I know, I know...this post is really late! Henry and I spent 3 weeks in the States visiting family and got back on November 12th. We have not been able to get our sleep schedules back on track! Some nights Henry goes to sleep at 8 and the next night it's 3am. Sometimes he sleeps through the night and sometimes he wakes up for a few hours around 1am. He was such a good sleeper before we left and while we were there that it makes this erratic sleeping even harder! So, we have decided to spend the next week doing some sleep training! We're using
this plan. Wish us luck!
Since I have no 5 month picture, this one will have to do.
Such chunky adorableness!
Henry's stats:
Length: 25 3/4" (65.4 cm)
Weight: 16 pounds 8 ounces (7.55 kg)
Head circumference: 17" (43.3 cm)
What Henry's been up to:
Henry is an expert roller overer! He has no problems going from back to belly, in fact, he sometimes does it even when he doesn't want to! He can go from belly to back, but he often forgets how. He is excellent at grabbing things and can figure out a way to get to almost anything he wants. Which means....he's a mover! I have no clue how he moves though. It's one of those mysterious things that you never actually see. I have tried and tried to catch him in the act, but it's hard. I do always find him other places though. He'll often be on the opposite side of the room of where I put him down. One of Henry's favorite things is playing peek a boo/covering his face. As evidenced here:
Don't mind my bony toes in the corner! I don't know why, but he loves to do this! He'll cover his face with anything he can reach. Pants, a blanket, stuffed animals...anything! He also enjoys driving cars. Insert cliche picture that every parent has.
Henry has his first tooth! Hannes swears it's two teeth, but I think it's only one. He won't let us get a great look at it, but dang that baby is sharp! And he loves to bite with it! So, the most we get is a feel here and there. I first noticed it, just as it broke the gum, on November 11th. He had been drooling like crazy and was chewing on stuff nonstop, but it didn't look like he was teething. He didn't have raised white spots on his gums or anything like that. I reached in and felt and around and there it was, barely noticeable, but there. I really think that chewing on Aunt Jessie's counters helped that baby pop out!
*UPDATE: As of 12:30pm, Swedish time, it is official...Hannes was right! Henry has two teeth! He was playing on the other side of the coffee table, with what I thought was his toy bus, but turned out to be the cardboard packaging on Hannes' nephew's Christmas gift. As I was digging the cardboard out of his mouth...I saw them! Two separate teeth poking out of his bottom gum!
While we were in the states Henry swung for the first time! He was kind of indecisive about it. I'm not sure if he really liked it or not, but he only wanted to be in there for a few minutes at a time.
Henry also had his first bite of food! On Tuesday, November 19th Henry tried sweet potatoes! We are officially waiting until 6 months old to start food, but I was making mashed sweet potatoes anyway so I thought...why not give him a bite or two? At first he made no signs about whether or not he liked them, but after another bite or two it was pretty clear that he wasn't really digging it. Which, is kind of hilarious because he really watches us eat and tries to eat/drink everything we have. So, I really thought he'd be more excited about eating.
Henry was a pretty great traveler! I've decided that it's not the babies that are difficult on planes, it's the toddlers! Henry had a rough time at the end of our first flight to London. He was tired of being held and just wanted out of my lap. He cried for about 15 minutes, but as soon as we landed and I put him in the empty seat next to us he was perfect! Then, he mostly slept on all of our other flights to and from the US. On our long flight back, from Chicago to London there were two other Moms traveling alone with their children - toddlers. One of them screamed/cried for almost the entire flight and the other one - the one directly in front of us - only screamed a few times. Of course, one of those times woke Henry up when we still had two hours to go, but he did fine. We were lucky that on our long 8 hour flights the plane wasn't very full and both times were able to get an entire middle section (3 seats) all to ourselves! This allowed me to lay down next to Henry and sleep. I think that's the most sleep I've ever gotten on a plane! It was awesome!
He looks so cute traveling! We are definitely going to try to take advantage of the whole kids fly free if they're under 2 thing. On the way there he did get really dried out. His nose got so dry and bloody and his cheeks were bright red. I didn't plan on that happening and had nothing with me to help him! On the way back I made sure to bring nose drops and vitamin E oil for his face. Luckily, he was much better on the way back. While we were there Henry's baby cousin Parker was born! He was soooo tiny!!! It's crazy that he was almost the exact same weight and length as Henry, yet I can't remember Henry ever being so small. I think that I kind of forgot how to take care of a newborn. It's crazy how fast you lose those skills! Henry did get in a little play time with his cousin.
What Mommy's been up to:
While in the States I gained about 6 pound...yikes! However, when I was in Chicago the last week alone with Henry, I made an effort to get outside every day and walk and I didn't eat out as much. When I was first weighed, at 8 weeks pregnant, I was 54 kilos and I am currently 55.7. That's less than a 5 pound difference! My body finally feels like it's getting back to normal! Aka. I have a waist and my clothes don't look so bad on my body. It's so exciting! It definitely took a while, but I think with a little extra effort I can be back to myself before he's 7 months old. I think that going back to work in January will help too. Walking around more and being busy. I am really looking forward to sleep training and hoping that I will be able to get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time! To give you an idea of what has been going on I'll quickly run through what happened last night.
10:00pm - feed Henry and put him to bed. Put his pacifier back in his mouth and flip him onto his back (this is where he sometimes rolls onto his stomach when he doesn't want to) several times.
10:15pm - Henry is asleep. I fall asleep.
11:45pm - Henry is crying and wants to eat. I feed Henry and leave him in my bed...hoping to get some more sleep. He fusses and kicks me repeatedly.
1:00am - I'm tired of getting kicked and put Henry in his own bed. He fusses and rolls onto his stomach and I get up several times to put his pacifier back in and flip him onto his back.
1:30am - Still trying to get him to sleep. He starts crying, loudly. Hannes holds him for a few minutes, gets him to sleep and lays him back in his bed.
1:45am - He wakes up and is fussy.
2:00am - I feed him again and put him in his bed. He falls asleep.
2:15am - He wakes up and is fussy. I give him his pacifier back and roll him back onto his back.
3:00am - I finally fall asleep.
4:00am - Henry is up and wants to eat, again.
This is not what it has been like for the last 5 months, but it is what it has been like since we got back. I'm used to the eating every two hours thing, and it really doesn't bother me. He doesn't nurse for a long time at each feeding so he may legitimately need those feedings. It's the not going right back to sleep that is killing me! I'm okay with barely gaining consciousness for feedings and falling right back asleep as soon as they're over, but I have a really hard time going back to sleep after being woken all the way up. Between 10 and 4 I probably got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I'm also pretty sure that I have restless leg syndrome. If I lay in bed for more than 1/2 hour and don't fall asleep my legs get all crampy and they feel like they need to be moved and I can't get comfortable and I just toss and turn. It's pretty awful. Which is another reason why this new sleeping schedule just doesn't work for me!
