My 5 Month Old!

Holy cow....how the heck do I have a 5 month old baby already? Time is flying, just like I thought it would and just as everyone said it would! But we are having a blast with him. Watching him grow and do new things makes it easier to deal with the time passing so quickly. His personality is really starting to shine through and he's just the best kid I've ever met. Not that I am biased one bit. :)

RONAN LOVES:
-Mommy and Daddy
- Rolling from my back to my belly
- Lifting up my body with my arms and legs into a 'downward dog' like yoga position
- Rolling on my tummy to sleep
- My jumper activity center
- My baby friends at daycare
- Laughing when I sneeze
- Sitting unassisted (briefly)
- Holding my own bottle (I'm Mr. Independent!)
- Sleeping even longer stretches at night (up to 11 hours!)
- Bath time
- Drooling

I'm 5 Months Old! May 4th, 2012

My Mommy loves me more than anything in the world!

And so does my Daddy!

Ronan had a big weekend! Not only did he turn 5 months old, but he also started his first solid food on Sunday. As I mentioned before, our pediatrician suggested starting at 5 1/2 months, but our little genius has been showing a lot of interest in Mommy and Daddy's food and drinks, so we went ahead and gave it a shot. It was a success! He certainly seemed confused, but yet he ate it....so I call that an accomplishment! We started with whole grain organic rice cereal. After a week or so, we'll start on some veggies. I've read that it's best to start with veggies first....if you start with the sweet yummy fruits first, they are less likely to go for the veggies. So, green beans will probably be on the list first, then possibly avocado and then we'll head for the sweet potatoes and pears. I can't wait to see his face when he has the good stuff! It'll be fun to get in the kitchen and whip up some healthy and organic homemade baby food.

First taste of rice cereal! 

Attempt #2....still confused, but still eating!

Food is fun!

No more cereal! I want my milk.


If you feel so inclined, here is the video we shot of his first solid food. It's long, but very cute (in my humble opinion!)

When I found out I was pregnant, I joined a pregnancy website called The Bump and frequented the community a lot for advice and support from other pregnant moms due the same month I was, November 2011. Some of the girls that were more involved in the boards started a private Facebook group for some of us so we could be a little more personal since The Bump is a public forum. Our "anniversary" of this group was Saturday. It's been a whole year since 120 strangers joined this Facebook group and over the past year we have become very close for being "virtual" friends. I now have a friend in nearly every state in the country...along with a couple in Canada and one in France! And we now have 123 babies (3 girls had twins) ranging all the way from 8 months old (a couple girls had premature babies born in September) to just 5 months old. My little Ronan was the last baby born in the group! In fact, the group sent me flowers for having the last baby born since I had to watch everyone have their babies while I sat at home, still pregnant. They felt sorry for me. :)

I have really relied heavily on these ladies for their friendship and I received a lot of support and empathy when I hit a rough patch with the PPD after I had the baby; several of the girls went through similar hardships. We all swap stories and experiences when it comes to everything from diaper rash, fevers, breastfeeding tips, nap and sleep advice, to more personal aspects of our lives that don't involve our children. I can name nearly every girl AND their babies. And while this group can also cause a certain level of anxiety at times with 120 different personalities, it's also been a lifesaver for me. 6 of the girls in the group live in the greater DFW area, and I was finally able to meet them all in person yesterday! One woman who lives in Fort Worth was gracious enough to have us all over for food and fun with the babies (while the husbands sat and had guy talk). Unfortunately, we all live pretty far away from each other....Rob and I had to drive 50 miles one way for the get together, but it was awesome to finally meet some of these wonderful ladies in person. It was great to walk in and know them before I had even met them in person. Here is a picture from our fun afternoon together!