5 months old

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today Cole had a special photo shoot to commemorate the holiday and his 5-month birthday. This is Cole's first month without a check up, so there's no update on his height and weight this time...but his growth is obvious! I struggle to squeeze him into his carseat now, especially if he's wearing a few layers. We'll be installing the bigger carseats in our cars this weekend. It should be easier than when I installed his current car seat since I was nearly 9 months pregnant at the time. At least now I'll fit in the back seat.

This week, Cole's eating green beans and it looks like I've got a good veggie-eater on our hands. Although I've yet to find something Cole won't eat. At last week's yoga class, I asked the other moms if they've started solids with their babies, and no one else had. I was surprised because Cole is one of the youngest in the class. One mom said that she's worried about starting solids because she's not ready to stop nursing her daughter. It made sound strange to some, and even selfish, but I can totally understand how she's feeling. As difficult as it was in the beginning, I'm so glad I've been able to breastfeed Cole, and it's difficult to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it, but I'll try. Initially, I enjoyed it because I was amazed by my body's ability to feed and to soothe Cole. I loved being able to comfort him and his drunken little smile when he was full. Now, I appreciate the convenience of nursing, but it's the coziness and the forced time-out (for me, not Cole) that I'll miss most when the time comes to wean. Of course, starting solids doesn't mean weaning, but it is an important step. I'm just glad that Cole is transitioning very well.

Cole rolls over all the time now, sometimes more than he wants to. It's almost as if he's forgotten that he can lie on his back. As soon as you put him on the floor or in his crib he rolls over. If he's not tired, then he's happy and he'll hold his head up and smile. But if he's too tired, then he cries into the floor or mattress until you flip him back over. He's beginning to understand that he can lie on his belly and turn his head to the side but when he's tired, he's beyond all reason. Hopefully, he'll figure out how to roll back onto his back soon.

Only 3 weeks left of yoga class, but I plan to take Cole out for more walks and play dates with Nina as the weather gets warmer. Last week we had lunch with Elaine and Nina which was a lot of fun for all of us. It's neat to see how the babies interact with each other and what they notice. In the beginning they were oblivious to one another, but now they're becoming more interested and curious. Cole even tried to put Nina's foot in his mouth, but baby girl gave him a look and grabbed her own foot and pulled it away. There are photos from the playdate, Nina's baptism, and Cole's official 5 month photo shoot here.