Today, BB rolled belly to back...3 times like a pro...nice and smooth.   It was as if he's been doing it forever.  I put him on his belly and left the room to run his bath...then I heard thumping noises.  I came back to see what he was up to and I found him face up kicking a jar of lotion against the dresser.  At first, it didn't even register that he had rolled over...I was just wondering how he reached the lotion.  So I put him on his belly and he did it again!

He did it so well!  He lower his head to the ground and then just rolled his body down.  Then he combined rolled and reached the humidifier in 3 rolls. uh oh. he's mobile!

Pretty much right as he perfected his back to front roll this weekend, he started cooing again.  It's amazing how the brain functions...it shuts off one thing so that it can focus on learning another.  So now he does both...coos and rolls back to front.  He does it all day as soon as he gets placed on his back (if he doesn't burst into tears first, that is...he hates being on his back now). 

Today, I realized that he DOES know how to roll front to back.  When we were playing around on the bed, he would roll from back to front and then back to his back.  Effortlessly too.  He didn't even need to push up with his arms and fall over...he just used his torso to twist back.  That faker!  But for some reason 99% of the time, he won't do it and will just cry on his belly.  Why is that?!  I don't get it.

How do I know when he's ready to drop a nap?  He's been skipping out on his last nap of the day for the past few days.  He's tired, but just won't go down and will throw a fit if you put him in the crib.  But at the same time, he's super tried by the time it's bedtime and will go berserk on you.  I've always had trouble with that last (4th? nap) of the day because of the timing...sometime it runs really close to bed time depending on what time he's up.

Here is Mr. BB hanging out in the office.  He just started doing that bouncing up and down thing while he's sitting.  He also was kicking the screw part of the high chair underneath with the top of his feet quite hard.  So I put socks in a sock and covered it because I was afraid he would hurt himself.  And his grimace at the end...that's his poopy face.  He was caught in the act.  Whenever we see that, we know 100% that he's gone and done #2.

I also received my tester carrier this weekend.  It's a half-buckle...meaning it buckles at the waist, but you tie the long shoulder straps like a mei tai.  I really like it.  I sometimes have trouble having the shoulder straps fit me in a full-buckle (where the shoulder straps are buckled in as well) because I have really narrow and somewhat slope-y shoulders.  Mei tai shoulder straps are really good at staying in place and fitting most people...but the traditional mei tai also has a tie waist, which I don't like because I never get the waist just right on the first try.  So I always have to adjust, which is annoying if you have to untie and re-tie.  So having the buckle on the bottom and the straps on top is a perfect combo.  I love trying all these different carriers!   It's hard to find just the right fit because of my build.  PB can wear pretty much anything without a problem. I wish I gave the wrap a longer try when BB was younger....that seems like the perfect carrier for a newborn.

But babywearing has definitely saved my sanity.  I can't imagine what I would do with BB on his super cranky, sick, teething days if I couldn't wear him.  I wouldn't be able to even step away to make his bottle.  And as many of you saw this past Sunday.....a super cranky, tired, over-stimulated baby who can't nap...stick him in the carrier!

Anyway, here's me in the new tester half-buckle carrier.  Excuse the outfit...we just got home from NYC and we were about to get ready for bed.

BB's cold is still around.  It's pretty bad.  He's super congested and can only breathe through his mouth, which poses a problem with sleeping since he likes to sleep with the paci.  But if he uses the paci, then he can't breathe at all.  We tried the saline and suction, but nothing ever comes out!   I don't want to shove that bulb thing all the way up there.  He won't nap or sleep at night unless we're right next to him.  I tried the J&J vapor wash, but it didn't really help.  Can I use Vicks Vapor Rub on him...or is he too little?  I don't want it to end up in his mouth or his eyes. 

He also decided this weekend would be the weekend to perfect his back to front roll and to do it all the time...especially during sleep time.  So now we can never get him down because he decides to roll to his belly and of course he can't roll back, so he just cries until we rescue him.  We did find him sleeping on his belly in the middle of the night last night.  I guess he was too tired to cry. We got home around 9 PM (past his bedtime) and the crazy guy was up until 11 PM because he wouldn't go to sleep...he was all shrieking in excitement in his exersaucer and throwing toys around.

So now, all day it's roll....struggle....cry...and repeat.

I'm home this weekend.  BB has a bad cold so it's sort of a madhouse revolving around him right now.  Finally this morning, I got to eat breakfast with my mom in peace and quiet.  First comments out of her mouth "so how much do you weigh now, because you look bigger than you used to (pre-preg)".  (She said this while holding her arms out to the sides to indicate a wider girth.)

  Told her my weight (5 pounds more than I was pre-pre).  "Oh, that much?  What size do you wear then?  Size *** (3 sizes larger than I normally do)?" 

I told her I wear my regular clothes.  "NO....there's no way you can...they must feel very very tight".   "Are you exercising?". 

No, not at all.  "OH, you should...at least to get rid of the stomach area (which by the way is barely there...I can button all my pants and stuff)."

Why do I come home and subject myself to this.  Anyway...off to gorge myself on dim sum!

