Mr. Brooks at 5 months!
Brooks is a happy, little wiggle worm!
WOW! Five whole months have come and gone already, and Brooks is surely developing quite the personality. He is happy, loving, and feisty all at the same time. He loves being able to see his family members. He loves being held and loved on. When he isn't getting what he wants (aka: attention), he lets us know! He goes from 0 to 60 fast, with no warning of impending rage! He is chubby with rolls and rolls on his arms and legs. We love us some chunky Barlow babies! He has big, blue eyes and an adorable, gummy smile! His legs and arms are constantly moving. I fear for the day that this child becomes mobile. He is never going to stop!
Brooks loves relaxing in his car seat and stroller. He actually takes his best naps in those two baby appliances. It's a little frustrating for me as I would prefer for him to sleep better in his crib. Brooks likes to play in his exersaucer, and with toys that make noise. He especially likes his holey ball and any baby wipes containers that crinkle. He also likes Sophie the Giraffe. As I said before, Brooks loves attention! He likes when we talk to him, cuddle him, and look at him. It's sweet, but can be difficult to give him so much attention when there is a 2.5 year old who equally craves our attention! :) Brooks loves bath time. He splashes and laughs and kicks and plays the whole time. Brooks' happiest times of the day are first thing in the morning, and right before bed at night. He is always giggly and squealy at those times.
Brooks does not like when he is tired and can't fall asleep. He grunts, cries, and groans until he finally lets himself drift into slumber. He typically rubs his hands around his head when he is trying to put himself to sleep. But sometimes he needs help, which requires me to hold his hands and/or rub his head. I'm trying to teach him to use a lovey for soothing. I am encouraging him to hold onto it and rub his head with it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Brooks doesn't like to be left alone. Even when he is in a happy mood, he will whine until someone is in his line of sight. He also doesn't really like tummy time for long periods of time. When we put him on his tummy, he immediately rolls over to his back. When I prop him on his tummy on the boppy (aka: trap him so he can't roll), he puts up with it for about 5 minutes at a time before pitching a fit.
As far as Brooks' milestones this month, the biggest one is that he is almost rolling from back to front. He gets his entire lower body over, but gets his upper body stuck on his arm. He is so close, though, that I don't think it will be too much longer. He is also reaching for and grasping toys and objects. He likes to shake his toys, and put them in his mouth. He takes his pacifier out of his mouth all of the time, but hasn't figured out how to put it back in yet...So that's fun! I'm crossing my fingers that he quickly learns that trick! He can hold his head up really well, and is very steady. He does great in the bumpo and exersaucer...No more bobble heading. Side note: Unfortunately, Brooks does have an asymmetric head, so we have been monitoring it closely. He has a flat spot on that back left side. We are pretty sure that it was caused by torticollis of the right side of his neck, which means that the muscle on the right side of his neck is stiff. So he frequently tilts his head right, and rotates left, which causes him to always lay on the back, left side of his head. Hence the flat spot. We are trying to correct the torticollis by doing neck stretches 6-8 times each day. Hopefully, once that is fixed, he will lay on different parts of his head and the flat spot will go away too. If not, he may have to wear a helmet. He has another appointment next week, so we will know more then! Moving on...Brooks has very strong legs, and can support his body weight for pretty much as long as he wants. I'm sure this is normal, but to me it's amazing because Kylie refused to support her weight until she as close to a year old! We are also working on sitting. He can sit well when we support him, but folds right in half when we try to take away that support. Brooks is still an excellent night time sleeper and a poor day time sleeper. He sleeps from about 8:30pm-7:30/8am, but will not take a consistent nap during the day. He is tired around 9:30am, 12:30pm, and 3:30pm, but sometimes only sleeps 15 minutes and sometimes sleeps up to 2 hours. I still don't know what to do about this, so suggestions are welcome! He is a great eater...Still eating 5-7 ounces, 5 times per day at 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm. My goal for the next month, though is to move him to a 4 times/day eating schedule so that we have more time for naps...I'm hoping that helps! He has not tried solid food yet, but we plan on starting him on rice cereal within the next few weeks. I hope he likes it! :) Finally, Brooks is wearing 3-6 month clothes, and size 3 diapers.
We are loving watching our little man grow and develop. I didn't realize I had so much room in my heart, but somehow I find a way to love him more and more everyday!
