don't blink...

..because if you do, there is a good chance Ben will be starting kindergarten with a brand new lunchbox, then 16 and driving, and then off to college.  I can't believe that he is almost 6 months old (next week!).  I realized that I hadn't properly documented his 5 month achievements and/or posted any of his 5 month photos!  He was 5 months on Christmas Eve - so those pictures do a little bit of justice, however, here are the ones we take at home each month.  We try to take some in the same chair and on his changing table each month, so that we can really see the changes. 

At 5 months, Ben:

• is a SITTER. An official sitter! No propping, no help! GO BEN! Now... if he falls backward he needs a little help getting back up, but this boy can sit!
• talks MORE and MORE each day! He has discovered new sounds, too, which is too cute!
• thinks he can walk..... really. Or at least is ready to. Forget crawling and creeping, this child wants to run! We have our hands full needless to say! He obviously cannot really walk, but if we hold his hands, he takes steps and propels himself! It's pretty unreal. And the face he makes while doing it - priceless.
• tried sweet potatoes - and you liked it! We gave you sweet potatoes for Christmas and it was MUCH better than that ole rice cereal stuff we used to shove down your throat!
• LOVES Buffett! I mean LOOOOVES Buffett! He watches everything Buff does and grabs ahold of that fluffy white fur if he gets within reach. Buff, however, is not a fan of the grabbing. Buffett does love Ben, too, though.  He loves to lick Ben's face!
• loves faces and feeling each part of Matt's and my face. It's very, very sweet! He's learning!
• love to play with your toys on the floor - you are figuring them all out.
• still love bathtime! It's your favorite part of the day.
• stillllll don't sleep through the night - but we kinda have given up on that :)  Not really, but kind of.  There are good nights and not so good nights.  A good night is 7-3:30 or 4... then back to sleep for 2 to 3 more hours after a feeding.  A bad night is 9:30, 12:30, 2:30. 4:30 and then up at 6 for the day... whew! Those don't happen often, but when they do, I feel like I am back in the infant stages! Most nights are good. There was a 2 week stretch where he would wake up around 11 or 12 for the first time, and then Matt would pat him back to sleep, then he would wake up around 3:30 or 4 hungry. Those were good nights!!... Then around Christmas time, with all of the traveling and such, we think he got thrown off again.  One night, Christmas Eve, we woke sweet baby up when we got to Chattanooga from Nashville. That was around 10pm.  We changed and fed him and then put him to sleep - and he slept til 6am! Woohoo - that was a great present! ( I just realized I wrote an entire paragraph about when and how Ben sleeps -- it's official. I am a Mom and this is my life!!)
• Teething continues! Ben drools and chews non stop all day long. No teeth yet - but they are oh.so.close. to poking though! (Another reason sleep has been a challenge! No wonder.... teething is no fun!)