Pool Time

 Yesterday we took Jacob to our pool for the first time. We went right when the pool opened, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was awesome. He did so great! He's so used to the warm water from his bath that I think the cold water was kind of a shock to him. He just kind of took everything in and enjoyed the beautiful day. He even took a 2 hour nap afterwards! We are looking forward to taking him to the pool a lot more this summer. Here are a few pictures from the day (Disclaimer: This post is pretty risque for the amount of cleavage I am showing. I apologize in advance!):

Ready for the pool!

Jacob and Mommy

Trying out the water with Daddy

Laughing

Baby Sounds

Rolling Over

Leg Kicks

5 Months Old

This has been a busy month for our sweet little guy! Jacob is getting so big and changing a little more each day.
Jacob's sleep continues to be a struggle. He did great with night-time sleep training for a week and then got a cold and had to go back to being soothed back to sleep. We ended up deciding to hold off on the training until this summer when he'll be home with Mommy or Daddy all day and will have more consistency with his daily routine. Some nights he has only been getting up once while other nights he is up every 2 hours. We also continue to swaddle him when he's asleep.
Jacob's eating habits are much better than his sleeping habits. He still eats about every two hours and for about 30 minutes at a time, although every once in awhile he will go a little longer between feedings or eat for only about 15-20 minutes. The one downside is that I have had to start sending more formula to daycare, since I'm not able to pump enough at work anymore. For the most part, though, he is breastfed, and I hope to continue this for the next several months. Jacob has not started solids yet, but I am looking forward to starting this with him in June when he turns 6 months. This the age that is recommended in my breastfeeding book, so I feel like it would be more beneficial for him to start then.
Jacob continues to get better at tummy time and has even started rolling over more. He did this a few times in January, but now I think he's more aware of what he's doing and consciously trying to do it. I have been putting him on his tummy in the mornings now, and he will sometimes stay in this position for 10-15 minutes before getting upset and wanting to lie down on his back. This is a huge improvement, and he impresses me so much with his head strength. We are still working on having him sit up, but he is starting to get steadier in his bumbo chair each day. Hopefully within the next month or two he'll really be able to support himself in this position. Jacob has also gotten very good at reaching for and grabbing things and is constantly grabbing the toys on his activity mat or putting his blanket in his mouth. He has also started kicking his legs a lot more and blowing raspberries with his tongue.
The final big development this month is that we think he has started showing signs of teething. He is constantly putting things in his mouth and has started drooling more. He has also had a few days where he is extremely fussy and seems to be in pain or discomfort. The other day he even felt like he had a slight fever, which can also be a sign of teething. When Josh's mom came over to see Jacob she was showing us some bumps on his bottom gums that looked like the outlines of teeth forming, so we are pretty sure that some teeth are coming soon!
Finally, here are Jacob's likes and dislikes this past month along with a few pictures of our big boy!
Likes: his blankie (and sucking on it!), his crinkle book, his activity mat toys, kicking his feet, taking a bath, listening to Mommy sing songs, watching tv with Daddy (even though Mommy doesn't like this), sitting in his highchair and watching us eat dinner, getting kisses, being silly with Daddy
Dislikes: being tired or hungry, taking his reflux medicine, being left alone for too long, having his nose wiped

Adventures in Sleep Training: Day Two

I'll try to be brief with this recap, since my first two were pretty detailed. Jacob's first nap was pretty similar to day one. The one improvement is that even though he fussed as I laid him in the crib (he really wanted to fall asleep eating), he fell asleep as soon as I left the room. That was an improvement. Unfortunately, he only slept 20 minutes again, and cried the rest of the time. I was a sad Mommy when I went to go get him.

Nap #2 also started with him fussing as I laid him down and then falling asleep right away. It seems he's at least making progress in getting himself to sleep for his nap, so this was encouraging. This time he slept about 25 minutes, and then cried the rest of the time. He did have a few breaks in his crying, so that seemed to be a little bit of progress.

Since his naps were short again today I decided to put him in his swing for nap #3, and it was tough just getting him to pass out. I ended up feeding him until he pretty much passed out. He put his thumb in his mouth the last minute while the swing got started. I had to go in the bathroom and cry for a minute, because I was so exhausted by this day. A few minutes later Jacob woke up, so I ended up feeding him some more and letting him sleep in my arms. I swear that if he wasn't sleeping so well at night I would be really tempted to give up at this point. I just hope Josh has better luck Monday & Tuesday and that Jacob can actually sleep longer during each nap.

Good news is that once again Jacob went to bed pretty easily. He started getting fussy around 6:45, so I started his bedtime routine a little earlier than normal. As soon as I got done feeding him he stuck his thumb straight into his mouth and his eyes already were starting to close. I quickly set him in his crib and turned on his sheep as he fell asleep. It was so precious! He did wake up crying 3-4 times throughout the night and once in the morning, but each time he put himself back to sleep within a minute or two. Josh and I never had to check on him! I'm doing the happy dance now!

After 3 successful nights of sleep training I am so sold on this process. Although the naps have been rough (and may be for awhile) I am amazed at how well he is able to put himself to sleep at night. I highly recommend the book Sleepeasy Solution to everyone who has babies or will in the future. Although I'd love to detail every day as our training continues, I'm sure you would all get bored of my updates. Instead I'll give you an update probably when he turns 5 months. Hopefully I'll be able to say by then that his naps are going as well as his nights!