The Narrowed Lens: Tales of *tiny* Ty: Five Month Round-Up

This month has had no shortage of smiles and giggles but oh, ya'll...I don't think I have the strength for the age of discontent. I used to classify Ty as a happy baby, but that is far from the case these days. He's not happy in the car, on his mat or in the Bumbo. He's not happy sitting, not happy standing, not happy laying and not necessarily happy on his walks in the stroller. He has moments of peace, but they are just that, moments. They don't characterize his days :/ I can see I'm going to have to really pray for wisdom and patience. If I can do something to help him be happy (besides holding him while moving all day), I'm willing to give it a try. By the way, this isn't me complaining, just documenting where we are at this stage. Hopefully by next month, I'll have a better report :)

We still have lots of fun, though. Ty has found his voice and is loving to talk! He giggles a lot more now, which is adorable, and we even have some standby phrases or motions that usually work to get at least a big grin if not a chuckle out of him! Also on the positive side, we have seen a marked improvement in his puking habit. Some days he barely spits up at all! I no longer rush to get a bib around his neck as soon as I put him in clothes, and rare is the day that he destroys more than one burp cloth :)

Naps are still a battle, one that I'm not always up to fighting. Last week I laid down with him EVERY afternoon. He slept great (I didn't do too bad either). I just...I couldn't hack it anymore, the perpetual scream fest. It means little sleep for him, and no rest for me. So, I decided to take the bull by its horns and give us both a guaranteed rest. I knew I was really just delaying the inevitable but some days—some weeks—you just do what you have to do. Some days—or weeks—are about surviving. Am I right?

This week we are back to another round of sleep training for nap time (let it be known that he does a fantastic nine or ten hours at night, praise the Lord!). My previous attempts have been largely unsuccessful and while I thought I was going to be determined enough to get him to nap consistently, he appears to be even more determined not to.

In addition to sleep training, we also initiated Operation Delayed Rescue this week. This is my course of action for hopefully teaching him to be a bit more pleasant and not so...discontent? Neither Todd nor I have the gift of tuning out crying, so we tend to do what we need to to keep him from starting up (can you see the impossibility of such a regime?) That's probably what has made him so unpleasant this last month. We come to his rescue, even when there's nothing wrong. Now I'm trying to leave him on his mat or in his Bumbo even if he starts to fuss about it. Call it tough love. Will he eventually learn to be content? I doubt it. But I'm not sure what else to do. Maybe he'll be happier when he can sit up...that's what I keep telling myself, anyway.

What else? No teeth, no solids, no crawling, no rolling from back to belly, and no size 1 diapers! He graduated to size 2 a couple weeks ago. He weighs about 15 pounds so it was time :)

Now for the pictures (I know that's why you all come):

He's gotten much better at tummy time, I'm pleased to say.

I love this one :)

I cannot even begint to communicate how much he puked during this photo shoot...not during this particular pose, thankfully, but still. So gross.

The rare Ferocious Pooh Bear.

Ahh...one of those few, peaceful moments of playing happily by himself :)

This is our attempt at a DSLR selfie, as I'm much more likely to have a giant camera handy over a phone.

Naked baby torso!!

See this? This was at the end of one of his naps last week. It took me literally five minutes to slide out from under him. Todd got the picture, proving that Ty really does need afternoon naps.