Good Babies & Bad Babies?

I am constantly puzzled by this question when someone asks, "Is he a good baby?" Are there bad babies? Can you classify a baby as good or bad? All babies are good babies! Every baby is different but no baby is a "bad" baby. There are easy babies, fussy babies (high-needs babies) and babies somewhere in between. I happen to have been blessed with a beautiful, sweet, and funny baby boy who is also a high-needs baby and can be quite fussy when he's not being held or having someone with him to play on the floor. This doesn't make him a bad baby. He just needs me more than an easy-going baby that can play by themselves would need me. And that's ok. I love Connor, every bit of him. And if he needs to be held all day, I will do my best to accommodate (thank God for my Ergo and ring sling). Like Darius Rucker's song... "It won't be like this for long." I'm sure as soon as he can figure out how to move on his own, he will want to be on his own more so he can explore. Sometimes I can get something done while he plays, and sometimes he wants me to play with him, so I do. The dishes can wait. My son will only be little for a short time. One day he will be a teenager and it won't be cool to hang with his mom, so I'm going to enjoy this time while I have it.

Five Months

Five months!

Has it really been five months? My sweet baby boy is growing so fast! Our at home measurements show that Connor is now 17.2  pounds and 27-ish inches (would not stay still for proper measurement). About half-way through the month, we switched to 6-9 month clothes and they fit really well and weren't really big, so I guess I kept him in 3-6 months a little longer than I needed to! I didn't think he'd be going through clothes quite this fast! I also went ahead and switched him to his convertible carseat. It seems to be comfier and I wasn't really pulling the infant seat out of the car anymore anyways.

Connor is such a happy baby and I love making him giggle. He's also decided that screaming is fun and he'll scream and laugh to get a reaction, and of course right now it is so funny I laugh right along :). He's definitely loud like his momma! I've noticed more babbling-like sounds too like "a-blee", "ya-ya", and "nee". Seems like he says "ya-ya" when he's hungry and since I usually say "yum, yum, so delicious" when he's eating, I'm assuming "ya-ya" is for "yum-yum".

Yes, Connor does still fuss and it's usually when I have to put him down so I can get something done I can't do while holding him (or I can do faster without him in my arms). He's my velcro, high-needs baby :). So I bought a ring-sling from Sleeping Baby Productions so I could have something lightweight for wearing Connor in the summer heat and that he could face forward in without dangling at the crotch. I went with a linen one and it's so pretty and Connor seems to enjoy the kangaroo hold and getting to face forward. Though we still like the Ergo, especially for nursing and naps :).

Me & My "Joey"

Connor is making quite a bit of progress in the physical development area. He is now sitting on his own for a good bit but still wobbles a little and will topple if he fusses or tries to reach too far for something. He loves to stand and only uses me for balance for the most part and loves me to help him "walk" (which I think is pretty much still the step reflex). He tries hard to get moving and is still a helicopter and spins in circles on his back or tummy. He can now scoot a few inches sometimes on his tummy too. He finally started rolling some more, mostly back to belly but did belly to back once or twice too. It won't be long before I really can't get anything done because I'll be chasing him all over the house!

Oh, and he found his feet and likes to nibble on them whenever he gets a chance :).

One really cute thing he started doing was reaching out to Liby (one of my German Shepherds) and "petting" her on the nose, which is returned with kisses to his hands. It is so cute and I have yet to get a good picture of it. He is so interested in the dogs and they just adore him. If they had their way, they'd be licking him from head to toe.... but I'm keeping that from happening for just a bit longer (especially with Zoe, my other GSD who likes to eat poo).

Another super cute thing he does is sing himself to sleep in the car. My mom got to experience this when she was here this past week. It's so darn cute! So whenever I have to go somewhere that's going to take me 45 minutes to an hour to get there (like Connor's chiro or anywhere in Jacksonvlle), I try to leave at nap time so he takes his nap in the car and isn't' bored out of his mind for the whole drive. When he was littler and would fuss in his carsear, I would sing to him to calm him down and help him go to sleep. So one day I noticed he was "talking" to himself in the carseat on our way home from his chiropractor but it sounded a little more singsongy than his usual babble and the next thing I knew. he was asleep! He totally sang himself to sleep! Most of the time now, he was start to "sing" a little but to get me to sing and then will sing along with me and fall asleep. It's ridiculously cute and I hope to get it on tape here soon. I recorded it on my phone to try and send to Ken but with the car noise, it didn't come out too well.

As always, more pics can be found on my shutterfly site!