Andrew will be 5 months old tomorrow, but I probably won't have time to update then, so here's his update.
Andrew is big as always. He weighs almost 20 lbs now, I think. My back has started hurting some lately, so I guess I have to be careful how and how much I carry him. Easy to say for a 5 mo. old, but oh, well. As I mentioned before, Andrew's head is very flat, so he has to get a helmet. We went to the doctor person for that and that was an interesting appointment. First, they measured Andrew's head. The way to show how flat it is is by measuring the diagonals. On a round head, they would be the same or only a couple millimeters off. Severe flattening is at least 12 mm difference. Andrew's was a whole 2 cm (or 20 mm) so it is pretty severe. Then, they put this panty hose / sock like thing over his head, stuck little stickers all over it, and used a big red laser to take a picture of his head. Andrew, needless to say, did not like the sock thing. But he found the bright red light fascinating. So, he gets his helmet on Thursday. He has to wear it 23 hrs a day for several months ... probably like 4 or 5. Thankfully, we only have to pay a $15 copay. Otherwise, these helmets normally cost $2-4k, which would be a bit much for us "poor" students to handle. Otherwise, he is pretty healthy. He did have a small cold this month (his first sickness), but nothing too bad.
We did try out some rice cereal this month to see if it helped out with his spitting up. Not much - he still spits up all of the time! It's amazing, really, and gross, but oh, well. Although if he spits up for the next 18 years, I assured him he would be an only child. He does really like eating though. I am sure he'll be excited when we start it up next month. We finally got a high chair (from a friend) so he sits in that while we eat dinner and really envies our food.
Andrew has started to really grab everything. He loves his little cups, blocks, and rings - anything he can pull and grab and throw. He spent most of the month, sitting up and being completely doubled over trying to reach something. Thus, all the spit up. The last few days he has really started to sit better on his own which he really likes. He can sit for at least a minute or so without falling over. If he wasn't constantly trying to reach for things far away, I am sure he could do much longer. He also has found his feet and toes now and likes to hold them and watch them.
Still no interest in rolling. Oh, well. He is pretty good with tummy time, though he likes sitting and standing better. He tries to move around a lot, so crawling should eventually come.
Andrew started going to his babysitter this month - which he does not like. He goes 4-6 hours a week usually. I would like him to go more like 8-10 hours a week so I can get a little more research done, but right now 4 is the bare minimum so I can go to class. He was crying the entire time I was gone. If I left him for four hours, he would cry for four hours. And this went on for weeks! He wouldn't cry (or at least as much) if he was outside, but that was about it. Yesterday was an improvement. He didn't cry for the first 2 hours and then only cried for 15 minutes until I got back. I am amazed at how stubbornly this boy hates babysitters. I really thought I wouldn't run into as many problems with him starting at 4 months, but I guess I was wrong. We'll see how the semester goes and then look at things and decide if this PhD program is worth it.
Andrews also hates bottles. He will take one from us, but he won't actually suck it unless he is starving. He just rolls it around in his mouth because he knows milk will just come out. He wouldn't take it at all from his babysitter at first, but he will drink an ounce or two from her now as long as she doesn't look at him. Stubborn boy.
Andrew sleeps really well at night. He goes to bed at 7 every night really easily. He wakes up once or twice at night - when he was sick he woke up more like 2-3 times, but before that it was just once. He even slept all the way through once. Then, he wakes up very predictably around 7 am. His naps on the other hand are more frustrating. He never sleeps more than an hour, and 95% of the time, his naps are 45 minutes. I have tried everything to try & lengthen his naps to no avail - putting to sleep as soon as looks tired, hold him out till he's REALLY tired, schedule him, white noise, music, total darkness, letting him cry for a bit to see if he goes back to sleep, etc. I give up! Hopefully his naps will lengthen as he gets older - doing research in 30 minute chunks (and only 3 of them) is difficult and he often still seems tired when he wakes up.
Andrew loves our cat Joe and is always trying to pet him. Surprisingly, Joe is really good and doesn't mind even when Andrew pulls his fur, which is very often. Andrew also loves being outside or looking outside. And he loves to laugh. I was reading a book to him (Moo Baa La La La) and he started laughing while I was reading it because he thought a horse saying Neigh was funny. He really likes music, especially when we sing to him. Jesus Wants Me For a SunBeam is a real hit! We really have tons of fun with Andrew and are so glad he is here!
went to Michigan State and walked around and enjoyed the beautiful fall day. We also saw their cute little museum. Then, we had lunch at PF Chang's and then drove by the state capitol - there was lots of construction so we couldn't actually park and take pictures.
