Macario is 5 Months Old!

Dear Son,

Oh boy, another month has come and gone!  You are now 5 months old and it seems as though you are changing by the minute.

I love watching you make your way through every new stage, but I still miss the days when you were tiny and delicate and made all those cute, involuntary, baby noises. I suppose I’ll never get over that, and one day I’ll probably be telling you how much I miss you being this age. *sigh* I always try to cherish the memories we’ve made and appreciate the memories we’re currently making.

A few nights ago, I was up late watching some videos Daddy recorded back when you were just a few days and weeks old.  Everything from your skin to your voice has changed.  I remember thinking your baby acne would never clear up, but of course it did and you now have beautifully smooth skin. 

Your cry seems different too, although, these days you don’t cry a whole lot.  You fuss and whine when you’re uncomfortable, but we’re usually able to figure out what you’re asking for before you get into a full blown cry.

Last month I mentioned that you were still not rolling over consistently.  That certainly isn’t the case any longer! You are rolling over like a pro now!  The moment we place you on your back you roll over to your tummy. You even do it in your sleep.

When you first started to squirm around in your crib, we stopped swaddling you because I was nervous that you’d get yourself tangled up in the swaddle blanket.  The newest dilemma is worrying that you will roll over onto your face and suffocate because we just can’t keep you from rolling onto your belly. 

The first few nights you rolled in your sleep, I rolled you back, but that just woke you up so I’ve given up trying to fight it.  Instead of trying to keep you on your back, Daddy and I just peek in on you a few extra times to make sure your face isn’t smashed into the mattress.

You don’t roll from your tummy to your back as easily or as often and I’m not sure why that is, but I’m sure that by the time I’m writing your next update you’ll be doing that too.

We’re starting to get into a new night time routine by adding family dinner to it.  Depending on your mood, the three of us sit together at the table to eat dinner sometime around 7 - 7:30 pm.  We don’t do it every night, but we’re trying to work that in because it’s very important to us that we have dinner as a family as we move forward. You and I have even said grace together, though I’ve still not been consistent with that either.  We’ll get there!

You are such a good eater and seem to really enjoy all of the different flavors we’ve given you to try.  So far you’ve had pears, peas, apples, and carrots.  We feed you Earth’s Best baby food which is organic and offers a line of “firsts” for babies 4 months and older. You’ve had Gerber peas as well as the Earth’s Best peas, but you prefer Earth’s best. The Earth’s Best food seems to have a little bit milder taste than Gerber so for now we’re sticking with that.

Your teething has gotten pretty bad, so I’m hoping you’ll sprout a tooth soon.  We’ve been using the Orajel Naturals when you seem especially uncomfortable, but otherwise we just give you things to chew on or use the gum massager on our fingers.  A lot of the time you get really anxious when chewing on anything as if you just can’t reach the spot and so we have to watch that you don’t get too worked up over that either.

Your Grandma Frances told us that letting you chew on the white end of a green onion would numb your gums and give you relief, so when you and Daddy went to visit with her last Friday (9/16) they gave you one to chew on and it seemed to really help you to feel better. From now on I think we’ll use the onion as a first resort and Orajel our last.

Now that you’re a bit older, you are really interacting with people and things.  Your personality is so cute because you’re very happy and smiley all the time. You even make yourself laugh which is really fun to watch. If you make a funny noise, you laugh, if you sneeze, you laugh, if you roll over, you laugh and so on.  You are a riot. 

Everywhere we go you get attention from strangers, as I’m sure most babies do, but now you get attention because you’re giving it. People used to smile when they’d see Daddy and me carrying your car seat.  They’d be curious to see you because we’d have a blanket draped over your seat to shield you.  Now, you’re out looking around with your big eyes and giving even bigger smiles which draws people in.

I just can’t get over how amazing you are.  You’re such a cute baby and so happy. Seeing how happy you are brings so much fulfillment to me and I just want to continue to do everything I can to give you a happy life.

The following is a list of some notable events from the last month:

8/21 first dinner time meal (peas).
8/28 you demonstrated an attachment to Skippy (your plush puppy dog).
8/31 you fell asleep in your crib on your own for the first time.
9/6 you had Gerber bananas with Grandma Yolanda. You also had some of my breast milk for the first time since you were about a month old.
9/7 you had your first stomach bug.
9/11 you had Earth’s Best carrots for the first time
9/16 you had green onions with Grandma Frances for the first time to help soothe your gums.
9/17 you went to one of Daddy's meets for the first time and also your first kid’s birthday party (cousin Lalito)
9/19 you turned 5 months!

Everyday seems like a brand new day with you. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I’m sure glad I did.

Happy 5 months!

Love,
Mommy