5 month milestones

Since my parents don't seem to be doing a traditional baby book for me I thought it would be cool if I could mark some of my 5 month "usuals". Here are my stats:

Weight: 17 lbs

Height: 25-ish inches

Favorite Toy: Sophie the giraffe

Favorite, and only, Food: Milk!

Naps: generally 2 - morning and afternoon, but also anytime I am rolling in the stroller

Bed time: Between 7 and 8 PM, it is kind of like being at the spa. First I have a bath, then a massage and a milk night cap, then the swaddle and out I go!

Baby stuff: Let's just get it out there, I'm a drooler. I pretty much sport a bib all day long now and soak through 3 or 4 in a day. I give my mom drooley kisses and slobber on my dad when he holds me upside down. That's how I express my love, I slime them! I could be cutting teeth, or just drooling for fun. Who knows?

My typical week: Monday mom makes bread while I supervise from my bumbo, Tuesday we go grocery shopping, Wednesday we go to mom and baby time, Thursday I walk with my friend Phoebë and we visit our dads at work and go to the Backdoor for tea and treats, Friday we do whatever we want, and Saturday and Sunday we go places with dad and hang out.

Arch Nemesis: My own hands!

They have a mind of their own and they scratch me, like a bad kitty!

Check out the scratch on my nose!

Memorable moments: The other day dad cut my fingernails in an attempt to prevent the aforementioned scratches. It is hard for me to sit still during this so he nipped my thumb a little. I barely noticed, but there was some blood so he put a cool band aid on there. None of us thought about where it went until bath time when mom wondered aloud "what happened to the band aid?" About 24 hours later they found out while changing my diaper! I ate my band aid and pooped it out! Isn't that incredible? I was so proud, but they didn't even notice because they were busy fretting that I could have choked or something. Rookies. Don't put things on my hands if you don't want me to eat them!

In just a few short months I have received some incredible gifts. I just got this ensemble from my cousins Taylor and Char this week. They sent me the cool glasses, an ultra-violet water purifier and the red rash guard.

This is my friend Phoebë Snow Alexeiavna Desatoff. We hang out about 3 or 4 times a week and I love her! I even got her those cool jammies.

And yet another baby line-up. Seriously mom. How many of these do I have to endure? But holy cuteness batman! We are part of the graduating class of 2028. Can you guess which one is me?

And finally, much to mom's dismay, I am a huge fan of being flung, swung, hung upside down and bounced. I giggle the whole time, check me out.

Check me out!

Mom and dad put up my jumping seat, I love it!

And dad likes to throw me in the air, which mom isn't that fond of, but I sure like it!

Odds and ends

Today I felt like getting up at 5:15 AM. It is confusing sometimes because it is still dark outside, which sort of makes me (and mom) think I should still be sleeping, but I had a long day yesterday and I want to get on with it.

I am now 4.5 months old and yesterday the doc said I weighed in at 16 lbs, 5 ounces.

The nurse asked mom if I was 6 months old, what was she trying to imply?

Then I got a bunch of shots that made me grumpy, but that was yesterday.

Today is full of new possibilities, like story time at the library!

When mom cooks I sit on the counter in my

bumbo and keep Sophie entertained.

Even thought it was snowing mom insisted on taking me out for a walk.
I was warm and cozy in my stroller so I took a nap.

These are some of my friends in Sitka.

The first three of us are mere days apart, but I'm the oldest.

The little baby is only 9 days old. Hard to believe I was ever that tiny!

When I went to WA I met my sort of cousins Jack and Anna and Uncle Rhys and Aunt Brooke.

They were a lot of fun to visit! Jack reminds mom of my Uncle Kaleb.

Here I am with my mom at Uncle Gabe and Aunt Meghan's house.

I must have fallen asleep again while being burped. It happens.

Grandma J and Aunt Ashleigh came up to Bellingham to visit me too.

I hope they come to Alaska soon!

Boy does my mom like to line me up with babies!

My mom went to grad school with their moms and they do lots of stuff together.

On the left is Finn who belongs to Kristi and is about 1.5 years old,

then Liam who belongs to Michelle and is 8 months,

yours truly, and of course, Uma.