Of course, after I go out and buy 3 sippy cups of another brand, BB decides he likes the Klean Kanteen with the Avent sippy spout after all.  I tried it again today, and he just sucked and drank from it as if he's been doing that all along.  Go figure.  Oh well...good thing the 3 sippies were just $2 each.  The Klean Kanteen sippy didn't come with a cover and when I looked it up, it's only sold online for like $3 with $5+ shipping!!!  I noticed that it looked sort of the same size as our Platex drop in bottle lids...so I tried it.  And it fit...perfectly!  Woohoo!!!

Quick question about bees.  Which ones are the ones that are really territorial and will sting? What do they look like?   We have these HUGE bees around our house (and neighborhood)...almost the size of my thumb.  And they hover around our garbage cans and front yard.  And they fly over to check us out every time we walk by.  It freaks me out.  I am NOT an insect person.  Is there a way to get rid of them?  I don't think there's a hive because there's only 1-2 of them.

I think BB has a cold.  His nose is kind of runny and there's always snot in there and he sounds congested.  He does cough sometimes, but I"m not sure if it's a real cough or just him choking on his saliva (which he does a lot).  Is there anything I should do for him?

*EDIT* It's a for real cold.  Sigh.  He is really congested.  He skipped his late afternoon nap because his nose was so stuffed.  I tried the saline and suction, but nothing came out....it's probably stuck way up there.  He's snorting and breathing only through his mouth (which is why he couldn't sleep since he uses the paci to fall asleep and he can't breathe through his mouth with the paci in).  I feel horrible that I tried to sleep train for the first time last night when he probably was also sick (he woke up with a runny nose and congestion).

I bathed him with J&J Vapor Wash and set up the humidifier in the room.   IS there anything else I can do to help?  Someone I know mentioned putting Vapor Rub on the soles of his feet....it's a reflexology thing.  But i'm scared he'll grab his feet then rub his eyes.

So Jodi Mindell's theory is pretty similar to Ferber's except she basically says it's okay for you to make up your own times to what makes you feel comfortable.  I think Ferber suggest 1 min, then 5 min, then 10 min, then 15 min for the rest of the night (or something like that...I didn't read the Ferber).  She says if you don't feel comfortable with doing 15, do it at 10 max the first night with smaller increments....as long as you are increasing in time each CIO session. 

I was a wuss and set 5 min as the max tonight and I did it in 1 minute increments. I went in just to pat him on the chest and stroke his head until he calmed down and to quietly say that it's okay and we love him.  Tomorrow, I'm supposed to use a longer max time.  I don't know if I can jump to 10.  I might do like 7 minutes or something.

Day 1:
8:00 PM Put in bed drowsy, but awake. Went in after 1, 2, 3, 4 then 3 x 5 minutes of crying.
8:30 PM Fell asleep
8:35 PM Woke up with a cry, but went back to sleep
9:50 PM Awake. Cry 1 min. Pat. 
9:51 Asleep

*EDIT*
1:15 AM Awake.  Cry 1 min. Asleep by himself
1:19 AM Awake. Cry 2 min.  Inconsolable with patting/rubbing of head or tummy/shushing.
1:21 AM  In bed with MB and PB.  Asleep by himself with sniffling and rubbing his face in MB's arm
6:45 AM Awake and up for the day as usual.

I suck. I got all frazzled by him not calming down with the patting at 1:21 AM and I forgot what I was supposed to do in that situation.  I read summaries of all the baby sleep training techniques and I couldn't remember which one was from the book.  I remember one said to pick him up, another said not to pick him up, etc.

Maybe we'll wait another 2 weeks. We're going back home this weekend anyway so I'm not sure if that'll throw things off since we all sleep together at my parent's house anyway.  The original plan was to use the Pack-n-play when we travelled...but we didn't realize how much junk we had to bring with us every time we went home.  There was never any room for the PNP.

After a couple of weeks of trying the sippy cup, BB isn't really getting it.  Well, he gets it, but not the right way.  The nuby sippy cup has a soft spout and you're supposed to get the liquid out by sucking on it through it's unique valve system (duh).  The only thing is that if you squeeze the valve, liquid comes out as well.  And since BB is all into chewing, the first thing he did was bite the valve....and liquid came out.  Now he thinks to get the liquid, you have to chew on the spout....so that's what he does...chew chew chew chew swallow and repeat.

I read that you should also try a regular cup at the same time.  And surprisingly, he's much better at a regular cup.  I used a really wide brimmed coffee mug so that I could see how fast the liquid was going into his mouth.  But he was all into grabbing the cup and bringing it to his mouth.  Before the liquid hits his mouth, he laps at it like a dog...but then once it's in his mouth, he drinks it like a regular person.  Do I need to continue trying the sippy cup or should I just let him do the regular cup?  I'm sure it'll be really messy later on when he tries to do the regular cup himself.  Is there a kid friendly version of a regular cup?

