Tenacious Lee is 5 months old!

Little Leeland is now five months old. I can't believe we're at almost half a year!

I'm trying to think here on what has changed since he turned four months old.

We started rice cereal. At first I bought multi-grain cereal (oops!) and his poops were nice little golf balls. We moved back to rice cereal, and as of today he has started on vegetables! He's a super eater, and has yet to look at the food and say "no". His favorite part of mealtime is when we give him the spoon and let him feed himself. It's messy, but so adorable!

I swear, this kid was formed by God specifically for us. He is JUST LIKE US! He's freaking adorable (yep), gets along with anyone (yep), super smiley and fun (duh), and he LOVES FOOOOOOOD and music, and I can tell he wants to watch TV so badly (muahahahaha). I will also be forcing my love of books onto him - we've already started on that. Crossing fingers here!

He's not as into chewing on his thumb as he was a month ago. He still does it on occassion, but I think we've definitely created a binky lover. We use it at night, during naps, and sometimes when he just needs some soothing. 

Lee is still very independent. I joke that I get one clingy day each week, and I whine and complain all day about it. The next day you might find me trying to snuggle him to sleep. It's funny how motherhood works. You want your independence and then the minute you get it you crave having that little baby in your arms again. 

Little dude has been super strong since he was born, and really at one month old he had started standing and holding his head up for long periods of time. His new favorite thing is to do constant ab crunches (see two photos below). If he's not sleeping then he's doing ab crunches. He wants to sit up on his own so badly, but he's still toppling over if unassisted. Crawling is still in the future as well. If he's on his stomach for awhile you will find him in a different spot than where you laid him, but he got there by scooting on his tummy. Works for me. The longer we go without him crawling just means less sweeping of my house for me! hehehe

(you can just feel the concentration in this face!) LOL

Today he straight up took the bottle from my hands and drank the whole 6 ounces without any help. When he was done he just looked at me like, "You gonna burp me, or what?" with those little eyebrows raised. UGH. Cracks. Me. Up!

No one really believes us, but if you ask him to say it enough times you will hear his versions of "hi", "mama", and "RAWR!". He's a smart one, what can I say?! hehehehe

He's stepped up his laughing game a bit. You no longer have to completely stand on your head to get a laugh out of him. You just have to find the right "funny" or ticklish thing that amuses him. I love it!!

We're at 5 months and one week and I still haven't seen any signs of separation anxiety in this guy. He's still willing to spend good chunks of time hanging on his own, and our constant "passing of the baby" amongst family members and friends appears to keep him both on his toes as well as willing to adjust to new people. Woo!

He is a special kid, guys. His most recent travels include Kennedy Meadows, Yosemite Valley, the California State Capitol and the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. 

Looking forward to more fun foods, adventures, and whatever new tricks come out of this little dude in the coming month.

Kels