The Adventures of Baby Bo: 5 Months

5 months.

5 MONTHS!!

I can't believe it. BB is almost half way through his first year of life, and oh what a 5 months it's been! I don't realize how much he really changes over time until I look back at old pictures and videos. I get so excited for every new stage and milestone, but at the same time get so weepy when I realize how quickly everything is going by.
 The best thing about his growing self has got to be his emerging personality. He is such a playful, sweet, and sensitive baby. He loves being around "his people" and tends to get sad pretty quickly when he feels like he is alone, or in the care of someone he does not know very well (which doesn't really happen very often). I feel the worst at night when I lay him down to bed (in his own crib finally!) and he immediately lets out such a sad cry, that I know is his "please don't leave me, I'll miss you so much" cry. He has learned to soothe himself by sucking on his hands while falling asleep now, so the crying typically subsides within a matter of minutes, if not seconds. It still doesn't make that first short wail any easier though.
He takes 3 naps a day, unless one is cut short for some reason, in which case a short fourth nap gets shoved in there somewhere. He goes to bed every night now at 7 pm on the dot. Mr.Bo and I originally began with trying to give him an 8 pm bed time in hopes that it would help to regulate his sleeping during the day. After only a few days though, he began to expire around 7. This seems to be the time that his internal clock has set as his bed time, which means he wakes up around 6 am every morning. These times have been working out pretty well, especially on the evenings we are at home, because it means Mr. Bo and I have some time to ourselves at night. The 6 am wake up time has been fine with us since Mr.Bo and I have both been getting up early to get ready for work anyway. However, now that I will not be babysitting during the day anymore, I think we are going to take the next few weeks to work on moving his bed time back to 8 pm, giving him a later wake up time of 7 am. This way we will still have some alone time in the evenings, but will also have a little more flexibility when it comes to making plans outside of the house, without feeling like we have to rush to make it back home by 7 in order to avoid a grumpy, over-tired BB (and I will get to "sleep in" in the mornings).
 We have been practicing eating rice cereal over the past month, and he is finally able to keep it in his mouth and swallow it, instead of spitting it all right back out. Our pediatrician told us that at this point the cereal mainly serves the purpose of being a "practice food" and not a food of sustenance. At 6 months he should begin eating pureed veggies, but I imagine we will probably begin that sooner rather than later. He drinks four 8 oz bottles a day, and considering he sleeps a solid eleven hours at night, that seems to be enough (babies his age should apparently only be drinking around 32 oz in a 24 hour period anyway).
BB can also roll over now!....Well, he rolled over..... Meaning he rolled over once, and that's it. Despite my best efforts and encouragement, he has not done it again since. I suppose that's ok though. Our pediatrician says by 6 months he should have it mastered, so we still have a month. He is starting to be able to sit up with some support though. Usually not for very long, but when he does he seems to love it. He is definitely ready to join the upright world, instead of always being flat on his back! 
We had a great Easter with family this year. Mr. Bo's parents returned from their winter in Arizona, and brought along with them Mr. Bo's brother, wife, and 4-year-old daughter, who all got to spend the week before Easter with us. We spent Easter Sunday with my parents and grandparents. BB even got a little Easter basket! It makes me so happy to know that BB has so many people around that love him. With so much love, it's no wonder he hates to be left alone in his crib. I would be sad too!