aiden + mommy five months update!

(to give an idea of size, that is the same picture frame shown in my 28 week bumpdate)

five MONTHS

I'll be doing monthly updates like this for Aiden's first year. Aiden is currently 24 weeks old! Things have been understandably a little busy the last while, so forgive me that I'm not on any kind of blogging schedule for now. (: 

Here's how our fifth month has been!

MOMMY

Body:
Some of my jeans are finally starting to fit me! The few that do definitely could fit better, but I'm getting there (: I'm hoping to go thrift shopping soon and find some clothes that fit me well and that I feel more comfortable in. My hair is still super thin but at least it's stopped falling out at such great post-partum speeds. haha If it got much thinner I would be dealing with bald spots! It's already really awkward the way it is. I try to straighten it now because I just don't have time to deal with my unruly Armenian hair. And I generally like looking at least half-way put together. 
Exercise/Weight loss:
Total pregnancy weight gain: 36 pounds
Total weight loss: 30.8 pounds
Weight to lose for pre-baby weight: 5.2 pounds

Recently I saw a picture of myself from my wedding that I had never seen before and I was shocked at how skinny I was! My goal all along has been to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I think I'd like to get down to my pre-wedding weight. (Which is 7 pounds less than my pre-baby weight.) I proposed an idea to Jason that should help me reach my goals - we have a small room in our garage that we used in the past as a gym, but our garage isn't in the best shape...and isn't feasible enough to use through the cold Minnesota winter. The garage is best described as a soggy cardboard box. Needless to say...it's kind of gross. But, we have a spare bedroom that we would normally use as a guest room...and since we rarely have guests that stay overnight, I thought we should just turn it into a home gym! (: It won't cost any money to heat through the winter since it will be in the house, and it's on the first floor so it would be easy enough to switch it back to a guest room if need be. I think it'll really motivate me to get back in shape! It's hard to say "it's too cold to go out and exercise" when the gym is in the house haha. I have been going on short walks with Aiden and Jason, and swimming with him lots at the beach, but I know I could be getting more exercise if I made time for it. 

And speaking of going to the beach...one of the last times I went there with Aiden, I must have dropped the romper that he's wearing in his 5 month photos when we packed up to leave. I didn't even realize it had been missing, because I figured I had left it in the diaper bag and didn't think twice about it. The next day we went to the beach again and I saw something the size of baby clothes draped over a picnic table that was striped. I didn't think it was his romper, but what if? I walked up to it and sure enough someone must have found it on the sand and left it there for me to find. I was so happy! That romper is one of my favorite outfits that fits him right now so I would have been really sad if I lost it. I still feel awesome thinking about whoever must have left it there, hoping it would get back to its original owner. (: Minnesota may be stinking cold for over half the year, but the people sure are nice. Or don'tcha kno?

Emotions:
Things have been better lately. I still get overwhelmed at times because I have tons going on right now...probably too much, honestly...but overall I'm doing well. I will say that I won't be bored at all this Winter being cooped up inside all the time because I have plenty of things to keep me busy!

AIDEN

Height/Weight:
At five months, Aiden is 27 1/4 inches long and 16 pounds 13 ounces. This puts him in the 88th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight!

Refresher course:
+ At four months he was 26 inches long and 16 pounds
+ At three months he was 25 1/2 inches long and 14 pounds 10 ounces
+ At his two month check up he was 24 1/4 inches long and 13 pounds 7 ounces
+ At one month he was 22 inches long and 10 pounds 8 ounces
+ At birth he was 20 1/2 inches long and 6 pounds 14 ounces

2 weeks / 7 weeks / 15 weeks / 20 weeks / 24 weeks

Hair/Eye color:
His eyes are a very deep blue! I have no idea if/when they'll change, but from what I've read, by 9 months the color is pretty set. I have no problem with them staying blue haha, but since they haven't changed much from birth except that they've gotten a little lighter, it's hard for me to tell if they're going to change or if he already has his permanent eye color. His hair still has a red tint to it in the sunlight, but it seems to be less noticeable as it gets longer. It's still very light blonde where his hair is thin, but when it's grouped together in the thicker areas it's like a sandy blonde and almost brown. Where his hair is longest it's wavy and even flips up at the front, haha! I don't even do anything to it, it just does that on its own. It's really cute. (:

Routine:
I think Aiden definitely has a pretty set routine normally. But ever since one particularly tough teething day about a week ago, his schedule has been all over the place. He still naps and does all the things he needs to do, but I have no idea when to expect him to be getting tired or hungry. It's like having to relearn a new schedule. But it's new for both of us, so it's okay. (:

Sleeping:
Prior to the Teething Fiasco of 1973, Aiden would wake during the bright and lively hour of 6, take an hour nap anywhere between 9:30 and 10:30, then a two hour nap around 2pm, and then go to sleep for the night by 9:30. That's all changed now. Like, one day this week (Post Teething Fiasco), he was up at 6 to eat but then slept until 8:30. Then he took a nap at 12 until 2. Then a short half hour nap at 4 and another half hour one at 8. Still in bed for the night at 9:30 though! 

