Luca Ryan --- 5 Months Old

This boy is growing up way too fast
I can't believe in just a few short weeks he will be half of a year old!!
Where does the time go? Seriously!!

I am so grateful that I have been able to stay home with him since I graduated
even though the more ideal situation would be for me to be able to get a nursing job...
It just hasn't worked out yet, despite all my attempts at applying.
So for now, I am just soaking up this precious time I have with this perfect baby!

Height/Weight
We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month..
and I haven't weighed or measured him myself..
BUT... he is definitely growing!!
I was looking at him in the bathtub the other day and thinking how much bigger he is
we used to have to use 2 washcloths just to prop him up in there
and now he is almost too big for it!
Soon he will be sitting up and we will have to move him to the other side.

Diapers
We are still in a size 2 diaper
and I feel like that's where we will be for a little while!


And still loving Huggies :)

Eating
We have been testing the waters with baby food
so far he has tried...
Sweet potatoes
Squash
Bananas
Green Beans
Peas

The very first try was sweet potatoes..
he seemed to actually like them
but since then.. he hasn't had much interest in anything we have tried
I tried bananas thinking maybe he would be more interested in a fruit
and I think he actually liked it less.. so weird!
A few days ago we tried peas.. and he seemed to like those!
We will see how it goes when we try them for a second time.
We also tried Cereal for the first time last night..
This kid is struggling with sleeping
and I am trying most everything I can..
It seemed like cereal would maybe keep his belly full longer through the night
but that wasn't really the case.. bummer!
He actually quite liked the cereal though, so that was good.

As far as breastfeeding goes...
he's still doing good with that
although, he's still eating every 2 hours.. all day.. all night..
I pumped one time right before it was time to feed him to see about how much he was getting
I only got about 2.5 ounces..
I feel like he should be eating like 6 oz per feeding by now!
and going longer than every 2 hours between feedings
at least it only takes like 5 minutes to feed, so I can't complain too much.

He watches our every move as we eat! He can't wait to be a big kid and eat real food!

Sleeping
As I mentioned above.. he's up every 2 hours!
He has been such a stinker.
This really didn't bother me too bad when it first started happening
but now, I am really wanting my full night sleep back
Even though I only have to wake up for like 5-10 minutes at a time
It still is so rough to interrupt your nights sleep
He has been sleeping in a pack n' play in our room up until a week ago
I finally moved him into his crib to see if that would help
and it didn't..
only makes me that much more exhausted in the middle of the night to walk into his room
{even though it's only a few steps away.. it isn't near as close as right next to the bed}
We tried Cereal last night.. and that helped a little.. maybe
He woke up every 2.5 hour instead of every 2.
sooo.. not much difference there.

I try to let him soothe himself for a little bit before I go in and feed him
But then I just feel too bad
What if he really is having a growth spurt and is hungry?
I can't bring myself to not help him when I can't be certain of exactly why he is waking up
So.. I guess we will just keep on keepin on while waking up every 2 hours!

Also.. his napping was a little off for awhile.
I feel like I was spending the majority of my days bouncing him to sleep
Only to lay him down and have him wake up 10 minutes later
It was the worst!
I finally started laying him down in his crib
with his sound machine on a lullaby
and I walk out.
He kind of fusses a little bit
and I sometimes have to go in and put his binky back in
But he is able to soothe himself to sleep within 10 minutes!
And he sleeps for about 30-60 minutes now!
He still usually only takes 2 naps a day..
But it still is better than what he was doing before!
I can't imagine how much happier of a kid he would be if he napped..
I really don't think it's actually possible for him to be a happier baby!

Luca has slept in this sleep wrap since he was born.. it keeps his arms all tight inside and such
Well.. I didn't always use the snaps at the top because I felt like it was too tight around his neck
{Although it was probably just fine}
But I woke up one morning and he had wiggled his arms out
and the part that keeps his arms in was around his neck. Yikes!
Luckily it wasn't tight.. but it still scared me!
Needless to say, we decided he wanted to start sleeping with his arms out after this
and transitioned out of the wrap by only wrapping his legs.. and now he doesn't use it at all. 

After a walk to the park with Grandma, Karrissa, and Rory!

