Happy 5 Months Coop!

My baby is 5 months old today!!  It seems like my boy is changing everyday and getting more and more fun.   Here is what's going on at 5 months:

Sleeping:   This month Cooper caught his first cold on top of getting his 2 bottom teeth so he has not been sleeping through the night regularly anymore which is a huge bummer!  The first night he had a bad cold, he woke up about 5-6 times...bringing me back to his newborn phase.  His poor nose was so runny and stuffy.  He usually goes to bed between 8:30-9:00pm so that Justin can see him when he gets off work and wakes up between 8-8:30am.  I can't complain about the wake time.  I will slowly start moving his bedtime up but for now, it works for our family so that we can have family devotion before putting him to bed.   The big accomplishment this month is that he can now fall asleep on his own!  This makes for a very happy mama and a good and content baby!  I don't have to rock him or feed him or anything like that anymore...I just put him in his crib awake and he will usually fall fast asleep.  No more stressful evenings of him crying and not wanting to sleep!  It was not super easy to train him to do it, but it also wasn't near as hard as I thought it would be either. 4 months really is the perfect age to start sleep training as he caught on pretty fast.  I usually read him a few books before putting him down for a nap to have some cuddle time with him and after that he is more than ready to be put in his crib.   

Napping: He is taking great naps now, which I remember back at 3 months, he was a horrible napper. It is true that they change every month it seems.  He takes 3 naps a day, usually around 10am, 2pm and then a short nap at 6pm.  Of course if we go out and run errands or even go for a walk it messes up our schedule because he usually falls asleep in the car/stroller and then won't be tired for his regular nap.  But that's okay, I can't be house bound to keep him on schedule.  

Eating: As of last week, Cooper has officially stopped nursing (please no hate from breastfeeding moms).  This was not by my choice but every time I would nurse him he would get SO frustrated and cry and pull away because he just wasn't getting enough.  I kept trying but alas, my milk is no more.  I think this is another reason why he was waking up so much this month, he was always hungry.  I have noticed that he is sleeping SO much better the past few nights now that I'm not nursing him.  I was really hoping to make it to 6 months, but I must say 5 months is pretty good for all I went through at the beginning.  Now I know exactly how much he is getting which is so helpful for me and he is on a much better eating schedule since before I would supplement at random times because I wasn't sure if he needed more or not.  A lot of moms say that nursing is so special with the bond you have with your baby, which I'm sure is true...but I bond with him in MANY ways without nursing.  He still spits up so much which I thought would have gotten better by now.  I'm still waiting for that to die down as he goes through many outfits a day.  We are planning to start him on solids this month and I'm excited about that!

Milestones:  Cooper has 2 super cute bottom teeth now!  It makes him look sooo cute and I just love looking at those little teeth.  I honestly didn't even realize he was teething and then all of a sudden I noticed the teeth!  I didn't think it would happen this fast.  He also started sleeping on his stomach and loves to be on his tummy.  I will lay him down on his back on the floor or in the crib, and he will immediately  roll over on his tummy.  Here I'm trying to take a picture of him on his back, but there is no point...

About to roll over after putting him on his back

"This is how I like to lay Mommy"

Cooper is also at the very beginning stages of crawling.  He will definitely move around and get up on his hands and knees.  It will take him a long time, but he can definitely get across the room.  One time I laid him down on his play gym and left the room for a couple of minutes. I came back and was shocked by how far he moved!  Here is a video of Cooper on the move...

I'm definitely looking forward to him sitting up hopefully sometime soon.  It will make bath time and play time much easier.  He is so squirmy right now, you have to be careful when changing him and holding him or he will flip right out of your arms.  I love to see how much he changes and am so thankful to stay home with him everyday.  He is just too adorable!  Next month we will celebrate his half birthday...time really is flying by!