But one thing that has stayed the same - Aiden wakes up early - most days he wakes up before me. And him waking up is what wakes me up, so I often feel sluggish in the morning. I have been missing the days of waking up on my own before him, so I'm trying to get up when Jason leaves for work (around 4am) so that I have a couple of hours to do house work before Aiden wakes up. I did that once this week so far, and I felt more accomplished by 8am than I normally do in an entire day! It's working out well as insane as waking up at 4 sounds. Don't worry, Jason's already got the whole grandpa thing down and is fast asleep before 10pm so I'm sure I'll catch up in his elderly endeavors and follow suit. This is all coming from the girl who normally goes to sleep no earlier than midnight and struggles for hours to go to sleep. Jason said something the other night about compartmentalizing thoughts and boxes and going in a circle and how he's asleep within 30 seconds and that I should try it. 

And it was at that exact moment I realized how different God wired the male and female brain. 

Eating:
He hasn't started eating any solids, but I did get some freezer containers for when I make baby food and I bought a food processor. I'm sure by the next update he will have eaten some solids. (: I think he's been ready because he always watches us eat and sometimes tries to grab food from us. And you have to be careful when you eat with him sitting on your lap, or whatever's in your cup or on your fork might go sloshing all over you! haha. He also seems to wake up in the night more frequently and he stays awake longer when he does wake up, so I think milk isn't keeping him full for as long as it used to. Every time I imagine him tasting new foods and making a mess of pureed who-knows-what all over his face, I just crack up. I can't wait. (: I'm planning on making him baby food in bulk. I think it will be fun! And it should be a lot less expensive than buying baby food. Double win.

Clothing sizes:

Aiden still fits into his 3-6 month clothes, though some of the long sleeve outfits are getting a little short on his arms. How can it be that it's already almost time to switch out his clothes again?! I hope he'll fit in his current clothes for a little longer, because there's a few outfits that would be perfect for Fall that I want to take pictures of him in once the leaves really start turning color and falling off the trees. (: So if he can hang on with growing so big for just a couple more weeks...haha. Because of the fact that we live in Minnesota now, I ordered him a snow suit and some winter gloves and boots and hats and things. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not too peachy keen on cold weather... You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take California out of the girl and that's just the way it is. Sure, snow is pretty and all, but if it could be HOT while there's snow and have it not melt, that would be okay. And no mosquitos and humidity and things. Really. If you have never experienced a non-humid, non-mosquitoey Summer, you haven't had a real Summer. True story. Hot with snow would still not be as good as Summer, but better than negative freezing-my-butt-off degrees. Moral of the story: winter/bad, summer/good. BUT one chilly morning last week, I took Aiden out with me to get the mail and put him in one of his little winter hats and mittens and I almost melted like a snowman in July over how adorable he was. Observe my glee above. This could make Winter more bearable.

Also, speaking of Winter and making things more bearable, I just realized the other day that Christmas is coming! This will be the first year that I will get to take part in the *magical* part of Christmas by getting Aiden Christmas presents. Obviously, I've gotten people Christmas gifts before, but this is different! I just think back to the memories of Christmas I have as a child and waking up to that wonderful Christmas magic feeling and I realize I GET TO BE PART OF THAT for my son. Oh my goodness! BEST. feeling ever.

As I was walking to the beach with Aiden this week, that very thing made me think of some verses in scripture about bestowing gifts to our children (Matthew 7:8-11). Being a new mom, this isn't something that I was able to truly resonate with until now. It made sense before, but it had this impact now, like a meteor crashing into a planet and making lots of little rocks fly over the place with glitter and space dust and insert *mind blown* meme here. The idea of giving Aiden gifts and showering him with parental love is something that makes my heart sing - and yet... how much more does the Heavenly Father love us than my little human heart can love? It just goes to show how much God loves us and He doesn't actually *want* us to be miserable even though sometimes in the midst of throwing my own occasional personal Pity Parties it can feel that way. Weee beauty in scripture. Good things.

Developments:
+ He's getting better at rolling over from his tummy to his back, but most of the time he still gets stuck on his arm when he tries

+ He has waved a few times! He kind of rolls his wrist and moves his hand back and forth. (:
+ He knows what our bed means - nap time! And he's not always keen on the idea at first haha
+ He can stand flat-footed, supported lightly at the hips without wobbling
+ He has two teeth now! He got his first one on August 11th, and the second one on August 16th, just a few days after the last update. And we think more will be coming very soon with the way he has been chewing things and he had a slight fever on a particularly chewy day last week.
+ Everything goes in his mouth. Everything!
+ He laughs a lot (:
+ Aiden has developed tan lines between his chubby rolls! Haha. It's so cute! Since the skin between his rolls doesn't see the light of day very often, most of his skin got tan but the skin in his rolls is pale. I can tell how tan he got over Summer this way haha. It's cute!

