Dear Hayes,

You turned 7 months old on December 5. I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying! Do I say that every month?

This month, you got your first tooth. It was pretty rough for you. You were up all throughout the nights for about a week and you got a bad case of diaper rash. But you pushed through and now you have a little bitty tooth. You are kind of obsessed with it. You’re always doing funny things with your mouth to feel that tooth. It’s the one of the bottom right. Your little grin is so funny now.

You also started eating more consistently. You seem to be doing better about getting the hang of it and opening your mouth when you see the spoon. You still don’t love anything, but we’re working on it. It’s so different from your brother’s reaction to food, but I love that you are both so different.

You still take three naps a day. Your first nap is around 9:30, your second nap is around 12:30 and then your last nap starts around 3:30. You’re a very consistent sleeper. You love to just be put down in your crib. You watch your little Tiny Love mobile until you drift off to sleep. You have to have your lovie with you, though.

It’s so funny because you are definitely a thumb-sucker, just like Hudson. When you’re fussy you just find your thumb and everything is better.

I had hoped you might start sleeping on your stomach, but you do not like to try to sleep on your stomach at all. You sleep flat on your back all night long.

You’re still a rolling machine and you can sit up really well now, too. You get tired after a little bit, but you love sitting up. You have been trying really hard to get your knees under you so you can get on all fours. I think by the time you’re 8 months you’ll be crawling. I’m not in any hurry for that to happen!

You smile all the time. You love your brother, your dogs and your parents. You light up whenever anyone talks to you. We haven’t experienced any separation anxiety yet with you, but I’m sure it’s coming.

Your favorite toys are the Baby Einstein music box and Sophie the Giraffe. You also love being in your exersaucer.

We are just loving every little bit of you! You laugh all the time. Someone can just look at you and you’ll laugh. I hope that you are always this easy-going and that your little free spirit always shines through.

I’m so thankful to be your mommy and I’m so excited about sharing our first Christmas with you!

Love,

Mommy

Dear Hayes,

You are now 6 months old! A half of a year old. Where did the time go? I still think of you as my bitty baby and not as the big, rolly polly baby you have become.

You are still the most chilled out little guy I know. Nothing really seems to phase you.

You absolutely love watching Hudson play and love getting his attention so he’ll smile at you. And he has been interacting with you even more in the last few weeks.

You love playing with your Sophie the Giraffe. Hudson loved his, too, and you just love having Sophie nearby to chew on. You are drooling so much, but you have been for a few months now so it’s hard to know if you’re actually teething.

You still adore your lovie, the monkey. It doesn’t have a name. We just call it “lovie” and know you’ll name it someday on your own.

Peek-a-boo, “where’s mommy?”, and patty cake are your favorite games to play. You absolutely love to laugh and you get tickled so easily. You love to smile at people that look at you. You’re just the most patient little thing. You just love to be held, but you don’t fuss until someone holds you. But you do light up when they come to get you.

You started sitting up on the day you turned 6 months old. You can sit unassisted for about 10 minutes and then you start to slump and we lie you back down to rest. You still roll all over the place.

We had your six month appointment yesterday and you got some shots, but you toughed it out and hardly cried. We just scooped you up and you were all better. But you are a big guy!

You still spit up quite a bit, but your doctor tells us not to worry and that it’s not reflux. We are going to start giving you fruits and veggies now. We’ve tried a few times before, but you weren’t interested at all, but this time we’re going to keep at it. Yesterday you had sweet potatoes. Hudson was begging for some! Hopefully you’ll like it, too!

6 months old

Weight: 20 lbs (85th percentile)

Height: 27.5 inches (above the 97th percentile)

Clothes: 9 month, 6-12 month, 9-12 month

Diaper: size 3 Huggies

My Dear Hayes,

Today, you are 5 months old! Can we just freeze time and stop it right now? I don’t like this growing up business.

Right now, you are just the sweetest little guy. You smile whenever anyone looks at you. You are so easy to please. I know the day will come that you’re shouting “No!” at me and running from me when I’m trying to change your diaper. So right now, I’m really enjoying how easy and happy you are.

This month, you’ve just been rolling all over the place. Right after you turned 4 months, you just started rolling and didn’t stop. And we’ll find you clear across the room from where we laid you down.

You love to be in an upright position. You’ve used your exersaucer a lot this month and really love standing up. You have such strong little legs. You love to sit up in our laps and you will tolerate the Bumbo for a little while. Hudson didn’t like it much, either.

We started you on rice cereal at 4 months and you couldn’t be less interested. You just push the stuff right back out of your month. I have a feeling that when we sweeten it up with bananas and sweet potatoes you’ll change your tune and you’ll love your rice cereal.

You are constantly watching Hudson and always have your eye on him. You also are very interested in the TV. We try not to have it on when you’re in the room because you will not take your eyes off of it. Someday I’ll let you watch it!

This age is just so cute! You have found your toes and constantly are rolled up in this tight little ball as you hold your toes and stretch to get them in your mouth. So funny! I think that 5 months and 6 months are just the cutest little baby stage.

I am excited for you to start sitting up, but I also don’t want to wish the next milestone to come. It all just goes by so quickly.

You’re not a big fan of the car these days, which can make for some really loud trips to take Hudson to school. It’s just because you’re tired, but you eventually do fall asleep. We give you some soothing, sweet music to try to calm you down a bit.

You also struggle a bit between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., so we let you take a small little cat nap before waking you up for your bath and bed time bottle. It’s tough being a baby!

You are laughing more and more and it’s such a funny, infectious sound! I want to make you laugh all the time now. You absolutely love your monkey lovie! Hudson loves his, too, and you treat yours like your pacifier. You reach for your lovie and just push it against your face and smile. You’re always talking to it.

You’ve also started sucking your thumb really consistently. You can find it very quickly when you get upset. Sweet little boy!

You’re still sleeping from 7:30 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. We get you up, give you a bottle, you play for a little while and then you’re ready to go back to sleep around 9:00 a.m.

We love you so much and I just can’t wait to see who you become each day!

Love,

Mommy

5 month Stats

Weight: 18 lbs (you are consistently gaining 2 pounds per month)

Height: 28 inches (you’re so tall!)

Clothes: some 6 month still fits, mostly 6-9 months and 9 months

Diaper: still wearing size 2. You could wear a size 3, but I want to finish up our huge box of size 2. (Pampers Swaddlers)

Eating: every 3 hours, 8 ounces per bottle