Asa’s monthly baby photo (five months old)

Dear Asa,

You are adorable. Seriously adorable. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your mother and all mothers think their children are adorable. You possess facial features like big, expressive blue eyes and a wide, happy grin that are objectively adorable.

And thank goodness. Because if you weren’t as adorable as you are, you’d have a much harder time worming your way into our affections night after sleepless night. You don’t sleep through the night yet — not even close — and your father and I are miserably tired.

When your big brother was five months old, he went to bed at 7:30pm and woke up to eat at 3am. Part of your problem, I’m sure, is that we haven’t established a strict bedtime. It’s a classic case of second child syndrome: we’ve expected you to be on our schedule and Levi’s since day one. The times we’ve tried putting you in your crib to sleep before 8pm, you’ve stayed awake screaming until moved into your swing.

We put you back in your crib after your 10:30pm feeding, and you usually give us one three-hour chunk of sleep. Then you’re up about once an hour. Since we want to keep you on your three-hour (at minimum) feeding schedule, daddy does most of the nighttime soothing; I don’t want you to mistakenly think the milk bar is open when I’m simply trying to rock you to sleep.

He and I thought maybe you just wanted out of your swaddle (you seem interested in sleeping on your side), but using a sleep sack instead hasn’t helped. We also thought that putting you in your crib for naps might help, but you’ll only stay asleep for about 30 minutes in there.

However, we were happy to learn that you’re now content to be carried in the Ergobaby. You even napped in it! We traveled quite a bit in July — first to New Jersey for an impromptu visit and then to Cleveland for Grandma’s wedding — and I wore you in the Ergo around the airport and on the plane. (I’ve given up on the Baby K’tan. You just don’t fit comfortably in it.)

When we were in Cleveland, you sat in a Bumbo for the first time. It was an exciting milestone! However, your deliciously chubby legs barely fit in the chair, so we’ve been using this baby seat at home. Although you can sit up straight, you’re often leaning sideways trying to grab the straps that would attach the seat to a chair. You’ve figured out how to hit the toy that comes with the tray so that it spins, but you also like to lean forward and put it on your mouth.

Everything goes in your mouth. As a result, you’re a slobbering mess. Thankfully, you’re not drooling on your clothing, so you don’t need to wear a bib all day like Levi did. When you don’t have a toy or your fingers (or my fingers) in your mouth, you’re blowing raspberries and bubbles. By the way, your little fingernails, which grow maddeningly quickly, are always so sharp that they leave tiny red scratches all over my chest when I’m nursing you .

Sometimes I wonder if you’ll grow up to be a soccer player or a swimmer, since you’re constantly kicking your legs, even when you’re on your tummy. You aren’t really interested in rolling over from either your back or your front (you’ve done it just a handful of times), but you’ve mastered tummy time and have advanced to cobra pose. (Future yogi?)

Diaper blowouts are still an issue even though you’re now wearing size 3 diapers. You’re in size 3-6 month clothing but could probably fit into some size 6-9 pieces. You’re such a big baby, and it’s starting to get harder to remember what you were like as a newborn despite you only being five months old. I don’t take as many photos of you with my DSLR as I did with Levi (second child syndrome!), but your infancy has been well documented on Instagram. It’s just so much easier to take pictures with my iPhone since I always have it with me.

Your feeding schedule is nearly identical to last month’s — you nurse every three to four hours. You also nap at approximately the same times as last month, too: 10:30am, 2pm, 6pm, and, briefly, 9pm. Our goals this month are to start feeding you cereal and to get you on stricter sleeping schedule.

I love you, my sweet peanut. But please, Go the F**k to Sleep.

Love,
Mommy

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Asa turned five months old on July 26, 2014. I’ll be taking a monthly baby photo of him next to his Blabla doll on his birthday to document his growth the first year.

PS – All of Levi’s and Asa’s monthly baby photos.