August is 5 months old!

.....well, sort of.  Calendar speaking, he is 5 months on Wednesday, the 3rd.  Weeks speaking, he is over 5 months old.  So who knows really.  But for my schedule's sake in writing this post, he is 5 months old! :)

I can't believe how much he as changed over the last several weeks.  Here's what's going on with him lately.

• August has started sleeping on his stomach.  I was definitely not ok with this at first.  It scared me to death, and I think it scared August too.  He has been rolling constantly (back to front and front to back).  He will not stay on his back if you lay him down that way.  For about a week or two straight, each night he would wake us up screaming, and he would be on his stomach.  We would flip him to his back, and he would scream even more.  Finally, I just stood in his room where he couldn't see me, and I watched him to see how he did on his belly.  I was afraid he would smother himself in the mattress.  He would eventually just go to sleep, with his face to the side.  So he has been sleeping that way ever since.  I'm a belly sleeper too, so I guess that's where he gets it. :)

The first time he did it, he started sleeping half on his side and half on his belly....

....and woke up on his belly!

• August is now eating rice cereal in the evening.  We started this a couple days ago, and he LOVES it. That boy can eat.  I hadn't planned on doing anything solid until 6 months, but August starting waking up more often, and he also started grabbing our food off of our plates and forks.  So I decided to go ahead and try it.  I mix Earth's Best Organic Rice cereal (I'm usually not a fancy organic kind of person because I would rather save the money, but apparently when it comes to my child, I am.) with a little bit of breastmilk.  The recipe makes about 1/4 cup, but it says most babies only eat about 1/2 a tablespoon the first time.  August ate the whole 1/4 cup....and wanted more.  He cried when it was gone.  Haha.  This boy can eat!

• August has gotten SUPER efficient at nursing.  The norm for him was anywhere from 25-45 minutes of nursing every 2 hours....which means I was only getting 1 hour and 15 minutes in between feedings.  So nursing was a full time job.  In the last few weeks, he has gotten a lot faster.  Now he is done in 10 minutes.  I have all this new found time!  So now when I have to nurse him while we're out, it's not that big of a deal.  He still nurses about every 2 hours....sometimes 2 and 1/2.  I'm ok with it though.  As long as he will let me sleep at night. :)
• August is very active.  He is not wanting to nap, he just wants to play.  All. day. long.  His naps have been getting shorter and shorter.  He used to nap about 2 1/2-3 hours at a time.  Now he naps about 1 and 1/2 hours.....at the most.....at a time.  Where did my good napping boy go?  He is just so interested in everything.  I think he's afraid he's going to miss something.  
•   It sounds like he says "mama."  Now, I won't tell you that he says it and knows what he's saying.  But he says it at least once or twice a day, and I'm not the only one who has heard it.  He has also repeated once too.  When I said "mama," he said it right back.  I'm still not getting excited though, because for some reason I don't feel like it counts. 
• He still isn't sitting up on his own yet.  Most days I wish he could, and I feel like a lot of babies can by this age.  But I'm TRYING not to compare him.  I know that's a downfall of parenting, comparing your child.  So I'm really trying not to.  I know these days are short when he needs me so much, so I'm trying not to wish them away.  He will sit on his own in time. :)
• August is generally a very happy baby.  He cries when he's sleepy and hungry, and that's usually it.  I love his smiles.  They melt my heart.

He loves to be propped up.  He thinks he's big stuff. :)

LOVES to read books outside

Flipping over...

Playtime

He likes to play with the cup at bath time

Watching mommy and daddy wash cars....the hand up by the face means he's sleepy.

Early morning walk in the jogging stroller!

He had actually just turned 4 months in this picture.  This was made in Gatlinburg on Labor Day Weekend.

4 months....Labor Day Weekend

My mom had this little fleece thingy that wraps around the baby and snaps him to the shopping cart.  August LOVED it.  He  sometimes gets fussy in his car seat in stores, and he doesn't always like the Moby wrap, he's pretty independent.  So this he really liked.

His feet are his new favorite toy.  He finds them fascinating!

Thanks for reading!  Hope you had a great weekend! :)