Nelson Rett - 5 Months

5 months of Nelson! 

The days (and nights) are so so long. But the time does seem to be passing by quickly. Nelson is a happy camper most of the time... as long as he’s in someone’s arms. It’s by far his favorite place to be. I think he will be my cuddly kid. But I think anyone is cuddly compared to James, though. Nelson will hang out on the play mat, in the bumbo, bouncer, walker, etc. for short periods of time. If he goes longer that 10 minutes we’re surprised.

Nelson is on the MOVE. I think it’s what’s helping him enjoy time out of my arms more, because he’s starting to explore. I’ll set him down and within a few minutes he’s easily 5 feet away. Sometimes more. His play mat is on our rug near the Christmas tree, and no matter where we set him down or what direction, he makes his way over to the train that’s set up below the tree. 

He’s grabbing at everything, especially food. Good grief the food. He’s been lunging his body towards anything we eat since he was like 3.5 months old. But shortly after 4 months he started with his arms, trying desperately to grab what we were eating. So I started letting him lick and suck on food. Mostly apples or something on my finger like smushed sweet potato. At this point he’s tried all sorts of stuff, oatmeal, avocado, carrots, rice, beans, and more. He LOVED the rice and beans especially. Must be the 1/4 Brazilian in him hahaha.

Nelson has started laughing more and more, and James can get the most laughs out of him. Especially during bath time - his favorite time of the day. I was having them bathe together but they’ve been separate for about 2 weeks now since we were all sick with hand foot mouth. Sharing bath water with all those open sores is just disgusting. BLEH. 

Because of the HFM, Nelson had his first ER visit (and hopefully last). He hadn’t nursed much at all for two days and was starting to throw up, he was really badly dehydrated. Since I was also sick, I didn’t eat much either, so not only was he not nursing but my milk supply plummeted. It’s been a week and finally TODAY, things feel back to normal. We’re all better now, thank goodness.

One miraculous, wonderful, amazing, I’m-so-happy-about-it, tender mercy through the entire ordeal was is that NELSON STARTED TAKING A BOTTLE. I cried. I legitimately cried when he did. It’s been a such a battle and I’ve felt so suffocated not being able to leave him for more than like 2 hours. He was so starving and the sores in his mouth were so bad that he couldn’t nurse, but the bottle was easier. I’m still so so thankful. I’ll never not be thankful for that tender mercy. 

Nelson isn’t super interested in sitting, he just wants to stand. He loves to bounce and jump, which probably why he prefers the standing.  

As usual, grow baby grow!