Social
Luca is seriously the happiest baby around
I'm not even kidding
Even when he is really sad.. you rarely hear a full on cry out of him
He is just mellow as can be
and totally content with whatever comes his way
even if it's a ball.. or sienna's foot.
He doesn't mind.
I think this is maybe why he doesn't sleep all that great..
he can't be perfect!! sheesh!

He loves to laugh and smile
He does both all day every day
Pretty much anyone that attempts to get a smile out of him succeeds
Even the girl with purple hair at the mall
He likes everyone
And I like that!

Sitting in his tub on top of the dryer while I switch laundry!

I've been making bows lately.. and Luca gets to play dress up as a little girl! He's a good sport :) 

Clothes
We have finally fully transitioned into 3-6 month clothes
It was difficult there for a bit because he was pretty much too big for most 0-3
but all of his 3-6 month ones are long sleeved
and it was still too hot for those
so we had to squeeze him into the 0-3 month short sleeve ones
But it's finally cooling down a bit
{Which I mostly hate, other than I'm really happy to put him in his cute long sleeves}

Daddy always gets the snuggles!! 

Random
He learned to roll over!
He can't stay on his back ever anymore
even when I lay him down to sleep he rolls to his side or onto his belly
and in the last week he has started to roll back over onto his back sometimes
He is really good at keeping his head up once on his belly though.
And it used to frustrate him after not very long..
but he can stay on his belly for a lot longer now without getting upset

For some reason he gets upset on the ground soo much quicker at our house
it seems like if we are somewhere else he could roll around on the ground all day
but he gets bored of it a lot quicker at our house,
despite it being one of his favorite things to do.
He really does love to just lay down and stretch out and be free

First time rolling over!!
And of course it happened 2 minutes after daddy walked out the door to go to work after school..
So he missed it :( Luckily I got it on camera!
And luckily it has happened a lot more since then :) 

something else that is so nice..
he can finally sit up on my hip when I carry him
and hold up his back like a big kid! {for the most part}
Although I think he still loves being held facing out the best!

For awhile he was making this cutest noise where he like sucked in through his mouth
and it would make like a screechy sound
but.. the cutest screechy sound!
I think he was just discovering his voice
and it was so cute!

Another cute thing he does is laugh when you take his shirt off.
For some reason when you pull it up over his head he thinks it is hilarious
and I think it is the cutest thing ever!

He hates getting his nose sucked
But I suppose most babies do
We have a really great nose sucker though that Ryan's cousin Jenny gave us
It's electronic and I think it's the greatest
It sure makes ry real sad when I suck Luca's nose though
It's cute.. he just wants to protect him and get him away from mean mommy!
I hate having to do it to him.. but I hate even more knowing that he's struggling to breathe!

He still absolutely loves his baths

And he really loves being in the middle of everything
Sitting up {in his bumbo or being held} and seeing what's going on
He loves when you hold him facing out and everyone is having a conversation and he can just look around and somewhat be a part of it!

I'm not really sure the moby is supposed to be used like this
But he loves to be facing out forward
and it's real secure
so we do it anyway!

Sitting up in daddy's cubby hole!

Love to see my boys just hangin out together

One time Ryan was dancing around with a bag of rice and Luca thought it was hilarious
Then.. the bag opened and rice went everywhere!! It only scared him a tiny bit!
I think he was more confused.. wondering what the heck just happened!

Helping mommy make the bed

Cleaning all of the things!

Fingers in the mouth.. at all times!

I love this little boy so so much!
This mom (parenting) business is an exhausting job...
But it is hands down the best job!!
I am so grateful and lucky to be his mom!!
Love you baby boy!!

One last thing... did I mention my hair is falling out by the hand fulls?
I am seriously surprised I am not bald!
Thes pictures are disgusting,. so I'm sorry
But seriously.. What is up with this!?
I have one of those bald spots on each side
and now they are filling in with the tiniest little baby hairs
and I'm surprised I don't have more bald spots throughout my head..
the picture of the hair is just from me running my fingers through it
washing, brushing, and blow drying produce about 20 times that much..
It's disgusting..
I think my husband is really sick of it.. hah
luckily he realizes it's not my fault and forgives me
And poor Luca.. all his clothes have it and probably itch him all day
and we are always having to pick it off his binky!
So weird! Hopefully it decides to quit falling out sometime soon!