reidle beats, five months old

Five months! Possibly the thing I love most about this baby is his big grin from behind his pacifier: his cheeks plump up, his eyebrows lower and his eyes light up! That grin comes out best when we tickle his legs or his neck and when we "surprise" him and say boo! Even when Jake surprises him just a little too intensely, Reid will recover from the shock with a big ole smile. I just have this gut feeling that he's going to give us a run for our money here soon.

From this....

to this...His entire face changes shape when he smiles! Those cheeks and that little chin...too much, I tell ya.

When I've got both boys in their rocking chair with me to read stories before naps and bedtime, Reid cannot keep his hands from reaching for the book. And as soon as I raise the book out of his reach he turns to the side, hands out for Jake like he's going to crawl onto Jake's lap any minute. Thankfully Jake loves it and will hold his hand while we read. (I have to brag for a minute about Jake-- the other morning, Reid was playing in his exersaucer and I came around the corner to see Jake wiping Reid's nose with a napkin. He told me Reid's nose was running so he wiped it for him! I couldn't believe he had taken care of him like that totally unprompted. You better believe I praised the heck out of Jake for being so kind and taking such good care of his little brother!)



We decided to let Reid try rice cereal a little earlier than the six month mark because he is so aware of when we're eating and will grab for anything and everything when he's on our lap at the table (which is often). He'll see me take a drink from a water bottle and fuss until he gets to gum on the top of it. And there's been a few times where I've nursed him and felt like he was still hungry, so I defrosted more milk for him and he'd eat another 3-4 ounces. The first time we fed him cereal he of course didn't know what to do with it, but he liked the spoon! Since then he's gotten slightly more adept and can keep most of the cereal down if I give him miniscule amounts at a time. It makes me so excited to really start introducing new foods to him! I loved making Jake's food and trying different combinations of flavors. I have a feeling Reid is going to love it all...after he gets through the rice cereal, at least. ;)



Reid rolled from his belly to his back for the first time on Deric's birthday! He rolled a few times over the weekend and since then seems to have forgotten his little trick. He still manages to rotate around his playmat, however, so it won't be long before remembers how to get where he wants to go.

Reid's totally been spoiled (by me) into needing to be rocked and shushed to sleep still. I love rocking him but admittedly I need to teach him to fall asleep on his own because it gets a little tricky when he needs a nap right in the middle of me making dinner or in church, etc. And speaking of, I think his days in "big church" are limited as that baby is definitely finding his growly little voice! He is just the sweetest, smiliest boy and I cannot imagine life without him just five short months ago!