5 months on 1/26/2010

Paxton turned 5 months, almost 1 month ago. But since I am playing catch-up, I will do my best to recapture what took place during the month.

As you can see he even got a little cuter. And I didn't even know that was possible. This boy is full of smiles, laughter and screams. But he is definately a more quiet baby than Holden ever was. My sister Amy heard him screaming through the phone today. She commented "both of your boys have done that." We call it fun screaming. Paxton has found his voice and what it can do. And so he has to exercise it. But it's volume is much lower than Holden's was at this age. Paxton is often a laid-back observer. If you've been around Holden lately, you know he provides much to observe. I also call Pax my sensitive boy. He can definitely get his feelings hurt if needs/wants are attended to as he sees fit. Today when he finished his bottle he melted into a puddle of tears with that bottom lip protruding out in a typical sad face. Not typical for him, but you know, the typical sad face. Apparently, he was still hungry. So I made him 2 more ounces and he gulped it down and then was content. Typically he has been taking four 6oz bottles and a couple of feedings of cereal per day. He is beginning to outgrow the spit-up stage, which is a huge reason to celebrate at this house. He still spits-up now and then, but goodness, my laundry load has slowed a bit. We are no longer going through all the burp cloths in one day. Paxton will also be trying out veggies very soon. Our new pediatrician told me to wait until 6 months before starting baby food. And since his spitting up was so terrible, I didn't argue. I just didn't want everything stained. But now, I think it's time. He is doing so well with the cereal, it's time to move on to bigger and better. He is now just over 19 pounds. A heavy chunk to carry around, but I think he wears it well.

The most exciting news of month 5: Paxton sleeps! At 4 months and 2 weeks we bit the bullet. He had still be sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room and waking up often during the night for a reswaddle and paci. He had a cough for almost 4 weeks. So once the cough and cold were gone, we waited for the weekend and decided to let him cry it out. Since he was going 10-12 hours without a bottle, we knew he just needed to sleep. We were ready. He was ready. He just didn't know it yet. I figured it would take many nights because of his frequent night-waking. I was so wrong. We let him cry it out in our room so it wouldn't disturb Holden as their rooms are next to one another. The first night he cried alot. And we let him. Then second night he didn't cry once. WHAT IN THE WORLD!? Could it possibly be so easy?! And a few nights later, we moved him to his room. And now he is sleeping from about 7:30pm to 7:00am. Holden loved his sleep from the beginning. We just never had to work very hard to get to this place. So crying it out is new to me even though Paxton is our second. Now some nights he cries a little and some nights he doesn't make a peep. So it's still a work in progress. But everyone in our household is getting adequate rest and that makes for a happy family. Last night was one of our silent nights. He went down without a hitch and I never heard a peep from him until 7:30am. And this morning he woke up happy and babbling, which is what I love to see. Sleep is good!

For an update on Paxton's head shape: It was getting flat on one side because he slept on his side. I did this intentionally for the reflux, thinking it would be safer if he were to spit up while sleeping. But it created a different problem. But it looks like, for now, Paxton won't be in a helmet. We are trying to position him on the opposite side of his head when he sleeps. Of course, he is an active sleeper these days so I don't think he stays put for long. But we think we are beginning to see some progress with his head shape. The "consultant" (that's right, not a doctor) put him in a low to moderate catergory saying we could go either way - helmet or no helmet. So right now we're trying to do some correction on our own and praying for his little head shape every day.

Each new day with little Paxton is a blessing. He daily brings us joy with his smiles and laughs. We are loving his little personality that is beginning to peek out. Here are a couple of other pictures of our little guy from last month.