We have also established a nighttime routine. We bathe Ari, give him a massage with lotion, dress him in his PJ's, feed him, read him a book and say our prayers. It sounds like a lot, but the whole process takes about 30 minutes. Ari goes down for bed most nights between 6:30 and 7:00 PM. He wakes up again around midnight and gets a bottle. He's eating between 6 and 8 oz of formula these days. He'll wake up again around 4 or 5 AM, when I get up to feed him. I actually prefer when he gets up at 4 because that gives me enough time to fall back asleep before Kai wakes up at 7.
At his 4 month check-up, he already weighed over 16 lbs, so I probably could let him cry it out at night, but I have such a soft spot for this baby. He cries so rarely and every time he sees me he greets me with the biggest smile. When he sleeps longer than I expect him too, I literally miss him. It's ridiculous, I know, but true.
Ari continues to be really smiley, but he's been a lot stingier with his laughs. Kai always laughed in response to being tickled. Ari, not so much. Recently though, Ari has begun laughing in response to funny faces and noises. His laugh is addicting. Chances are, if you stop by the house randomly during the day, you will overhear Yo and I acting the fool to get that baby to chuckle. But despite our efforts, Kai is the only one who seems to be able to get Ari to crack up without trying at all.
Laughing isn't his only new trick. Ari has been working on his hand eye coordination. He is very proficient at grabbing any objects within reach and promptly sticking them in his mouth. While he still refuses to roll over (he's not even close, lol!), he is getting really close to being able to sit by himself. He spends a lot of times in his bumbo and can even balance himself in a sitting position for a few seconds before slowly tipping over.
We're putting his improved core strength to good use by letting him log some time in Kai's old jungle jumper. Kai spent hours a day in that thing, so it is bringing back so many memories seeing Ari in it now.
This month we got to celebrate Christmas for the first time as a family of 4. Which left me wondering what would Santa bring for a 5 month old baby? Turns out Santa is a practical fellow and got Ari a few things he needed most: diapers, pajamas, and food.
The doctor gave us the go ahead to begin feeding him solid foods at his last appointment. On Christmas day he got his first taste of rice cereal. He wanted nothing to do with it. I managed to sneak in a spoonful or two but then his lips were on lock down and he averted any attempt to get that spoon near his mouth by moving his head side to side with surprising speed and agility. So I decided to skip straight to green beans the next day. Again, one spoonful and done.
He did seem to like the Mum Mums though. They put his new teeth (he has two!) to good use. The first tooth broke through his gums just in time for his baby blessing on December 9th. The second one broke through about a week later. Just like the good baby he is, he has taken his teething in stride without fussing or complaint.
Most months I stress about getting enough pictures of this too-quickly-changing baby o' mine, but this past month we had two sets of family pictures taken. One at my parents' house over Thanksgiving and one locally by my favorite family photographer Meghan MacAskill. She took the shots of me and Ari and a couple of the pictures above (you will recognize them by their superb quality...as well as by the fact that we are wearing the same clothes). I will post more of these amazing pictures in a separate post.
