A Day in the Life

Yikes, we are already at 5 months! I feel like Nolan is still such a new baby in many ways, but he is definitely big enough to fill out his 6-9 month clothes!

Nolan 5 months

Nighttime sleep: Has anyone ever heard of the “4 month regression” in baby sleep? I never did until Nolan started waking up more at night this last month. After 4 solid weeks of random night wakings, I THINK we are back down to one waking per night. A few times this week he slept all the way through (like, as in 12 hours!), but this is still few and far between. He goes to bed around 7-7:30pm and is up for the day anywhere between 6:45am and 8:45am.

Naps: It really is different every day, but most days he gets 4 naps, each about 45 minutes long. If the naps are longer, he may only take 3 naps, but that is an exception to the rule so far.

Temperament: His personality is starting to come out more and more. He is really interested in what we are doing around the house, and I catch him watching Addie play a lot. He also stares at me while I eat now, and it is funny to see the wheels turning in his head. “Hey, why can’t I have some of that good stuff?”

Likes and Dislikes: Nolan loves playing with Daddy, who can get him laughing so hard! He also loves when Addie makes faces at him or plays “Patty cakes” with his feet. He likes spending time in his car seat as we cart him around everywhere, but he also loves to roll around on the ground. I am trying out toys to see if he will start to grab at them, and he is not really there yet. He will hold something if I give it to him, but he is not really interested in reaching for anything yet.

Milestones: He rolls! He started rolling from back to tummy a few weeks ago, and sometimes sleeps on his tummy now. Problem is, he can’t roll from tummy to back, so he gets mad when he is on his tummy too long. We started solid food this week, and rice cereal is all that he’s tried so far (except a tiny bit of banana I let him sample). Most of it comes right back out, but I’m sure he will get the hang of it soon! He still only has 2 teeth, and he has figured out how to spit with all that drool coming out!

Look at those teeth!

Here are some of the exciting things we are doing this Fall.

1. Rangers baseball! We have been to 3 games in 3 weeks, and if they end up going to the World Series, we just may have tickets to Game 5!

2. Texas State Fair! My sister Cami came down to go to the Fair, and although she had to go with us and our kids instead of grownup friends who ride real rides and stay out late, I think we all had a good time. One of the most fun things to do at the Texas State Fair is try some of the fried foods, but I think I topped out after about 3 things, because your stomach starts to tell you enough is enough after that. The best that we tried was Fried Cookie Dough! Juliana I know you are jealous.

Riding the Ladybug ride with Addie

Cami and Addie

Our Family + Big Tex

3. Dallas Arboretum/Pumpkin Village. My mom, Cami, and Emily and her kids came along, and we spent a few hours touring the pumpkin-filled Arboretum. They have houses covered in pumpkins, princess castles (Addie and Aimee were in HEAVEN), flowers of course, and lots and lots of people! We had to park and take a shuttle, there were so many people there that day.

All the Kids

Beautiful Pumpkin Garden

Pumpkin House

In Beauty and the Beast's Castle

The girls got to put on a Cinderella dress (courtesy of my mom) and sit in Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage. This was a huge hit! We even waited like, 20 minutes in a line to get to take a picture in the carriage.

Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage

In Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage

The other favorite thing for the girls was a fountain, where they got to splash in the water, which looked like it was being sprayed from huge frog statues.

Splashing in the Fountain

Cheesy Girls

What is that crazy smile?

September was rough. Zac was out of town for two weeks straight! Some people have asked me how we survived, and I really don’t know what to tell them. Mostly I just keep busy while Zac’s out of town, to stave off the boredom and loneliness. So we did stuff like Preschool, Ballet Class, Playgroup, the Library, and a couple of play dates with friends and cousins. Addie is loving having her cousins Aimee and Jack around to play with. They are here for their daddy go to go SMU for law school. Yay for more family around!

The day after Zac got home, we all took a deep breath and had a wonderful day together as a family. We went to the Rangers game that afternoon, and although Addie loved it, Nolan was NOT a fan. It was a little too loud for him, and he was pretty scared. He makes this really cute sad face (is that bad that i think he is adorable when he gets sad?), so he ended up spending most of the game walking outside with me or my dad.

We are so glad Zac will be in town for quite a while now!

Nolan 4 months

Nighttime Sleep – Nolan is giving me a run for my money in the sleep category. He was getting much better at sleeping at night, but then he began teething, and started waking up multiple times per night. I know he doesn’t need to eat 5 times every night, so it was frustrating to try to figure out what to do. I gave him some pain medication, and that seemed to help, but now that the teeth have broken through and he is still waking up, I don’t know what to do. The doctor suggested starting solids to see if maybe he is just hungry and needs more calories. I really didn’t want to start solids quite yet, but I’m willing to try anything to help him get a long stretch of sleep at night.

Naps – His naps are completely unpredictable. Some are 45 minutes, some are 3 hours. I never know what to expect in the nap category. He still takes 4 naps per day, especially if they are all 45 minute catnaps. He is awake for about an hour to an hour and a half in between naps.

Nursing – Still nursing 5-6 times a day for 10-15 minutes. And maybe we will be starting to add solids:)

Temperament – Nolan is still such a happy little baby! Even when he is completely exhausted and won’t sleep, he rarely makes a peep. Yesterday he woke from a 45 minute nap and I tried to wait and see if he would go back to sleep since I knew he had to be tired. He ended up crying for a little while, but as soon as I got him out of bed, he was happy as can be, and stayed happy for the next 3 hours! (We were out to dinner, so he was awake longer than usual.) Oh, and he got his 4 month shots a few days ago, and laughed through them!

Likes and Dislikes – He likes to eat his fingers (or anyone’s fingers that are close enough to grab), kick his legs, lay in his playgym, take rides in the car, be entertained by Adelyn (or anyone else), and stand up on your lap. He dislikes being put in his bed, and usually fusses before naps still. I am toying with the idea of sleep training. Is this a good time to do it? Does anyone have experience sleep training at this age? I am continuing to use the pacifier to get him to sleep, but I don’t know if that is a good long-term solution.

Milestones – 2 teeth (both bottom) broke through, one on the 2nd, and one on the 12th. He is still drooling a TON, so I invested in some bibs:)  He is still not really rolling over yet, and can only get from his back to his side. He likes tummy time, but hasn’t tried to roll onto his back.

Weight: 15 lbs 7 oz — 60%

Height: 25.5 in — 78%

Head: 17.5 in — 73%

Nolan surprised us while we were in Utah by cutting his first tooth! He was 3 months, 3 weeks old. Is this super young?!? I was so shocked to find it, since Addie didn’t get her first tooth until she was almost 6 months old. The poor kid is drooling like crazy, chewing on his hands constantly, and can’t even hold onto his own teething rings yet!

Addie attended her first ballet class on Wednesday. She was so excited to wear her new leotard and ballet slippers! She loves to dance, so I’m thinking she will really enjoy her class. This was her first real away-from-mom activity, but she had no problems letting me drop her off and leave:)

Dance Class