Thursday, April 9, 2015

Five Months





At 5 months, Luca:

  • Weighs (I’m guessing) about 16 lbs. We don’t have a doctor’s appointment until the first week of May, so we won’t officially find out until then.  
  • Took his first plane ride. We went to Florida a couple of weeks ago, and, aside from a major diaper blowout on the way there (that required a complete outfit change) he was a champ.
  • Put his feet in sand and in the ocean for the first time. And, much more generally, was in warm weather for the first time. The kid loved every second of it.
  • Has started eating solids. On his 5-month birthday we gave him some oatmeal. It’s been about a week and we haven’t ventured on to anything new yet, but I think avocados are up next.
  • Is all about the toys. He’ll reach out and grab for them—and it’s sweet to see him touching and exploring them. Mostly, they wind up in his mouth. His current favorite though, is a makes-all-kinds-of-sounds guitar that my parents got him.
  • Is still quick to laugh and smile
  • Seems to thrive when other people are around.
  • Is still getting a mix of breastmilk and formula.
  •  Chews everything in sight. He’ll grab on to your fingers, knuckles, arm, shoulder and basically never let go.
  • Is into tummy time now. He can bring himself up on his arms, with his head up, and while he doesn’t roll from back to front just yet, it’s seems to be coming along.
  • Has started to take a bit of a longer nap in the afternoon. At one point a few weeks ago, I emailed two of my friends at 4 a.m. wanting to know their exact nap schedules because I just don’t understand it at all. We’re just going with the flow now.
  • Can recognize his name? I don’t know if it’s his name or if it’s just us calling him.
  • Is still sleeping in the pack and play. One of these days…




At 5 months, I:
  • Loved being on vacation. Obviously, doesn’t everyone? But there’s that thing, with vacation, where you swear to yourself that you’ll go home and do it all differently. You won’t care as much about little things. You won’t let certain things bother you anymore. You’ll look at time differently. And in reality, it all usually goes back to the way it was, but that refresh? It’s needed. And with this vacation, we were so much more laid back–no real plans other than beach and pool and eating.
  • Am struggling a lot with feelings of guilt. I can distinctly remember about a month or so after Luca was born and thinking, “oh I won’t let myself feel guilty.”  And then. Sometimes it feels like a constant, tiring, back and forth: if I do this, then I can do that. If I can make it to X, then Y. If things were like this, then I would be ok with that. Maybe everyone feels this way? I read this though, and felt a little better.
  • Am so thankful to be surrounded by friends with babies and toddlers. It’s so comforting. So nice.
  • Can’t believe we actually pulled off our first holiday at the house. We had close to 20 people over for Easter—everyone brought tons of food and dessert and we’re still eating leftovers almost a week later.
  • That whole takes a village thing? Totally true. You know it, I know it. But I realized it even more this weekend, and I just feel really grateful. I also, going back to my earlier point, refuse to feel guilty about it.
  • Am starting to let go of certain things. I used to get really hung up on the fact that I was “supposed” to cook every night and would totally get down on myself for not having some Pinterest-worthy meal on a random Wednesday night. What works for us now, in April 2015, is to have John cook a quick, simple dinner while I feed the baby. Then, we eat together. That may change some day, but for now, it’s what works best and I feel lighter having let go of those old expectations.