6 months

*Clothing*

B mainly wears 3-6 outfits and onesies, but still wears some pants that are 0-3. He is continuing to grow and now wears size 3 diapers. He finally fits in the cloth diapers comfortably without them being loose in the legs. The cloth diapers are definitely not his favorite, since as soon as he wets it, he gets upset and starts poking at the diaper for me to change him. This may be a good sign for future potty training; but we are not holding our breath just yet.

*Meal Time*

At this point, B will eat almost any purees or baby food (fruit or vegetable) Stage 1 we give him. He loves everything so far. We are still keeping with Beechnut and Earth's Best baby food and when there is time, I puree fruits and vegetables for him to eat. He usually eats 1 jar of food at breakfast, followed by a jar at lunch and 1.5 jars at dinner. He also loves the Mum-Mum crackers in either Banana, Vegetable and the Rice flavors.

We tried some of the Gerber puffs with him and he did not seem the least bit interested, however he loves the Cinnamon Maple, Veggie Medley and Tomato Basil Crunchies by Gerber. He dislikes the Cheese flavored Crunchies (those become a dog treat).

*Temperment*

He is a very well-behaved baby still. Typically very smiley and giggles all the time. Even when he is not feeling well, he still is mellow, just tends to want to be held or cuddled more. He is also developing a very strong personality and strong will. When he learns something new, he continues to try to do it until he masters it and is very stubborn when you tell him no or not to do something. He also has become increasingly more independent; liking to play with Lucky or his trucks or racetrack. He loves in the evenings when Daddy plays with him and they "rough-house" and also when Lucky gives him kisses, he loves to hug his face and give him wet kisses back.

*Play Time*

He is standing up more and leaning on furniture to walk around the table and reach for things on higher shelves. We had to Brantley-proof the entertainment center since he kept turning off the tuner and cable box.

*Sleepy Time*

For the most part, he sleeps 10 hours! Occasionally, he still wakes for the bottle in the middle of the night, but it is less frequent on a weekly basis. He usually goes to bed by 10pm and is up and ready to go in the morning. Sometimes he eats a jar of food for breakfast, other times he takes a bottle and will go back down for a nap an hour after waking up. It depends on the day and what else we have planned.

*Picture Time*

5 months

*Clothing*

We are still wearing 0-3 clothing (mainly pants and some jumpers), but after looking at the same outfits over and over, we have moved him up to 3-6 onesies. He still fits most 0-3 onesies and we sometimes put him them if they are theme appropriate, but I am really trying to wean him into 3-6's. As for PJs we are still in 0-3 since the necks are too big and he plays Houdini with his arms out of the neck by the morning.

*Meal Time*

At this point, B will eat almost any purees or baby food (fruit or vegetable) Stage 1 we give him. He loves everything so far. We are still keeping with Beechnut and Earth's Best baby food and when there is time, I puree fruits and vegetables for him to eat. He usually eats 1 jar of food at breakfast, followed by a jar at lunch and 1.5 jars at dinner. He also loves the Mum-Mum crackers in either Banana, Vegetable and the Rice flavors.

*Temperment*

He is a very well-behaved baby and a cuddler. He loves to be held but is perfectly content hanging out in his Bumbo, Boppy, FP Ocean Wonders Bouncer, FP Swing, Exersaucer, FP Jumparoo or laying on the floor on one of his play mats. He makes the rotation throughout all of these stations and seems to enjoy the newness of each of them.

*Play Time*

He continues to love his jumparoo and exersaucer and is really getting a hang of Tummytime and floor time. Now that he can roll, he likes to move himself on the floor and when the dogs get close, snuggle with them.

*Sleepy Time*

He is still sleeping well through the night. He wakes sometimes in the middle of the night (we think because he is hungry) and after a soothing rocking and a bottle, he is back out until the morning. Lately he has been sleeping until we wake him.

*Picture Time*

Superbowl!

