Growth & Appearence: The Elmer Fud really comes out when you make a frowny face. It’s not that appealing, so make sure you smile often as an adult. You fit comfortably into size 3 diapers, have graduated to 6-9 month clothing, and have yet to wear a pair of shoes. The cradle cap on your scalp has not gone away, so I’ve begun treating it with some olive oil. You look very similar to your brother.

Eating: I have yet to start you on rice cereal, but I think it’s time. You’ve shown interest in food and like to pull my spoon from my mouth to yours. You got a hold of Hooper’s bottle the other day and your eyes grew all googly. I have a sneaking suspicion you will not share in your brother’s poor eating habits. That might turn you into my favorite. You hear that Hooper? Mama has a favorite. Shape up at the table and join the competition you little picky eater you.

You breastfeed often. Sometimes it feels like less than two hours have gone by before you’re ready to eat again. It’s obvious when you’re going through a growth spurt, which last about two days and seem to be coming every few weeks. On average, I feed you 8-10x a day, which feels like a lot. Our schedule is in a state of transition as you are starting to sleep later into the morning. I wish I could enjoy this, but your milk-supply-neurotic-mom is still getting up in the wee hours of the morning to pump to avoid such a long span of time going by without emptying the utters.

You eat efficiently, taking about 20 minutes per session with the exception of our nighttime session where you drift off to sleep between breasts and a midday session where you think napping with my nipple in your mouth is cooler than napping in your crib.

Development: If only your body could keep up with your brain. You have so many plans, so many things you want to touch, so many places you want to go. Your poor little body just isn’t up to par quite yet. You remind me of one of those machines kids try to win stuffed animals at. You come swooping in but everything seems to fall just out of your grasp. You’re like a baseball player on one of those bloopers, constantly fumbling the ball. There is a fire in your eye and a strength in your grasp that has me wondering how I’m going to handle you when you do start moving.

You know now who your mama is. You know when I walk into a room and, more importantly, when I leave. The other morning, I walked into your room to feed you and realized I had to pee. You watched as I walked in and then quickly out and began to scream for your dear life. You either love me or need me, or maybe it’s a little of both.

Sitting is right around the corner. You manage to stay upright for a short amount of time but eventually tip over like a drunken sailor on a rocky boat.

You reach for anything around you and bring everything to your mouth. We’re on the brink of being able to lay you down on a blanket with some toys for the sake of entertainment. You love watching your brother and take obvious mental notes as he moves from toy to toy.

Sleeping: I’d have to sneak a peak in your brother’s baby book to remember when he started napping. Us moms gotta love nap time. It’s key to feeling accomplished and productive. It’s when the dishes get done, the body gets cleaned, emails get returned, photos get edited, dogs get fed, you get the idea. So start taking naps, would ya? I’m lucky if you shut your eyes for an hour during the day. I feel silly complaining because I’d rather you sleep well at night, which you do, than take naps during the day. You just can’t have it all, can you? Let that be a lesson to you.

With that said, you get an average of 12 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. Just in this past week you have begun sleeping a little bit more but I have yet to define you as a consistent nap taker. Fingers are crossed nonetheless.

We still swaddle you at night. I think we gave up on swaddling Hooper at this point, but we were using a blanket with him and are using a sleep sac thing with velcro with you. It’s much easier so as long as you’re happy being swaddled, we’ll keep strappin’ you in. We call you our little Temple Grandin because of the hug machine (please tell me ya’ll have seen Temple Grandin). 

Favorites: You’re quite keen on your environment. You love watching Hooper and have also taken notice of Sarah. You prefer to be in the center of the action so you can watch as everyone moves about. You also like putting everything and anything into your mouth. This includes clothing, toys, remote controls, my hair, and even plastic bags (which, clearly, I take away because suffocation is not cool nor is choking). You love holding and sucking on any of Hooper’s cars and you’ve also just begun to like sitting in the bouncer that hangs from the doorway. You also like being carried in the front carrier. I keep you in there during Hooper’s gym class and you almost always drift off to sleep halfway through.