Update: walking, eating, pooping, sleeping
almost 6 months
Evan and I are trying to walk every day now. I push him in his stroller at 10 am because that's his first nap of the day. I walked almost 4 miles today. This is the first time I've been motivated to exercise since the birth. It's going well. I feel so much better. My goal is to lose 8-10 pounds to get to my pre-I'm ready to have babies now weight (strangely, I started gaining weight just talking about having kids). I've also started exercising to a Pilates video. The exercise routine seems like a combination of ballet, yoga, and jazzercize. I know I must be getting a workout because I feel like I've been punched in the abs. Now, if only I could break my addiction to Chips Ahoy and Oreos.

He's still eating solid foods just before bedtime. Sometimes he shows little interest, and Jerry has to persuade him to eat his rice cereal and squash (or carrots or whatever). Last night Evan really got into the eating thing. They got a routine going: Jerry fed him a spoonful of cereal, and Evan immediately sucked his thumb for three sucks, then pulled it out (with the delightful "pop" sound) just in time for Jerry to give him a new spoonful. After each bite, he sucked his thumb, then stopped in time for the next spoonful. It's a strange thing for a baby to do, but cute. He definitely prefers his left thumb.

I tried not to be mad at Jerry when he told me Evan really likes prunes. I said the next time he gives him prunes, he has to take the next day off work to change all the diapers.

As part of the bedtime routine, Jerry takes Evan around to each room in the house and turns off all the lights, talking to him about making the house dark for sleep. Last night, when all the other lights had been turned out, Jerry took him into the nursery, and Evan leaned forward to turn off the light switch. Jerry yelled for me to come quick, and I got there just as Evan flipped the switch on his own.

Today when I put him down for his second nap, I put him in his crib awake and turned on the lullaby (the music box sits inside his crib). He did a baby half-situp, which he does when he is trying to sit up on his own, so I helped him to a sitting position. Then he tried to push the buttons on the music box. But instead of pushing the buttons, he was doing a scratching motion with his hand over the buttons. He doesn't have the pushing idea down yet. I held his little hand and helped him push all the buttons, and he was very interested. He still didn't get it, but he definitely knows the music has something to do with those multi-colored buttons.

And last night he slept for the longest sleep stretch ever: 6 1/2 hours! Yahoo! He slept from 8:15 - 2:45. We were thrilled. He is also now a successful crib sleeper! We have our bed back. The night waking is the thing we need to conquer now. Every night is different. Just a few nights ago he was waking every 2-3 hours, but he was teething. In the big picture, we are seeing progress. He's maturing.