Our Little Stander

Brantley recent new feat is his desire to be stood up and lean on something. This can be the coffee table, where he attempts to mouth the edge of it or reach for the laptop and/or mouse or he uses one if his playmat toys as a standing ledge. Husby will hold him up and he will grab onto the ring (where the toys dangle off of) and hold on or lean on it. He has been trying to stand in our laps for some time, but this is new that he will do it on the floor. He becomes very angry with us if we do not fulfill his wishes and let him stand, but he is still not quite steady, so we must brace him and watch him like a hawk so he does not fall.

He also loves to be standing hold our fingers and then quickly squat down. If you pull him back up he laughs and giggles like it is a game. He then will continue to do these squats. It is hilarious to watch, especially with all the funny sounds and facial expressions he makes, but becomes tiring fast. His fascination with mirrors has grown to be a great mid-day break from his crankiness. He will stare into the mirror at himself for sometime in complete silence and awe. Last night, he sat on the floor in front of a picture frame we have our Christmas photo in, just cooing and laughing. It was a great occupying tool, but definitely something out of the ordinary.

Although the soothie pacifier never really took hold in our house, B is starting to use a pacifier around bedtime for short time periods. Lately he has been falling asleep at a decent hour to only wake up an hour or two later. Some of the issue is the fact that he moves in his sleep and sometimes ends up rolling himself over to his back. I think he becomes frustrated since he still has not fully mastered rolling from his back to his belly, so then he wakes up and starts crying. Once he is awake, he *expects* Husby or I to either play with him or give him another bottle. Typically we try the bottle route, which quickly turns into volcano baby since he really does not need anymore food in his little belly. A few nights ago, I experimented with another type of pacifier we had. He sucked on it for a while and then drifted off to slumberland. Unfortunately, once he gets into his crib, out pops the pacifier and if he was not fully out, then he reawakens. I wish we could teach him to take the pacifier a bit better at night, but then again I hope he never really becomes fully attached to the pacifier since they can cause more orthodontic damage in the long run and are hard to remove from a child as they age.

In some respects, I think his teeth may be bothering him, since he seems to stick EVERYTHING into his little mouth (his fists, the burpcloths, bibs, stuffed animals, teether toys, Sophie the Giraffe, our fingers, the dog's ear, the coffee table ledge...the list goes on...if it is something he can get his hands on, it is likely going in his mouth). We have yet to see any notions of teeth, but we are still a month or two early for that.

This weekend, we bought him a Fisher Price Play n Learn Puppy. Although it is half his size, he seems to like to hit the bottoms to hear it sing and talk. He plays the Baby Einstein turtle over and over, so to prevent us from losing our sanity, we introduced another sound toy (if I hear the Baby E melody anymore, I might lose it). For Valentine's Day, (yes, I know it is the Hallmark holiday and typically I do not celebrate it) I found B the Cooper doll and first book. Supposedly, Mr. Cooper will respond to you as you read his story, so I figured this may be a great experience to incorporate interaction with reading for B. Verdict is still out on it, so check back in a few weeks.

In other news, life is once again on the busy upswing here. Husby will be on 2 business trips back to back starting this Saturday. First stop is an Expo & Trade Show in Vegas (don't you feel bad for him) where he will be from Saturday until Thursday. On Friday, we will be traveling to Miami because on Saturday, I will graduate with my Master's (woohoo!). Then Sunday is Superbowl (we will be rooting for the commercials) and Monday morning he is off again to Ohio to hopefully return Wednesday afternoon. It will be a rough few days, but we shall persevere. I am praying there are no weather delays which may ruin our plans, but we shall see. I am looking forward to our minivacay for my graduation in Miami since we do not have any more travel planned until end of March. By the end of this year, B will be a seasoned traveler between trips to both grandmas, a trip to Louisiana for a wedding, a trip to Boston for another wedding and a possible travel to Iowa to see some family.

4 months

*Clothing*

So I'm not sure if I should be concerned, but B is still wearing 0-3 clothes and even some newborn stuff (pants only). He really has no bum, and seems to have gained length/height, but is by no means chubby. As for diapers, the cloth AIO's are beginning to fit him, but his weight is still tiny so they get "gappy" when he fills them. We are in size 2 Huggies disposable diapers now, but again they sort of look big on him. At the doctor's office, he weighed 12lbs. 10oz, and measures 24.5 inches. He is still in the average range on the scale, so I guess I am not too concerned (especially since he is a healthy eater).

