5 months // Everett Orion

So, this post may be half of a month late... but we've just been so busy that it's been hard to get anything else done! I can't believe how big you are. Your sister and I are constantly saying how we wish you were 1 month old again! It's just ridiculous how fast time is flying. But you are SO much fun and we cherish every single second of watching you grow.

Length| Who knows? But you sure are long! I swear, you're gonna be as tall as your big sister next month. I guess we'll find out an officially official length at your appt on the 5th.

Weight| 20 pounds and change (according to our home scale). I'm thinking that you may be plateauing as far as your chunk goes, which is a good thing because I don't know where else you could put it!

Hair| I still maintain that you are going to have your dadda's curls and your sister's dark blonde hair but we will see what happens!

Eyes| Your sister calls them "basil" eyes (hazel eyes), and we are all obsessed with looking into them. You are the definition of bright eyed and bushy tailed, almost all day, every day. After looking at baby pictures of myself, I really think that you have my eyes (shape and color) which is super exciting.

Nicknames| Rhett, Little Man, Stinky Man, Baby Boy, Little Chunk, Bud, Sassy Man

Eats| You are a little piglet, for sure. We started feeding you some oatmeal cereal (banana and then peach/apple flavor) starting around 18 weeks or so. We quickly progressed to adding some peach baby food, then banana, and then apple. You LOVE it. You would eat a whole bowl if I let you. You aren't too terribly messy with it just yet, but I am sure we'll get there ;) You also enjoy a regular banana smashed up with a fork so it's more of a baby food consistency. So far you tried a taste of a lemon and a pickle and you had NO reaction whatsoever. Your Dad and I just sat there waiting for you to make a silly face, and you just kept gnawing away - We were pretty impressed! You're still taking your beloved 8 ounce bottles, though with eating some solids now, you don't always finish them. Unfortunately, I think the season of breast pumping is coming to a close. There were two days this past week where I hardly was able to pump at all and then I was sick on top of that, and I think that just really killed my supply. I'm lucky to even get one full bottle's worth of breastmilk a day at this point. I am so happy that it has lasted this long, though! You'll have had breastmilk for about twice as long as your sister, which is something for me to be proud of.

Sleep| You most definitely had yourself a little four-month-sleep-regression! Oy vey was that ever frustrating. In fact, you still fight sleep on the regular, it's just not quite as bad as it was there for a little while. I think you just like to see what all is going on and you don't want to miss a beat! You are still sleeping in your bassinet in our room and are in our bed by the time the sun comes back up. You absolutely love to lay on top of the comforter on our bed and some nights it is hard to even transfer you from there to your bassinet without you waking up in protest. You are also the master of the cat nap. Whenever you fall asleep for a nap you can seem totally zonked out... and then 5 minutes later you're up and ready to rock and roll for another 2 hours.

Clothes| You are a chunk. Seriously, you can fit into NINE month onesies! What? Yes, I said nine month onesies. You can squeeze into some 3-6 month outfits, you are just barely snug in 6 month ones, and you are nice and roomy inside the 9 month ones - but they still fit! It's just crazy. I don't even know if the things that we bought you for the fall are going to go on over your big head and your chunky thighs, because most of that stuff is 6-9 months and at the rate you're growing, you'll be in like 3Ts by then. :P

Diapers| We graduated to the 3s and hopefully you won't be outgrowing those anytime soon! + we're still loving the Pampers Swaddlers. (Update: you've either outgrown the 3s or the box we got at the store the other day was just a bad batch. Either way, we've purchased size 4s and you seem to be doing much better with those! ie: no leakage accidents so far!)

Loves| You still absolutely love to move! If you were capable, I am 100% certain that you would be up and running around, chasing your sister already. You kick your little legs and roll all over the place. // Laughing/smiling/being the happiest little baby on the planet. // Watching videos of yourself, your sister, and other babies. // When I say "toes!" - Especially when I pretend to munch on yours or pretend to have you munch on them. // Eating, as always. // Being held while standing in front of the air conditioner units that we have in the windows. // Staring at the clown fish in the salt water tank that we have. // Our comforter! // Your little fox and hedgehog music toy.

Dislikes| Seriously, if anyone wants to get on your bad side, all they have to do is try to pick one of your boogies. // Waiting around for food, especially now that you're eating more than just a bottle. // All of this heat! Darn Pennsylvania summers being so hot & humid. // Gas, still, because who likes being gassy? Not you, that's for sure.

Milestones| You're a rollin' fool. There's no stopping you where that is concerned. You've even started attempting to push yourself up into a crawling position with your arms and your legs, though it's normally not both sets of extremities at the same time. It'll either be your just your arms, or just your legs. One day you'll put it together and then the crawling will happen so after, I'm sure. // Sitting up with help and holding your head up with less wobbling-action. You don't even fit in your bumbo seat anymore! Your poor little leggies are too chunky to fit. // You are definitely doing some more exploring lately. Your little hands reach for everything and your dexterity continues to improve. There were a few times where you could kind of hold up your bottle and, depending on the size or weight, you can sometimes hold a toy long enough to play with it. You've even pressed some buttons on toys all by yourself!

Events| You had your first trip to Hersheypark! It was packed full of people, but we all had a great time regardless. I can't wait to see you riding the rides for the first time as a little "Hershey's Miniature". Actually, I lied, I can wait for it but I am looking forward to it happening one day. (#staylittle) Your sister got a haircut!! She is rocking the shoulder length hair now and it looks so cute. She also started first grade (as of yesterday!) and it is so crazy to think that we'll blink and that it will be you headed off to school. Nenna and Papa Ron went on an amazing diving vacation to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman and they showed us some of the incredible pictures that they took with their new underwater camera system - so neat! I can't believe that summertime is practically over and that the fall months will be coming up. I'm so excited to see you in all of your cute fall clothes - that will hopefully fit once this heat wave dissipates!

