postpartum update: five months

As I sit down to type this update, Porter is laying in the front room watching Henry put together Legos.  I can see his little brain learning – it’s one of my favorite parts of being a mom.  Henry asks every.single.day if Porter can come watch him play Legos.  He’s SO intent on making sure that Porter feels involved and welcomed in our lives.  Like if he’s not pleased, Porter’s just going to pack up his bags and leave the family.  LOL.

It makes my heart happy to know that this little guy has a perfect fit in our family.  It seems like just yesterday that I was in the hospital….and yet it’s already been FIVE months.  Dear Time.  You need to slow down, dude.

Five Months Postpartum – Me

 There’s normally a “belly and striped underwear”-shot right here but I decided to lay off those for a while, remember?  Besides I’ll be sharing a Before/After post for the Advocare Challenge that we finished yesterday – hoping to have that up later this week. 

So we’ll skip right to the BABY!

Five Months Old – Porter

1 Month/2 Months

3 Months/4 Months

5 Months

I always divide Porter’s update into three sections: EAT, AWAKE and SLEEP.  We use (and have used for all three kids) the Baby Wise method and it works well for us.  If you thrive off of schedules like me, you should look into this book (I also recommend, “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.”  Both books follow the eat, awake, sleep cycles that work well in my opinion!)  List-style, naturally.

EAT

 

• He’s still a big guy!  I’m not sure of his exact weight but I’d guess it’s close to TWENTY POUNDS!!  <-did you know that Travis and I were both BIG babies?  Both close to 10 pounds when we were born!
• At 5 months old, Porter nurses every 3 hours.  He’s QUICK – he can “drain” both breasts in about 10 minutes flat!
• We haven’t introduced solids yet, but I did receive a care package of pureed baby food from Gerber (as part of their #GerberTasteTester program) so we’re going to try that out this week.  More thoughts on introducing solids to come.
• I’m still employing the 10pm “dream feed” and it’s working well – see SLEEP section below!

AWAKE

 

• This last month has been my most favorite – he’s just got so much more personality! 
• Newest discovery:  ROLLING BOTH WAYS (back to front, front to back)!  I can put him down, leave the room and by the time I come back he’s on the opposite side.  Needless to say, we have to take special care of the things that are on the floor (i.e. LEGOS!).
• He grunts.  A LOT!  He laughs.  A LOT!
• Porter’s thighs fit in his Bumbo chair for about a second and that was months ago.  He likes to hang out in his bouncy chair, swing and activity chair.
• He can now spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours of awake time before he gets tired.  I’m always careful to watch for signs of sleepiness, but he’s definitely staying awake for longer periods of time.
• By next month, I think he’ll be SITTING UP!

SLEEP

 

• The 4-Month Sleep Regression is a thing of the PAST!!!  He’s sleeping through the night regularly now (from about 9pm-7am!!!).  Hallelujah!  Sleep is so VERY underrated!  I don’t know how us mamas survive on such little sleep.
• He naps 3-4 times a day.  Two of those naps are longer, two are 30 minute cat naps in the car or in his swing.
• Still sleeping in his bassinet during the night.   <-yep still. 

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For more postpartum updates:

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

splendid…lindsay