5 Months

Dearest Parker,

What a fun month this has been!  Your first couple of months of life, the milestones and changes seemed noticeable every couple of weeks.  Now, it seems that you are doing something new every couple of days.  Each week I think, "no, this is my favorite week...."- you just become more and more enjoyable and interesting!

Your 5 month stats:
Length: ?
Weight: ~18lbs

You always grab your bottle now to feed yourself

Diet: Breastmilk, ~5oz. every 3-4 hours.  We started solid foods this month!  You did rice cereal for 10 days, followed by 10 days of oatmeal.  Then I mixed it up and gave you sweet potatoes- you LOVED them!  You are also a big fan of pears and bananas.  This week I am going to make some food for you at home.
Sleep: You are now starting to do 7-8 hours uninterrupted most nights.  It's really nice to get longer periods of sleep!

You and Jack are starting to interact more and more!  He LOVES you!

I am LOVING our play time these days.  You have now decided that life on your back and tummy is boring, and you want to flip over both ways frequently.  It's so fun to watch you change your perspective so frequently.  You also want to stand constantly.  I give you my fingers and you are starting to pull yourself up to standing position, staying that way for long periods of time.  Last week, I started working with you on sitting up.  At first, you would last for maybe 30seconds before tipping over.  Today, you sat unassisted for more than 15 minutes!  I'm so proud of you!

Rolling over is your new favorite trick

you love your feet!

You are starting to use your hands so intentionally- I love watching you grasp for something in site (usually followed by putting it in your mouth!).  You have also discovered your feet and grab onto them all of the time.  You are still such a little smiler.  Your smile and giggle are the best, and no site or sound can match them!

The best part of this entire month, was finishing it with your first trip to Arkansas.  You got to see so many relatives you've already met, but also got to meet some very, very special people for the first time.   In particular, your Mama was in high heaven toting you around every chance she got.  She was so excited that she could see you on your actual 5 month birthday, that she brought you a small chocolate cake.  Watching you eat that will be etched in my memory forever- check out the pics!

I think you might be a fan of chocolate!  You were such a MESS!

Your Dad and I love you, Peanut.  You are the best thing we've ever done.  Thank you for filling up our world.  I love you through and through!

Mom

First trip to Fayetteville

Visiting Big Papa

After Pine Bluff, we drove 3 hours to Fayetteville to see my family.  Parker once again was so well behaved.  He got to meet so many fun people.  When we first got there, Kim had a Sip n' See for a lot of her friends to come and meet Parker.  Then, we had a really great family dinner with Mama & Papa, G & Nana, Uncle Joe, our cousins Courtney & Stewart, Sandra, and my best friend Rachel.  They surprised me there as well with a celebration of my birthday.  It was so much fun to be home!

Whoa- big boy!  We love KK!

Meeting Papa

Mama was in love- you were so sweet with her

Nana loved meeting you too, Parker!

G enjoyed toting you around too!

Spitting image!

We had a great Memorial Day of just relaxing poolside with family.  It was so refreshing to be home.  This was our first trip in more than 6 months.

Spence and I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  I told him that it was so strange to have so many people holding and caring for Parker.  I'm used to doing almost everything for Parker.  It was so fun to watch all of our family love on P.  It's hard to be so far from everyone, but hopefully we will have more visits in the near future!

Entertaining during the Sip n' See

Uncle Joe came all the way from Dallas to meet Parker

Rachel- my best friend from high school

oh how I LOVE Rick's Bakery

more pool time- Parker loved it!

fun in the sun

more Mama time

hanging with Joe & Cindy- thanks for coming so far to see us!

Uncle Mitchell

On the way home, Parker was a trip.  Unfortunately, our first plane sat at the gate for over an hour and a half before even taxiing to the runway, followed by an hour long flight.  I have never worked so hard to keep my baby happy for 2 hours while confined in a small space.  But in order to entertain us, Parker had 3 big blowouts before we even took off.  I'm talking about poop leaking out his diaper onto my dress.  We laughed so hard on the plane during all 3 diaper changes, which made Parker giggle.  We felt like he was taunting us.  Very memorable to say the least!

traveling with an infant- quite the experience!

First trip to Pine Bluff

First plane ride!

As Spence put it, we are now "those people" on the plane

We traveled home to Arkansas for the first time this weekend.  I was so anxious about our plane rides, but Parker did so well!  I really didn't research traveling with an infant too much.  I did however use the trick of feeding Parker a bottle during take-off, and no surprise- the bottle did the trick I think.  There was only a short period of crying for less than a minute while we sat on the plane at the gate.  Once we started moving, he was happy as a clam!

Honey is in Heaven!

Our trip to Pine Bluff was a hit!  Parker was such a happy boy, and I give him an A+ for being so delightful as he was passed off to so many new people.  It was great to see Honey & Sport again.  But even more fun was getting to meet his Aunt Suzy and Cousin Jim.  Jim is just 9 months older than Parker, and it was so much fun to see him running around the house, knowing that Parker is not far behind.  Suzy and I marveled that they will eventually be big buddies and great playmates.  Parker was mesmerized with Jim and watched him constantly.

Hanging out with Sport

Jim trying to help Parker bounce in the Jumperoo

Jim did not like sharing his car- it was hilarious

Meeting Paula for the first time!

Parker loved hanging out with Uncle Adam

We went to see Betty

And swam together in the pool

What a difference a year makes- so fun to be moms at the same time with Suzy!

Cutie pies

We finished our time in Pine Bluff with a delicious dinner with Spence's parents, Suzy & Jim, and Suzy's parents.  We were celebrating my upcoming 30th birthday next month- so exciting!  I wish I had pictures of our spread, but the only thing I captured was watching the 3 men do the dishes and clean up.  What a treat :)