We love you, sweet man. Happy almost half a year!

xo,

Sara

4 Months // Everett Orion

Sweet boy, I can't believe that you are 1/3 of the way through your first year already! Gosh, every month I'll probably be saying some version of the statement "I can't believe how old you are now!", but it really is true. I just can't believe how fast the time is going. We are so lucky to be your parents and we are thankful everyday that we get to watch you and your sister grow up and learn new things. Life without you two would be very dull, that is for sure. I am looking forward to what this next month holds for you, little man.

We love you.

Length|  You didn't have a 3 month check up. I'm not sure why, but the pediatrician said we could skip the 3 month appt and just wait until the 4 month check up. So, I don't have an official length for you right now, but geez are you ever long! I swear, you are almost as tall as your sister. Your SIX year old sister! Haha.

Weight| You've gotta be at least fifty pounds by now. Well, maybe not quite that much, but man oh man are you chunking up! I love it. We'll find out soon enough at your next appt, but I'd venture to say that you are at least 20 lbs by now.

Hair| Since losing most of your hair (other than a little strip across the very back of your head), you have started to grow back a few long crazy strands! I'm almost 100% positive that you are gonna have your dadda's curly locks, though I think they are gonna be a light brown/dark blonde color like your sister's hair.

Eyes| Still hazel, and still so big and bright. I could look at your happy little self all day long.

Nicknames| Rhett, Little Man, Stinky Boy, Chunky Man, Chunk, Chunk-a-Monk, Bud

Eats| No more breastfeeding. Womp womp. But I'm still trying to get you some breast milk through pumping, even though my pump pooped out... but it's okay because your Dadda is awesome and will be able to (hopefully!) fix it tomorrow and then I won't have to use the dinky hand pump that the hospital provided us with. You're still a piggy and eat all day long, about 5-8 oz a feeding (sometimes more!). We really don't have to stop to burp you during your feedings, which is a good thing... even though you still find ways to sneakily spit up on us occasionally.

Sleep| Still going well, though I have heard of that dreaded "4 month sleep regression" so we'll see if that rears its ugly head here this month. You're quite the little furnace (just like Dad!) and you get so hot when you sleep that swaddling you really is just not an option at this point. We ordered a few lightweight aden + anais sleeping bags because you just don't sleep as well if you don't have some sort of blanket and I worry about loose blankets in your bassinet (even if they are the breathable, muslin kind). Regardless, you still sleep from about 9:30pm-7:30am with maybe one diaper change & a quick few ounces from a bottle but then you're back to sleep. The nap situation is still scattered and completely unpredictable, but that's okay. We are not a family with a routine schedule, so I don't expect you to be on any sort of schedule either.

Clothes| Well, you seem to be growing out of even your 3 month clothing, which makes sense now that you're 4 months. But what seems crazy to me is that even some of your 3-6 month outfits seem to be bursting at the buttons! I blame it on your adorable chunky-ness, which I absolutely love! Nom nom nom.

Diapers| We used up all of those Honest brand diapers I mentioned in your last update, simply because we were afraid you wouldn't fit in them much longer. You're still rockin' the size 2's, but I've got a feeling that you're headed toward the 3's any day now.

Loves|  Moving! - You are a squirmy little man and you love to take in everything around you. // You still love to munch on your hands (and anything that you can get your hands on). // Giving everyone who talks to you a shy smile and then turning your face towards whoever is holding you, only to peek back at the person talking to you and smile some more. You are still such a happy, happy baby. // Your sister - she makes you laugh and smile like no one else. // Blowing bubbles and making noises. // Eating- as evidenced by your extreme chunk.

Dislikes| Still not a fan of Momma picking your boogies or your nose being touched, don't think that's gonna change for a while. // Waiting for a bottle to be brought to you when you are hungry. // The heat + being sweaty. // Sitting still. You have to be squirming around at all times. // Being gassy! Man do you have a fit if you have a toot stuck in your poor little belly. But once that is released, you're back to being a happy little man.

Milestones| Rolling over!! You have completely mastered this skill; that shoulder is no longer in your way. You'd roll all over the place if we let you. // Sitting up like a champ, still with some help of course. You can sit in your Bumbo seat (even though your little chunky legs get stuck in there, leaving the seat stuck to your bum whenever we try to get you out), but your head still wobbles a little bit. But you're working on that! // Still always sucking on your hands or your toys. You have definitely started reaching for your toys more and I think that you are already teething, because the drool seems to be nonstop and you just love to chew, chew, chew. // You have given us a few short bursts of what seems to be a laugh, but no full on giggling yet. You're so darn happy all day long (unless there is a gas fit, of course), and it makes me happy to see you so happy.

Events| We celebrated Father's Day by giving your Dadda a handmade gift from Peyton and a little book from you. Your Aunt Nenna got her tonsils out. There was the Fourth of July (your GiGi's birthday!), followed by your Grammy's birhtday (which was celebrated by breakfast at Cracker Barrel where your Papa Ron gave you a small taste of some blackberry jam! - that you got all over your face) and you met your Great Great Uncle Charlie. You also witnessed your very first shark week (very important!). Overall, we've just been enjoying the summer nights, even if there has been an abundance of rain lately.

xo,

Sara