Mattox's 5th Month

Taken Monday, August 3, 2015

Taken Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Taken Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Taken Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Taken Tuesday, July 28, 2015

It has been a fun month at home, and we have really been having fun playing with you.  You are getting so big and are reaching many milestones now.  You are very happy and playful, and we just love you to pieces!

Size:  You haven't been to the doctor this month so we aren't sure how much you weigh now.  I expect that you are still gaining weight well and are probably in the 15 lb. to 16 lb. area. You also seem to be growing a lot in length, and I wouldn't be surprised if you pass big brother Brody's length in the next few months.  You were exactly the same length as he was last month.  You are still wearing size 2 diapers although I suspect those days are numbered and many 6 to 9 month clothes.  We had to buy you some new 6 to 9 month sleepers because we didn't have many of those left from big brothers since I gave a lot of those away to your cousin.   

Update:  We took you to the doctor on Thursday, August 13th, and you weighed an astouding 15 lbs. 13 oz. so almost 16 lbs.  That put you solidly in the 30th percentile for weight.   

Developmental Accomplishments:  You are still very happy and give us lots of big baby grins and giggles.  You always smile back at us when we smile at you.  You have also been cooing and making baby talk a lot more, and it sounds like you will have a lot to say.  You remind me of big brother Evan in that area.  You have rolled over onto your tummy and do seem to like being on your tummy more now.  You still want to sit up by yourself and are trying very hard to do so.  We aren't really worried about the torticollis anymore although we will be interested in what the neurosurgeon has to say when we go back for a recheck.  You do seem to have great neck control when sitting up.  You have become more interested in some of your toys and seem to like your fuzzy stuffed animals and your silky blankies the best.  You also love looking in the mirror.  I think you like to play hide and seek because just yesterday I left you on my bed for a minute to go get something, and when I returned, you had put your blankie over your head.  You were very talkative under there so you probably won't be very good at hide and seek just like big brother Brody.  I have also been trying to keep your hands out of your mouth, and I expect you may be working on getting some teeth soon.  You haven't found your thumb too much, thank goodness.  You are liking your exersaucer entertainer more and can sit in it longer without getting fussy and tired.  You are long enough that your little toes can touch the bottom.  

Sleeping:  You still sleep pretty well at night, but the last week or so you have been getting up an extra time at night just a few hours after you fall asleep.  You have been falling asleep by 9:00 or 9:30 and sometimes wake back up about 11:00 or 12:00.  Usually, I just hear you over in your bassinet eating your little hands, which wakes me up.  Obviously, you are needing to eat more so I get you up to feed you.  You usually wake up again between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. to eat again.  I think you are probably hitting another growth spurt.  

Eating:  You are doing so great with eating and are still primarily breast fed.  We have been trying to move you up to taking 4 oz. at each feeding, and you do that sometimes and at others you will leave about an ounce in a bottle.  You usually get one bottle of formula (4 ounces) a day with cereal in it and one bottle of pumped breast milk (4 ounces) with cereal along with about 6 breast feedings through the day and night.  You still spit up sometimes and have good days and bad days there, but you still seem to get plenty to eat.  If you spit up more than usual and seem very hungry, I add in a second formula bottle.  We also started some first baby foods this month.  Like with Brody, we are making your food and follow the Baby Bullet feeding system and guidelines which seem to work well.  You started with avocados, and you have always eaten everything we've give you although that first week was a learning experience with using a spoon.  We tried sitting you in your new Bumbo seat which is a little different than the old style we had with Brody.  It makes you sit completely upright so we were having trouble with a lot of food running back out, and you getting mad.  Now, I either sit you in your bouncer where you are reclined a little or just hold you in my lap.  You are very happy that way and love to eat.  You have now tried avocados, peas, squash, apples, pears, bananas, and sweet potatoes (just started those today).  I think peas were your favorite so far although you also loved the squash.  I think you like the more savory flavors and textures.  We were going to wait and just keep doing one feeding a day in the afternoons for a while, but you were loving it so much and seemed to want more after finishing a whole jar so we added in a second morning feeding.  Now, we do a fruit in the morning and a vegetable in the afternoon.  I think the fruits, apples and pears, help keep your tummy regular.  The only food so far that may have caused a little issue is bananas.  It seems like you got a little gassy and fussy the day we started bananas and also didn't poop as often.  We may hold off on those for a while.  You did seem to like them though.  According to the Baby Bullet and other recommended feeding schedules, you need to do each new food for about four days to make sure there are no negative reactions to it so that's what we are doing for now.  

Nicknames:  Mattox Pattox (Mommy's nicknames for your brothers are Evan Pevin and Brody Pody so yours goes with theirs); Matt Matt; Matt Patt; Matty Patty.  Also, we call you "Squealie Pig" because you love to shriek and squeal really loud, sometimes happily and sometimes when you want to get our attention.  I love my little squealie pig!  

Here are some of your cute pictures from this month.  I just love taking pictures of you!  

You have been enjoying play time now.  I like to sit you in front of your little play mirror so you can laugh and talk to the baby in the mirror.  You also seem to like a cute little toy bird that was big brother Brody's.  We used to call it Peepers.  

You have really grown and most of these new sleepers are 6 to 9 months.  

You also enjoy your exersaucer entertainer more now.  You seem to like "talking" to your giraffe.  Big brother Brody's favorites were the pandas so we called him our baby panda.  I guess you may be our baby giraffe. 

You have also started liking your silky blankies.  You hold it, rub it, and chew on it.  With the chewing and drooling, I suspect teeth may be in your near future.   Brody got his first two teeth at the beginning of this month.  

You are a "thinking" baby and have the biggest and most observant blue eyes that don't seem to miss anything. 

This outfit has been passed down from both your brothers to you.  It is what they call an "heirloom" quality outfit from Strasburg Children.  It was one of their more casual outfits when I bought it for Evan.  I do really love it and hope you will all pass it on to your future children.  Your big cousin Lanny had this outfit too, and he and Evan had their pictures made in them together.  

You have the sweetest faces.  

I needed to get pictures of you in another of your Strasburg Children's outfits.  This one is a precious pale yellow and has cute little snails embroidered on the pockets.  I forgot to photograph the back which has another pocket with snails on it.  It is dressy while still being cute. 

Oh, that face! 

So friendly and happy! 

You are my limited edition teddy bear.  

Oh so sweet! 

You and big brother Brody got matching monkey shirts from Target for a whopping $2.50 each.  Yours is 12 months, but it was definitely not too big!  I can definitely tell you two will be quite a handful.  

My sweet little monkey. 

With the heart of a lion!  I thought this stuffed lion matched your lion outfit.  You loved how fuzzy it was. 

I think you and Evan look cute in orange. I guess it matches your hair and contrasts with your blue eyes to make them really stand out. 

So fuzzy on my feet! 

"Yay, it's so fuzzy!" 

Your first taste of avocados.  

The bouncer seat worked much better for right now. 

And you like your spoon!

And you love your big brothers so much!  They always make you smile so big! 

Comparisons

Yes, this does mess with my OCD that I didn't get these pictures at the same ages.  Sigh.  Of course, Brody was way bigger and born later in the Spring so he could wear it earlier.  

This one was a little better timed.  Besides the head shapes, I think Mattox looks a lot like Evan here.  He still has Brody's head shape.  

Perhaps the best comparison at 5 months.  I took Brody's and Mattox's pictures in just their diapers at about the same age.  I didn't do that for Evan, but I had his picture taken at a portrait studio and they took this shot of him in a similar tummy position.