Dad and I caught a little snooze on the couch together the other day.

And here I am, in my favorite naked state, having

some fun with dad before nap time.

I'm a one trick pony...

All day long I play this game with my mom:
I roll to my stomach and hang out there until I get crabby,
then she rolls me back and we start all over again.

Sometimes I try to do two tricks at once,
like sucking my thumb and rolling over,
but it doesn't quite work.

Doesn't that sound fun?!

Thanks Uncle Gabe...

Mom's juicer arrived on the barge from Seattle today and she found a surprise inside!

You're sneaky!

Some day, grasshopper, you will teach me.

My big trip!

I went on my first plane ride 2 weeks ago.

I was on my best behavior and I didn't even mind all the turbulence.

I think my parents are feeling better about the next 2 trips they have planned for me.

During this trip we stayed in 8 different places

and I got to meet almost all of my family!

It was so much fun! Here I am sleeping with Auntie Mindi.

She is having a new baby that will be my friend!

We stayed with her family on our first night in Washington.



Then we went to g-ma's house. G-ma likes to put me in the bjorn and carry me around the kitchen with her.

We had dinner together on Valentine's Day too. I met some of my Shumway family.

This is my cousin Paige Shumway, she made me feel calm.

Then it was off to Uncle Gabe's house where my grandma J and Aunt Ashleigh were awaiting my arrival. I didn't get any pictures with them because we were supposed to get together later on, but that didn't work out. I am hoping they come up to visit me soon! I still had a great time with Uncle Gabe. He let us stay at his house for 3 nights! He could really make me giggle.

Uncle Gabe even showed me how to play the piano.

It was nice and warm at his house so I could be naked,

which is just about my favorite way to be!

Then cousins Sarah and Joel came over to visit me. I sure like those guys!

When Uncle Trevor got home from flying the big planes I got to meet him too!

On the way to Morton to visit the Coleman family cousin Leann read me some books.

She has a great reading voice!

I met my great grandpa Bruce.

And then I met my great grandma Sue.

I have some pretty nice great grandparents!

Here I am with Uncle Doug. I got to see everything from a new height!

Aunt Bev knew just how I liked to be held, she's a pro!

Cousin Kaitlin even made a special trip home from OSU to meet me!

I'm a lucky guy!

Aunt Kathy, maker of my super awesome Christmas stocking, took some fantastic pictures of the whole event. I might have been a little tired by the end of it.

Oma Jann watched me for an hour while my parents ran some errands.

Finally I said goodbye to Grandpa Rob and went on my merry way!
Thank you everyone for letting us stay with you!

The progression...

This summer my mom and dad and their friends went camping on Mosure Island, way out in the middle of nowhere Alaska. I guess I sort of went too...Here is mom, Sasha and Shannah, all pregnant and camping, sleeping on some really hard bunk beds in the cabin. I think this was at the end of July.

They are giving us a little sun so we can be warm in there!

Gavin, my dad and Trevor also warmed their tummies.

7 months later here we are again, this time with us babies on the outside.

Carson was born first on October 12th, then Uma on October 27th, and then finally me on November 1st. Hopefully we get to go camping again!

Cedar and Uma

I finally got to meet my friend Uma after months of skyping. She is 5 days older than I am and we are going to have big adventures together!

Cousin Sarah did a good job holding both of us so our moms could snap some pictures.

Then we got our diapers changed and more pictures ensued.

After that we had some tummy time bonding. I was just about to expound upon the value of tummy time when this picture was taken.

Then our mothers insisted on dressing us up in our respective bear disguises. Uma and I will blend right in with the other bears when we are playing in Alaska.



Finally it was time for the swaddle.
We were both tired and ready for bed after our big photo shoot.

On my last day in Bellingham I got to spend some more time with Uma.

She let me chew on some of her toys and hold her hand, what a good friend.

Uma can sit up better than I can because

a) her head is a lot smaller, b) she is solid muscle and c) she is older!

I am telling Uma a captivating story about a bear
I saw one time and how she is going to really like coming to visit me this spring.