5 months old!

I just found this post I drafted months ago and never published. It's incomplete, but what the heck, I'll just post the unfinished entry.

Jackson turned 5 months old on October 27th....Sam and I can't believe that he is almost half a year old. Holy crap. Time really does go by as quickly as my parents always said it did!

Here's everything Jackson was up to during his time as a 4-month-old...

- His 4 month check-up took place when he was 4 1/2 months old, thanks to a little insurance debacle and my work schedule. He weighed in at 15 pounds, 2 ounces - putting him in the 47th percentile for weight. Skinny bones!

- He started eating solid foods. I would have liked to wait a little bit longer, because honestly it just seemed like one more thing to have to fit into each day. But Jackson was showing all of the signs that he was ready. Whenever anyone around him ate or drank anything, he would grab for it or just look at it longingly. So we went ahead and started with rice cereal...he was a little unsure about it at first, but he liked it a lot and actually ate it very well. So far he's had rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, avocado, peas, carrots, pears, and apples. He LOVES everything except peas. They literally made him shudder with disgust. We are taking a little break from carrots, as he got a rash after eating them. I'm not 100% sure the rash is from the carrots, but I'm not taking any risks. So we'll try them again later. I'm really enjoying this new phase in his life.....it's a lot of fun watching him discover new tastes and textures. Sometimes he just "mmmmms" his way thru it, and other times he screams in between each bite because I'm just not shoveling it in his mouth quickly enough. I'm excited for his grasping ability to get better so he can eat his little bits of soft finger foods :) Jackson also loves to nom on frozen fruit in his mesh feeder thing. He chews on frozen pears for a while and once they start to soften up, he just sucks the juice out. So cute :)

Here are some pics of his new-found love of purees...

- Still rolling belly to back. NOT rolling back to belly (which he really should be by now). He's just perfectly content when he's on his back...kicking his legs and flailing his arms around. He has no reason to roll over! We are working on it though.

- He's thisclose to sitting up on unassisted. He can tripod sit though.

- His favorite toy: empty Aquafina water bottle. I'm not kidding. Give him one of those and he can crackle it and chew on it to his heart's delight. Gotta love free toys!

- He is warming up to his exersaucer and jumperoo. Still not much jumping going on, but he definitely loves to grab at the toys.

- We had some rough nights in terms of his sleeping (thanks teething and growth spurts!!), but he really has started to lengthen his stretches of sleep. Last night he slept from 6pm to 7:45 am with a quick 3 am feeding in between. Crazy! I hope the 12-hour nights last FOREVER.

- This kid totally has a sense of humor. He initiates his little giggle-fests. It's awesome. He'll look at me and just start giggling...basically enticing me to play with him. So I tickle him and play with him and he laughs and SCREAMS. He loves to be tickled. He also loves to be teased. I love giving him the pacifier and taking it away and he just laughs and laughs. It's the best. He is going to be a fun kid!