+ Sometimes when he's hungry he'll say "mmmmmmmm MAM" Sounds like "Mom" (: 
+ He had his first shower! And on that day it sounded like he said "blue" while holding a blue toy boat, and he also said "boom boom boom" which is something I say to him a lot when I play with him. I know this is still just baby babble, but it's so neat that the noises he makes starts to sound like real words that he hears often!
+ He has no problem figuring out how to put his pacifier in his mouth and he usually gets it right-side up

+ He does pretty well sitting on his own and can sit on his own for a while. But it's best for either Jason or I to stay close unless he's on a mattress because if he gets excited or looks up he tends to lose his balance and....oof! over he goes! 
+ He scoots all over the place! Even in his sleep...eeeek. My next baby buy is going to be some of those bed rails you can attach to an adult mattress. I often nurse him while laying in our bed and then he falls asleep and I don't want to wake him up by moving him to his crib. Even in his sleep he can fall asleep on one part of the bed and wake up on an entirely different part! Eek! What an adventurous little guy!

+ When he plays on the floor, he can scoot slowly toward toys or whatever he might be interested in front of him. I can't believe he's already at the age where he's getting around on his own! Sure, he doesn't get anywhere fast just yet, but wow...by the next update we will probably need to start thinking about installing baby gates for the stairs!
+ He is ticklish near his arm pits and on his shoulder blades enough to laugh, and a little bit on the bottom of his feet. He usually just wiggles his toes around and you can tell it tickles but he doesn't quite associate the feeling with laughing yet (for his feet).
+ He seems to understand when I am copying him. I can copy his finger movements and he will grin while watching my hand do what his hand is doing. It's amazing! I'm sure he must know I'm copying him.

General Preferences: 
+ Snuggles! He loves to be held and will cuddle right into your body. It's the sweetest thing.
+ Getting really hyper and kicking his feet really fast and punching his arms out like he's got somewhere he has to be!
+ Being in his Jolly Jumper - especially if I put bubble wrap under his feet! He loves the crinkly noise and he gets so excited when he pops a bubble! He just looks so proud when he does haha
+ Playing with bottles - shampoo bottles, water bottles
+ Banging things down on his high chair tray
+ Seeing himself in a mirror
+ Laughing!
+ Bath time - and this week he had his first shower! That really helps save time. We still co-bathe too!

+ He likes to watch the cats - especially their tails. And he likes petting them. (:
+ He loves sitting and standing
+ Peek-a-boo! and "This little piggy..." and tickles
+ "I'm a little teapot" can calm him down in just about any situation - but only sung in the funniest of voices haha
+ Country music
+ Being "silly, silly!"
+ Being tossed in the air
+ He loves being outside, swimming, playing in the grass or the sand - and he doesn't mind cold lake water at all!
+ Going for rides in his swing
+ Babbling and laughing at single words like "giggly!"
+ Making raspberries with his lips and spit bubbles

What we've been up to:
+ We went swimming tons at the beach this last month - I think it finally hit me that Summer won't be around forever and that we have to take advantage of it before all the warm weather is gone...Aiden and I went to the beach every day for 7 days straight at one point! I want to sign him up for infant swimming classes at our local high school pool this Fall so he can continue to swim even when the lake is totally frozen over. (:
+ Aiden had his first tie-not-optional business meeting.

+ We had two indoor "garage" sales because our real garage is a soggy cardboard box and yucky. They ended up going really well! People kept asking if we were moving because we had so much stuff for sale...but all the truckloads of things we were selling was stuff from before we moved. When we moved up here we had to pack everything up so fast, I didn't have time to really sort through and discard stuff. So everything came with me. Everything. Like, everything-I've-owned-from-my-entire-life-ever. So it was a lot of stuff taking up room in our house that I didn't need anymore. And I feel so much lighter now.

