Zzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

Ah, sleep. Wonderful sleep. Mac went through about two months of not-so-great sleep. When we got back from Houston, he had a cold that made it hard for him to sleep, and it was all downhill from there. It finally got to the point that he needed me to replace the binky every 2-5 minutes between 4 and 6 am. That was not good for anybody.

To make a long story short, we ended up taking away the swaddle and the pacifier, and teaching him to go to sleep on his own, in his crib. He's been sleeping SO much better. Now if I could just stop waking up all the time.

We don't have photos of him sleeping at night, obviously, but here's some gratuitous sleepy-cuteness for ya!

Let's Eat!

5 Months Old!

Mac turned 5 months old 2 days ago. And of course, I'm late with this post because I wanted to be able to post his photos, which were taken yesterday, and then things got busy. But it's here now!

Can you believe we got a photo with him sitting up straight? The block helped to support him, but he really is getting stronger at sitting. Sometimes he can balance sitting straight up with no hands! I can also tell he's trying really hard to do something during tummy time, but I can't tell exactly what. He's wiggling around with purpose and intent, and eventually gets frustrated. I suppose eventually he'll do it and be proud of himself, and that's when I'll know what it is he's trying to do...

We'll be starting solids soon, probably in a week or two. The pediatrician recommended that we start when he's taking 32-35 oz. per day, and that's right where he is. I have the high chair and the rice cereal ready to go.

I don't have any weight or other stats to give you, but I can tell you he won't be wearing many 6 month (or 3-6 month) clothes much longer. As it is, long pants and sleeves are getting to be too short. The short-sleeved onesies fit exactly right now. I've thought about bumping him up to 9 month sizes, but those seem a little too big for him. So he's in-between. I'm sure that won't last long!

Overheard...

Things we hear people say to Mac:

"Guess what! Since you've already had five diaper changes today, you get a free pajama change!" -The MacDaddy

"Your mommy is a lawyer and your daddy is a professor, so when you start talking, we expect you to speak in complete sentences." -Papa

"Pppppt" -The MacMommy (Hey, I'm trying to teach him to make the razz sound. He makes a sound more like "Ggggggh.")

A Chat With the Mac-Man

Recently, someone [whose name will remain Tiffer-schnoodle] asked me if Mac is talking yet. Well, yes. In his own way. Here's a sample of our conversations:

Friday Favorite

Unfortunately, I didn't get this one in time for the "Family and Friends" Christmas Recap post, but I have to share it.

Photo courtesy of Pappy Swindle

Karli and Kai showed Mac how much fun tummy time is! Is this not the cutest photo ever?!

Christmas Recap Part 2: Family and Friends!

While we were in Houston, Mac was very social. He got to see Gigi and Pappy again, which made him very happy. He also got to meet his cousins Karli and Kai, whom he loves very much!  I think they are two of his favorite people in the whole world! I think they had fun with Mac-a-doodle, too, even though he was much smaller than they were expecting. But they would sing his name to him, and he would laugh and laugh and laugh! He thought they were hilarious!

On Christmas Eve, Mac met Grandma, one of his two great-grandmothers. (What a lucky boy to have TWO great-grandmothers!) He also met his Great Aunt Dana and Corey. Oh, and Poquito, who is much smaller than the Doggie-wog at home!

Mac also got to meet, well, everyone else! He was very charming on Christmas day, despite the fact that he had caught his first cold on Christmas Eve.

In fact, he and Nana (his other great-grandmother) really hit it off. She pretty much held him most of the day. She almost didn't eat because she wanted to keep holding him. And she opened her presents while holding him -- until someone convinced her he might drown in all the wrapping paper.

Mac also got to meet Brian, who was Mark's best man in our wedding. As you can see, he's pretty much got the whole "Introduction" thing down.

 Being a social butterfly is so exhausting!

Christmas Recap, Part 1: Getting There

We spent Mac's first Christmas in Houston so that everyone there could have a chance to meet him. Of course, to spend Christmas there, first we had to get there. I don't have unlimited time off, and Mark tends to fall asleep if he drives for more than two hours at a time, so we opted to fly. 

That's right. We flew with our three-month-old baby boy. Luckily for us, Mac seems to like travel as much as we do. He might even be a better traveler than we are. (But we pack lighter than he does.)

I fed him a bottle at take-off, and made sure he sucked on a pacifier on landing, to help with ear-popping. Here's what he did on his first plane trip:

The trip started out with a little of this (smiling and laughing).

Then he moved on to this (binky-love).

By the way, the "binky leash" was critical for the airplane. He will eventually spit out his binky, and it usually goes right to the floor. At home, we can pick it up and wash it, or get him a new one. On the plane? Well, if we could reach the floor in the half-inch gap between our knees and the seat ahead of us, I don't think we'd want to put that binky anywhere near his mouth -- I don't care how much you clean it! The binky leash prevented this problem. I've been known to use it at home, too.

The last two hours (or so) ended with this: sound sleep

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