*Meal Time*

We are still using Breastflow bottles and Similac Sensitive for Spit-up. We were mixing rice into his night bottle, but during the holiday travels and his lack of poop diapers, we backed off on that. We just started adding rice to his purees. At Christmas we introduced Carrots, which he loved and gobbled up quickly. Then at New Year's, we tried Sweet Potatoes. We were so wrong about the carrots, he LOVES sweet potatoes. Once we got home, we introduced squash and again he had no problem with them. We have been feeding him at first 1/2 stage 1 jar of food, but quickly found that was not enough for our growing boy, so now he eats an entire 1 jar. This past weekend we introduced bananas at lunchtime and continued with either carrots, sweet potatoes or squash around dinnertime. We mainly feed him Earth's Best/Beechnut/Gerber Organic jar food as we introduce new veggies and fruit to him, but will soon be transitioning to making our own purees (special thanks to Mom for the great books).

Last night, we introduced Mum-Mums rice husks, which he seemed to enjoy. We now cannot eat a meal without B getting involved. He reaches out for our plates, stares us down from his Bumbo as we eat, or just voices his displeasure that we will not sure our yummy food with him.

*Temperment*

He is a very well-behaved baby and a cuddler. He loves to be held but is perfectly content hanging out in his Bumbo, Boppy, FP Ocean Wonders Bouncer, FP Swing, Exersaucer, FP Jumparoo or laying on the floor on one of his play mats. He makes the rotationthroughout all of these stations and seems to enjoy the newness of each of them.

*Play Time*

We have really expanded playtime recently. We introduced the Jumparoo while on our holiday travels (acutally picked up in SC while visiting one grandma) and he loves it. He gets it bouncing and swinging and loves all the toys. Before leaving for vacation, I purchased an Exersaucer and it was not until we got back that he really got the hang of it. He is short for both the Exersaucer and the Jumparoo, so under the exersaucer we have a box from a Disney music collection and the WiiFit board underneath the Jumparoo. His gripping skills are excellent; almost too good. He grabs for his toys and pulls on stroller toys, car seat dangling toys, and anything in his zone for gripping, including faces, jewlery, fingers and dishes. He loves to stand and move his feet...but of course we are holding him up. He tries to put one foot in front of the other as someone (typically Husby) guides him and hold his body weight up.

*Sleepy Time*

He still sleeps through the night...bedtime anywhere from 10 to 11:30 in the evenings and wakes anywhere from 7 to 8am. He currently wakes himself up by rolling over to his belly. He naps mainly in his cribs, but sometimes his morning nap is taken in his swing. Typically he takes 2 long naps during the day (long in B's world is an hour) and there is usually one in the morning 9-10am time frame and then an afternoon nap around 2-3pm. Sometimes he takes quick cat naps throughout the day; but they only last 15 minutes at best.

*Picture Time*

1st Cold...

Since our holiday travels, we have all be battling some sickness or another. First concern for me was I may be pregnant again given the symptoms, but that was quickly ruled out. Then I thought it was stress-related given the circumstances. It seemed to get a bit better once we got home, but I'm not fully over it...so I am not sure what I am battling.

As for Husby & B, they both have some sort of cold....complete with the runny nose. So far we are surviving, but I hope it gets better soon. We have gotten more of the Vicks plug-ins and started using them last night. B woke up around 3 this morning sounding really congested and nose all runny. He was able to be cuddled back to sleep, and actually drifted fully out in his swing, but it was definitely a slight battle. Husby slept through the 3am wake-up, but that's ok since he is not feeling well.

Tomorrow night, Husby & I are doing the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build here. Here are the details on the build and the awesome family that was chosen: Extreme Makeover-Space Coast.

I will definitely post more when things settle down a bit. Back to caring for sick baby.

Presenting: Brantley

So today, Brantley rolled over and over and over...he is able to roll from his tummy to his back.




Then, he decided to do some other movement/pushing up on his legs while in his crib...