Holden is a whoppin' 5 months old

5 months have come and gone so quickly! And now I have this almost 19 pounder to show for it. He is getting so big and SO HEAVY to lug around. Not that I am ready for him to be moving on his own, by any means.
I know that I often mention how happy Holden seems to be. When I picked him up from the church nursery a few weeks ago, they informed me of what a good baby he always is. I’ve always thought so, but it was good to hear from someone else. He brings lots of extra joy to this house. Lots of smiles and lots of laughter. I never imagined we would be so entertained by a little baby.
So I just mentioned that he is about to round the corner to hit 19 pounds. My arms are getting a workout lifting the boy. I HAVE to be getting stronger! I don’t see how it’s not possible. His length is about 27 inches. The past couple of weeks I have been retiring much of his 3-6 month clothes for the next boy in our house. I would put a one piece outfit on him and it seemed to give him a wedgie, which I don’t think he appreciated. I think his torso is just extra long. And since we are talking about his growth, obviously he is a good eater. So far he has eaten, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, apples, bananas and then the normal baby rice cereal and baby oatmeal. He hasn’t turned anything down thus far, but does open extra wide for bananas. (Sidenote on butternut squash. I tried a bite after I baked it and it was DELICIOUS! Why haven’t I been cooking this stuff? I am adding it to my regular grocery list and you should too. It is such a tasty vegetable.)
The past couple of weeks I have been taking advantage of the beautiful cool mornings. After breakfast and still in our jammies, I load him into the stroller and we head out for a walk. We have big and serious conversations for the first couple of miles and then Holden tuckers out and falls asleep. He really is quite the conversationalist! The trick that I haven’t quite figured out, is getting him out of the stroller and into his crib to finish his morning nap. Once I gently scoop him up, he seems to think naptime is over. Bad news.
He still loves to squeal and scream as high pitched as his voice will allow before it cracks. And it does often crack. But he has turned down the volume by a few decibels. I’ve noticed that the squealing and screaming is much cuter when it doesn’t leave a ringing sound in your ears an hour later.
What else to update you on? Those 2 teeth I mentioned a month ago are really through now. He is still gnawing on everything in sight so I assume more teeth are on their way.
My recent biggest achievement just happened a few minutes ago when I set him in his bumbo to sneak a 5 month picture. And apparently he is over the “green-light-freak-out” stage that always happened when we pulled out the camera. So I can actually catch a smile for you now . . . all by myself. I caught so many smiles, I wasn’t sure which one to post. So I posted them all. Kind of redundant . . . I know.
I guess that’s a good enough update for 5 months. It just keeps getting more fun with this little guy!