+ Jason and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary on August 16th
+ We've been living in Minnesota for two years as of September 16th
+ Going on evening walks when it's too cold to go to the beach
+ Spending time together with Jason in the evenings! I haven't publicly shared this with many people, but for over a year of our itty bitty two year marriage, Jason had been working away from home during the week. Usually we only got to see each other on Saturdays and Sundays...sometimes things would happen and he would get home a day early, or if I had a prenatal doctor's appointment before Aiden was born, he would take the day off or start later so he never missed a single one. But let me tell you, it was really hard at times. Toward the end, all I could do was count down the weeks until he was finished working away...and now he is home every night again! And not just to sleep either! This is the first time since we've been married that he's worked normal hours like this. Now he's only gone for 14 hours a day. It has been really awesome. (:

+ We've taken Aiden along to my favorite store in town that sells all kinds of vintage and handmade goods. We found a weathered looking baby-sized beach chair, and well...you know. (:
+ We put up Aiden's baby swing! (: It was a housewarming gift from Jason's sister and we just recently got to putting it up and Aiden really enjoys swinging in it (:
+ We got Aiden a high chair and he looks like such a big boy! Next comes trying out solid foods...soon... (:
+ I painted a long neglected vanity in our master bathroom
+ Jason built an enclosed stairway for me! Our family room is upstairs and the spindles on the railing looking to the floor below were far apart and high off the floor...not safe for a baby to play in (especially once he really gets moving) so Jason closed them off with shiplap boards and we stained them a really pretty color. We still have to do some touch ups here and there, but as far as the functionality part goes, it's finished (: Next we will be building baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. (: I will post pictures of the whole process at some point when it's a little more done.  

+ Aiden went on a playdate with our friends from church so that Jason and I could have a date together. We went swimming in the lake for a while despite the looming gray clouds and bits of rain here and there...jeez, as corny as it sounds, it was like that scene from The Notebook with being a bird and stuff. Then we watched a movie together and after we picked Aiden up we went out to dinner as a family. It was a lot of fun! (:

life lessons in locked gates

+ I took Aiden to the beach on a day that happened to be both be particularly hot and particularly September 1sty. After seeing two people walking down our street in long sleeve activewear jackets and pants while sweat was running down my back in a sundress, and seeing that the gates to the beach were locked and the yesterday-thriving beach was now abandoned, I was convinced that Minnesota believes Winter starts on September firsty, no matter how hot it is in the days following the end of August. I see you noticed I said I took him to the beach and that the gates were locked. Being one who has never let a locked gate stop her, I took him to the beach anyway. It's not like I "wasn't allowed in", the gates are kind of just there so cars can't get in. There was still plenty of tight-fitting wiggle room between the gate and fence for our ginormous jogging stroller to fit through. And if someone had a problem with it I would simply play the "I just moved here from California. When I

see a beach, it calls to me like a siren and I have no choice but to go to it" card. Anyone in charge would feel bad for my mental health and just furrow their brow and let me continue on. Now, on this firsty day on the abandoned beach, Aiden had fallen asleep and I was reading a book while lying next to him. After a while, I heard the graceful sounds of a piano drift through the air. I looked beyond where I was laying and peeked through the spokes of the stroller wheels, and realized a mysterious person (who remained unseen), was sitting at the piano under the picnic covering going back and forth playing everything from showtunes to Canon in D. Every melody lazily drifted from one to the next as if they belonged together in a long string like that. I pulled out my camera and sat it in the sand and set it to record the beautiful sounds of the piano. Aiden began to slowly wake up to the sound and I could tell instantly when he heard the music because his face lit up and a smile beamed across his face as he tried to turn his head and see where the music was coming from. Upon playing back the video later, one can softly hear the piano playing in the background while the sound of small waves crashing at the lake shore, the wind gently blowing and seagulls cawing played in the foreground. Peace. I showed it to Jason later that evening and he simply said, "the sounds of summer".  I couldn't have more appropriately named it myself. 

It's funny - had I let that locked gate stop me from going to the beach on that particularly hot September day... I never would have heard that beautiful piano music. Life takes you on the most beautiful adventures when you persevere and don't let obstacles stop you from where you're being called to go...whether by the sirens of the sea or God Himself. Aiden and I were the only ones there on the beach and the only ones who heard that stranger's beautiful music that day. And to imagine...had the locks been unlocked and the gates open... If the path had been "easy"...so many people would have seen and heard the beauty of this person's God-given talent. I'm going to treasure this memory and that video for a lifetime to look back on. I'm going to listen to it when the days are short and the nights are long, to make the helplessly cold Winter feel hopeful: because Summer is always just around the corner. To God: Thank you for the courage and bravery that for so much of my life I have not had. For helping me to go beyond. To move past fear and doubt. For the sounds of the waves and the sounds of the "sea". To the person at the piano on that day: Thank you for sharing your Gift with us. 

The sounds of Summer.

And now, an ode to my people.

--

As always, you can check out more of our adventures (with frequent updates) 

by following me on instagram - @marlyssamarie 

Happy five months, Aiden. We have had the best first Summer with you! And while I'm sad to see it go, I look forward to the future ahead with excited anticipation - to see you play in piles of leaves (and hopefully not eat too many), to see you pulled on a sled in the snow by your daddy, to jump in the icy cold puddles and smell the fresh Spring flowers...and before you know it our Summer will be here once again. You are our everything and I never want you to forget that or doubt that. You have changed our lives forever for the better.
We love you baby. To the moon and back.