't want to jump to conclusions - I mean, he's not even 5 months old yet. Finally, after hours of this, I gave in and fed him some carrots (he already had bananas that morning). He ate almost 3 tbsp with a smile on his face the whole time. I got him cleaned up and readied again for bed. When I put him down, he fell asleep INSTANTLY. He was out for the night. I should have listened to him in the first place! I probably would have saved myself hours of frustration. 

So now I am a believer. I will be teaching him all the signs I can throughout the next few months. 

Could this be "eat"?

Here's how we've done it so far.

I did not know any signs when we decided to do this. I bought a baby signing book, but after trying to decipher a few of the signs pictured in the book, I have realized that I need to actually see it being done to learn it. I bought Baby Signing Time Vol. 1 and learned alongside Asher some of the basic, primary signs for babies. This DVD is AWESOME. It's the only thing Asher will watch on TV and he absolutely LOVES it. It's full of fun songs, cartoons, and other babies making signs. I really want to get him the full set complete with a "Mr. Hopkins" plush frog (because that's a necessity), but it's unfortunately out of our budget right now. I bought volume 3 on Ebay (I don't know why I skipped 2... it was a 1:00 am purchase) and plan to slowly build our collection.

He watches it a few times a day (*blush*) while I'm doing things around the house or getting work done on the computer. Hey - at least it's educational!

Our early signs throughout the day have included:

• "Milk" - whenever we would give him a bottle and while he's drinking it.
• "Water" - whenever he was getting a bath, when it was raining and he would focus on it, or when I was drinking a bottle of water.
• "Dog" - whenever he saw/touched Suki or Sumo, our pugs, or when reading the book Doggies.
• "More" - when we'd give him more milk, read him another book or do more of anything he liked.
• "Mama" - when he looked at me, "Dada" when he saw John.
• "Grandma/Nonna" and "Grandpa" - with our parents (although we've been slacking with those).

That's pretty much it until about 2 weeks ago. I also have another DVD (that is full of 80s footage and not fun for babies at all) where I picked up a few more signs.

I have recently introduced:

• "Banana"
• "Bird"
• "Diaper"
• "Change"
• "Eat"
• "Up" <-- Which I may regret because he always wants up! :)
• "Hungry" <-- New today. This may be too conceptual for his age, though...

Mind you, Asher watched the DVD each day and has seen the signs for "banana" and "eat" in the video since he was 3 months old. We also read a book called Today, I'd Really Like to Eat a Child that has a crocodile who eats bananas in it and we sign "banana" while reading it, too. (It's a cute book and not at all as scary as it sounds - haha!)

The thing about a young baby signing is that you have to have a keen eye for their signs early on. They are primitive versions of the sign and can easily be written off as nothing. For example, here is a video of Asher signing "more" and "banana" a few days ago (please ignore my annoying mommy voice): 

I will continue to post on our progress with Baby Sign Language. I also am going to be tweeting videos of signs and any cool resources on the practice, so follow me on Twitter to get those updates!

Sorry this post is lacking pictures. It's hard to get my little signer on camera.

Good luck with your baby signing adventures. I'm happy to answer any questions and also welcome advice from anyone who has done signing with their babies!

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