Grady is FIVE Months Old! (edited to add pics)

Grady weighs at least 17lbs
size 2 diapers
size 3 shoes
size 6 months, 6-12 months, 6-9 months depending on brand of clothes

Daily Schedule
Because of Whitney's preschool drop-off and pick-up schedule, it has been difficult to get a good nap schedule for Grady.  I worried a lot this month, repeatedly thinking "How will he ever learn new things or grow if he isnt getting restful sleep?!"  He is the King of the 45 Minute Nap.  Ive read that its a phase and that it will eventually go away, but he has ALWAYS struggled with that 45 minute transition from one type of sleep to a deeper sleep, so Im starting to embrace this trait and accept that I will never get a nap-time treadmill run again. For the most part, our days look like this:
7:30 wakes up (although he slept til 9:10 yesterday and 8:15 today!)
8oz bottles every 3.5-4 hours
awake for 1.5 hours, then a 45 minute nap
one long nap lasting 2 or 2.5 hours, usually in the afternoon
in bed by 8pm
Toss in a lot of running around, some playdates, preschool drop-offs and pick-ups, and that is life around our house lately :)

Activity
This month is the very beginning of my favorite stage! Grady is starting to slowly become MOBILE! No, he's not even close to crawling yet, but he has just recently learned that he can rolllllllll his way across the room to get closer to his sister or a toy he wants or his dog, Bailey :) Its fun to see him put it all together in his head, and while it frustrates him when an exersaucer or playmat or bigger toy gets in his way, I can tell he is going to have SO much fun in the coming weeks and months, and I cant wait!
He's not sitting up on his own yet but he gets closer and closer every day, and he is much happier in his bumbo seat this month.  He enjoyed his 7th visit to Disney World this week, and endures the chaos like a champ! After a few talkative moments in church the last few weekends, I finally put him in the church nursery last Sunday.  He did great, playing and talking to the new toys while all the other babies slept or calmly enjoyed cuddles. He still loves the rattle app on my phone, and is starting to laugh and smile at the Fisher Price animal/shape/and ABC apps.

Sleeping/Napping
Grady, Grady, Grady. Ive read BabyWise cover to cover a few times this month.  Yes, I know I should be THRILLED that he is sleeping through the night.  I get it.  Im grateful he sleeps from 7:30pm to 7:30am without a peep.  But the napping thing was a mess.  It was my own fault since I finally realized I was keeping him up too long, and there were two weeks when he had his first cold thanks to preschool germs making their way home.  But now that the cold is gone and I have concluded that he can happily stay awake for 1.5 hours (no more, no less), he is napping like a champ.  He is taking one long nap (2+ hrs) and at least 2 shorter naps (45 mins...not one minute more, not one minute less) every day when we are home.  If we are out and about, running errands or doing Disney, he can happily stay awake for hours before he crashes, or he could sleep in the car seat for 2 hours at Walmart.  The point is, he is adaptable.  Hes mastered cat naps and car seat and stroller naps and can really wake up happy from a 10 minute snooze in the car.  Its the days we are at home that were frustrating since I forget that he is still so young and I was trying to pack in all kinds of entertainment while Whitney was at school.  Now that he gets decent naps, he is happier and his awake time is much more enjoyable for everyone. And now that he can flip flop all over the crib, he sleeps on his belly...which means HE may be sleeping through the night, but *I* am up repeatedly to check on him. Im hoping to really see the routine/schedule thing get nailed down in the next few weeks....but I said that last month, too :)

I think he is reading Baby Wise so he can foil my plan of attack :) 

Eating
Because he battled his first cold this month, we backed off the fruits and veggies.  When I tried to reintroduce them, the nap issues started getting worse and it seemed to make his tummy super hard, so I have backed off again.  It took us so long to figure out Grady's formula issues, so it makes sense that his sensitive little (big!) tummy might take a bit longer to get used to flavors and textures.  Im also not going to add rice cereal to the baby food to thicken it up.  I did that with Whitney, but she never took more than 4 oz of formula at a time and she didnt sleep through the night til she was 10 months old...so I was adding the rice cereal in an effort to make her feel full long enough to sleep.   Grady sleeps all night and has a sensitive belly...and is a completely different child than his sister...so no more added cereal.  He has tried all the fruits and veggies by Gerber and seems to like the veggies more.  Carrots and Squash are favorites, but he really liked sweet potatoes, bananas, and peas, too.  Apples and pears were just "eh", and green beans are growing on him.  He enjoys food....but about 30 minutes after every meal he would be crying with a hard tummy, so Im making an executive decision to start again slowly.  He is happy drinking an 8oz bottle every 3.5-4 hours. Some days he only wants 6oz at a time, but most days he wants the full 8oz.

Personality
Grady in five words or less:
*laid back
*chill
*relaxed
*quiet
Grady definitely has his moments of squealing, shrieking, and letting loose, but in general, he is quiet and subdued and content just watching and studying everything going on around him.  He is a smiley baby and his belly laughs are ahhhhmazing! He absolutely LOVES Whitney and will crane his neck just to keep her in his eyesight.  And he recently started laughing at Bailey for no apparent reason. lol Bailey will walk by him and Grady will light up and start this deep chuckle that is hilarious.  I used to be a little sad that he wasnt a big talker or a loud kid like Whitney was at this age, but then we have a chaotic day or a long car ride and I think "yeah, its probably best that he is so quiet and chill....because this mama cant handle it when everyone talks at once and needs to be heard!"
Grady "talks" to his toys and laughs and smiles a lot, and while he has definitely inherited the patience from my side of the family, he is a very HAPPY, CALM, relaxed dude.  He wakes up talking and happy and he continues to love bath time and his playmat and his jumperoo.

Sibling Fun
Whitney is head over heels for her baby brother.  She talks to him ALL day, runs to see him as soon as we walk into her classroom, and can hardly wait for him to wake up each morning.  She cant wait to read books to him and is happy to share her toys still.  If there is a toy she wants to play with, she gladly brings Grady a different toy to replace the one she wants.  She is a big helper, handing me dropped burp cloths or trying to make Grady smile if he's unhappy.  She lovingly says "Its okay, Bubba!" and "Oh, Gwady, you are sooooo cute!!" and "I wuv you, Buddy!"  She is really the epitome of a "great big sister".  She has never shown any signs of jealousy or frustration, never tried to confiscate toys from him or climb in his crib or do any of those other things I was warned about before Grady's arrival :)  He thinks she walks on water, which works well for Whitney, too :)

Holy cow, taking these chair pics is a workout! These outtakes crack me up....

This one is hilarious....same "deer in the headlights" expression and a canned smile from Whitney. lol

Making the same face?

His drool got on her arm. OH! The HORROR!!! 

LOVE when they look at each other and smile :) 

I know they are already plotting against me.

Think shes been threatened within an inch of her life?

Happy 5 Months, Grady J.!

(This was our trickiest chair month pic attempt yet.  Im not sure who is more difficult to wrangle! Three year olds THINK they are looking at the camera, when in fact they are looking at the ceiling.  And Grady is smiley and happy and silly for my phone camera, but as soon as he sees the real camera, he clams up and stares blankly.  Sigh.  Im already dreading the months ahead.....but, as Lynzie can attest, I WILL NOT give up! That 'perfect pic' is GOING to happen! lol)

Edited to add the chair pic attempts:

Erin and Natalia were over today and I enlisted their help with chair pics :)