5 months and Helmet

5 Months!

Ok, I know I say it every single month, but where the heck is time going??? How is our baby growing up so fast! I just can't believe it! He will be half a year next month! Well it's been a busy month as it has been filled with Doctor's appointments for Eli's helmet. We finally got it today (you can read below about that). And we are glad we finally got it. Eli is changing daily and I have been a terrible mom by not writing down all the cute and adorable things he does. He loves to be tossed up in the air now and played with. He LOVES being tickled. He now Loves us back and will give me kisses :) (I don't know if he means to do it, but I am taking it as kisses) you see when I hug him and tickle him I start giving him kisses all over his face and cheeks and neck. He gets so excited that he puts his arms around my face or neck (wherever they fall) and he opens his mouth really wide and just places it on my cheek while laughing his little bottom off! I need to get Mark to catch it on video so you can see what I am talking about. But anyway to me it is the most stinking cutest thing ever and I say he is giving me kisses! He now plays back with Eddie (I guess his idea of playing is grabbing Eddie by the hair and not letting go until mom has to go save Eddie) Eddie does not complain and he has been wonderful in not snapping at Eli. Eli shrieks in delight whenever Eddie licks his toes and he gets so excited when he sees him. Eli loves to bounce now, if he is sitting he will start bouncing up and down kinda like he is trying to dance. He wakes up VERY moody most mornings until mommy nurses him and then he is all smiles. His taking off his socks has continued. He grabs at everything he sees! Mark and I went out to dinner and Mark was not paying attention to his drink and Eli dove right into it! He loves to steel straws out of cups, pens out of hands, food off of plates well pretty much anything that you have in your hands or within his reach, if you are not careful, he gets it! He also loves banging on the computer keyboard now when I am typing and I have him in one hand. He loves being out and about however he hates his carseat now. As soon as we get to a store, I need to take him out and put him in the moby wrap or the ring sling. He loves seeing people and observing EVERYTHING around him. He is still not sleeping through the night, but I still hold onto hope that someday he will :) He is nonstop giggles and laughing and I absolutely LOVE every single minute that I am getting to spend with him. Eli still cries sometimes because he prefers to be carried so he can see what is going on but I love it! I sit him next to me in his high chair now when I am cooking and he just babbles away and smiles at everything I say to him. He has no idea that I am telling him how to cut onion :) I know not every mommy has this opportunity and I am so grateful for Mark for working hard to provide for our family for knowing how to budget and being so great with our finances that I am able to be a stay at home mommy. I know this time I have with the baby is priceless and I can honestly say that I am truly cherishing it. Can you tell with how many pictures I take :) Anyway back to Eli he well, has found his business... he had for a while however this week he did what I had been dreading! You know usually when he found his business his hand would just kinda rest there, kinda curious but nothing to worry about, well this week he grabbed onto in and would not let go! He started screaming bloody murder because he was hurting himself but he could not figure out that he had to well... let go of it. Needless to say I have been super careful now when changing his diaper.

We "officially" started Eli on solids. We had tried rice cereal last month but he hated it, I called his pedi and asked if we could do veggies instead, he gave us the ok and Eli loves them! I always said I wanted to make my own baby food... (that is why I had Mark plant some fruit trees in the back, but they are still too small to give off too much fruit and wrong time of the year). I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and it's not that hard to put some veggies on the stove while I am cooking dinner. Well I decided to start him off with carrots. I boiled a few, then put them in our blender to puree them. With half a bag of baby carrots, he had enough food for 5 days! We will be trying squash next.

As you can see, he loved the carrots and now immediately opens his mouth whenever he sees a spoon. It doesn't matter if it's not for him, he opens his mouth and expects something to go in there :)

This month he sat in a high chair like a big boy for the first time, he was more interested in the high chair cover than his toys! He also played basketball

Since Eli was two months, we discovered that he liked being anywhere that allowed him to move freely on his own. He thinks he is a very independent little boy. He loved the jumperoo. So now that he is a little older, Mark and I decided we should get him a walker since I can't carry him all day and he likes to be near me. Well he absolutely loves the darn thing (and so does mommy since it's like her car)! He has slowly been cruising around the kitchen which made me realize that we need to be more careful and start baby proofing the house! I had our dehydrator plugged in on the Island in the kitchen and he found his way to it and pulled it! He also pulled my apron off the side of the refrigerator!

But officer, I was only going 10 miles over!

He also got this new turn table walker thing we set it up in his nursery upstairs and he loves it! Below is a picture of him tugging on his sleeve. That and putting his feet in his mouth seem to be his new favorite things. I have not been able to catch the feet in the mouth with the camera though. By the time I run and grab it, he is no longer doing it.

Before, During and After... As you can see, before he got his helmet, he needed to have his 3D imaging done. They put a mask over his entire head and face. It was like a pantyhose. At first he didn't know what to do he just looked around, and then within a few seconds he was laughing and smiling with the nurses! I was more freaked out than he was. Then you will see him at the doctors office playing with a toy while we waited, and last but not least, in his carseat with his helmet!

When they first put it on him, he knew there was something there, he kept reaching for his head and tugging at the band. After a few minutes he couldn't even tell it was there. He has adjusted really well to it. We will see how tonight goes with him sleeping in it. These first few days we need to take the helmet off every 3 hours and make sure there is no rash. Then after 2 days, he will need to wear it 23 hours a day with only 1 hour "relieve" time when we bathe him. They told us they adjust quickly so we will see.

Mommy said that I need to wear a helmet if I am going to go of-roading in my Jeep! But it's ok, I make it look good!

And this is how I decorated his helmet for the holidays!