growing by the minute: 5 months

Our little Jacob turns 5 months old today! I'll skip all of the cliches, even though they are all true — I feel like I blinked and now he's not an infant anymore. Before he was born, everyone told me how fast he'd grow and change, but I couldn't understand it until I lived it. Surprisingly, I'm finding that every day he looks more and more like a little boy and less like a baby.

Vital stats: Jacob is a whopping 19 pounds and 27 inches long. He's in the 95th percentile for length and 90th percentile for weight. The doctor said I must be "making some nutritional milk." Ha.

Milestones & firsts: Jacob is more active every day. He rolled over for the first time (back to front, to his left) just days after he turned four months, and about a week later he figured out how to roll over to his right. He uses his arms to hold himself up when he's on his belly — once he learns to make contact with his knees to the floor, he's going to be crawling like a mad man. When we sit him up on the couch, he doesn't rest at all — he quickly throws himself forward, rolling and laughing.

Teeth: We've been in teething mode here for the last month and then some. His gums sometimes bother him to the point that he doesn't want to nurse. We give him plenty of cold teethers and sometimes we let him gnaw on frozen banana to help soothe the aching.

Speech: Jacob has been treating us to more of those Ma and Da sounds over the past few days. We know he's not really saying the words, but the consonants are a step in the right direction! He rarely stops making sounds — babbling, cooing and laughing non-stop.

Zzzzzzz: Oh sleep. I feel like it's such a taboo subject. I'm a bit superstitious about Jacob's sleep. It seems like every time I talk at any length about our boy's so-far-so-good sleep schedule, I'm cursed with a long night with several wake-ups and feedings. I know it's all in my head, but still, why tempt fate? Long story short? We consider ourselves quite fortunate in this department. Knock on wood.

Om nom nom: Jacob is still exclusively breast fed and it continues to go so well — I love that time with him. We set up Jacob's high chair, which makes us even more excited for him to start eating cereal and solids next month. For now, he enjoys sitting up at the table with Mum and Dad like a big boy and playing with his tray full of toys and teethers. At his appointment yesterday, the doctor suggested letting Jacob gnaw on other cold, hard fruits and veggies to help with the teething pain and introduce him to other tastes. Last night he tried out carrot and loved it!

Likes & dislikes: Jacob loves to pull his toes into his mouth, hop and laugh in his jumperoo, play peek-a-boo with Daddy, and family dance parties and sing-alongs. He refuses to take breast milk from a bottle, is not a fan of soothers (unless he's using one as a teether), and he does not like being held in a reclined position like a baby.

Challenges: Jacob has eczema on his elbows, knees and back. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to itch or bother him at all, but it's added to our daily routines as we cover him with lotion in the morning and at night. The fact that Jacob won't take a bottle has been trying for us all, but he's doing much better at spending longer periods of time with his Daddy while I get out of the house.

Special moments: Husband loves when Jacob snuggles in and falls asleep on him. I love rubbing my nose on his belly and making him laugh hysterically. We both love when Jacob makes eye contact and a grin spreads over his face; it's pretty special to be loved that much.

Editor's note: In an effort to organize the blog and make more sense of my posting schedule, I'm going to share monthly updates about Baby J on the 18th of each month.