Lincoln: 5 months

This kid is a mover.  I'm telling you, he wants to get up and crawl so bad he can hardly stand it.  Luckily for us, Lincoln is nowhere near crawling (whew!) We have a few more months before baby proofing the house all over again.

It's funny. We had the entire house gated, padded, clear of breakable/small objects, and pretty much on full-alert-lock-down mode.  Then Ayla got older and we let down our defenses.  Shame on us. Before Lincoln starts crawling, I'm going to have to wedge myself back into our tiny attic and dust off all the safety gear. So for now, yes- I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that he pretty much stays where I put him.

A few months ago, I remember being very proud of my nighttime sleeper.  Well things have changed around here.  He is no longer sleeping through the night...not even close. He usually wakes up around midnight, then again around 4am, and is up for the day at 7am.  As I write this, the last few nights have been better (no midnight waking! Whoop whoop!)- so I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I forgot to mention in the 4 month post- Lincoln started rolling over on December 26.  Just 5 days after his 4 month birthday.  He can go from belly to back, and back to belly.  It's truly a love-hate skill.  He loves to do it, and loves the first 3. 5 minutes of enjoying the views from his belly- but he quickly realizes the grass was greener on the other (back) side of the fence.  Ah, the fickleness of a baby.

In other news, Linc had his first taste of cereal on January 17. His face says it all.

Ayla was so excited to see him eat.  Of course, she wanted to help feed him- which we monitored closely.  (She was a bit aggressive and almost shoved the spoon down his throat.) But was very sweet- using the voice she has picked up from hearing me talk to Lincoln.  It went something like this:
Ayla: "Here you go honey, open your mouth...no, no, no Lincoln. Stop playing.  You need to eat your food."
Me:  "Lincoln is still learning how to open his mouth and swallow food.  We have to be patient with him"
Ayla: "I think he wants a graham cracker instead.  This is too messy."

I'll give her credit. She tried very hard. But like I wrote earlier, Lincoln is a mover.  He twists and bends his head, body, arms and legs in every direction.  He reaches for objects near and far.  All while we try to spoon this bowl of mush into his mouth.  Ayla gave it a good run...then she handed the spoon back to me, hopped off the stool and went back to playing. (Side note: I PROMISE I fix Ayla's hair several times a day- it just always seems to end up back in her face!)

He now really likes his oatmeal and we have also added sweet potatoes, which he adores, and pears (which he hated). I am making my own organic baby food, just like I did for Ayla, but I forgot what a process the whole thing was!

One last little tidbit about our boy.  He is super ticklish. I think this goes hand in hand with his lovely habit of smiling all day long.  It is downright funny.  When I say ticklish, I mean there are very few spots on him that do not elicit a giggle.  No joke...I was trying to clean his nose and he started laughing HARD.  His neck, his belly, those sweet, chubby little feet, behind his ears... and the list goes on.  Most of these have been found on accident.  I mean, who sets out to tickle the inside of their babies nose?

You know how they say laughter is contagious? Lincoln has our whole family laughing along with him on a daily basis.