We decided to start sleep training.  Sigh.  We thought we dodged that bullet.  I ordered the sleep book by Jodi Mindell.  She advocates CIO, but is a little bit more lenient with it than Ferber and gives suggestions as to how to adapt her technique so that it better suits your baby (or so I read in the summary).  We'll start as soon as I get the book in the mail and read it.  Until then, I'm savoring every last night of BB snuggling in bed with us!  He actually has been doing a little better these past few days...but who knows.  I moved his bedtime up by 20 minutes tonight since I think he's kind of overtired by the time I normally put him to bed.

I feel like he's reached a new cognitive level.  He's so much more aware of things now.  He knows who I am and has actively reached out for me when strangers (aka the IL's) try to hold him.  And he definitely is developing that manipulative do-what-I-want-or-I'll-cry thing.  I'm not sure how to deal with that.  You can't really discipline him....I usually try the redirct strategy.   And he outsmarted that star stacking toy thing this week.  He finally got the hang of getting the rings off by himself the correct way (both hands, sliding the rings up over the center post....before he would just bat at it and knock the thing over).  He did that for half a day before he learned that if he pulled up at the bottom most one, they all come off at once.  So that's what he does every time now.

I haven't really taken any pictures since we moved   We spent all our time unpacking and adapting to our new place.  I should start doing that again...I missed a lot of his 5th month.

Last night, I made a batch of pear puree and a really big batch of yams since BB seemed to LOVE yams (hey, he is 1/2 Taiwanese after all!).  I tried the pear this morning and already there's poop.  He normally goes once a day in the morning.  He did the morning one and this is the second of the day.  I know people said to do all veggies before starting the fruits since babies will sometime refuse the veggies after tasting the sweeter fruits.  But you'll eventually have to go back to veggies after you finish all the fruits and by that point, the baby has had weeks of fruits.   So I decided to go back and forth.  Now that I've tried more foods, it's easier to mix and match.  Whenever I start a fruit, I'll only give it to him once a day and give him a veggie the other time.

He wasn't as excited about the pear as I thought he'd be.  I think it was the gritty texture....he kept moving his mouth in a weird chewing motion.  It was really easy to make since I didn't have to add any water.  I just baked it in the oven and cut it up into little pieces and pureed it.  I mixed it with his cereal instead and he seemed to like that better.

We also want to start yogurt.  Do we HAVE to use YoBaby?  Or can we use any normal adult brand yogurt?  We're probably going to try the plain first since we haven't really done fruits yet.  I know the adult one has more sugar, but it's just natural sugars right?  Not like added sugar.  The YoBaby is expensive!  I looked into making yogurt myself too, but uh....yeah...I'll just leave that to the professionals.

We're not sure how he learned this but in the past few weeks, BB has learned how to whine...and he does it all the time when he doesn't get his way or if we something away from him (like if he's about to grab something dirty and stuff it in his mouth).  He also does this thing where he fake hyperventilates through his nose like he's about to cry...but isn't really going to cry.  It's a threat that he might cry if we don't give him what he wants!  I should get these on video one day.

We think we figured out the reason behind his frequent night wakings.  This past week or two, he was up every 1/2 hour to hour and we had no idea why.  Before that it was around 3 times a night and we thought that was teething related.  But this was different...he would wake up crying really hard right away.  We knew that something must be bothering him enough that he would wake up so frequently crying that hard.  We knew that he didn't want to wake up because he would try to fall back asleep while crying...like he would do all his comfort actions, but they didn't work.

Then two nights ago, I realized that every time he woke up and cried, he would fart in the process.  Don't ask me why it took so long for me to make this correlation...it's hard to reason in the middle of the night!  So, the next time he got up, I gave him some simethicone and he was out for the next 6 hours (which was until 6:30, which is his normal wakeup time).  Last night, I tried giving him simethicone right before bed and doing tummy massage and he went from 8 - 3.  I patted him back to sleep and then he got up at 5:30 and I brought him into bed with us and then he slept until 9:30!  Simethicone works for about 6 hours, so it could be that after 3, his tummy started bothering him again.

So we think it's gas that's waking him up.  And it does make sense since we started squash and yams right about the time he started waking up a lot...and yams give me plenty of gas too (not sure about squash since I don't eat squash!)  We'll try bicycling his legs more and doing more tummy massage.  Is there anything else I can do to help?

I think I'm going to return the Scootababy carrier   It doesn't quite fit right.  The body panel is contoured so that there's almost a pouch for the baby's bottom to fit into.  Except the pouch is too big for BB"s flat behind so he's always sinking back into the pouch, which probably isn't comfy for him....and it's certainly not that comfy for me since that sinking back ends up pulling on my shoulders.  Oh well....it's a great concept.

*EDIT* Other weirdo things that Mr Whiney does,

He's learned that if he reaches his arms around his bottle and touches the liner inside, it makes a cool crinkly noise.  So that's what he does.  Every bottle.  The entire time.  So much for holding your own bottle.  He did that for 2 days before discovering the crinklies...and now it's just crinkle crinkle crinkle.  God forbid you try to move his hands away.....

He also loves to put his feet up on things.  All these other babies sit so nicely in their highchair and strollers.  Not BB.  Within seconds of putting him in the high chair, he has managed to get his feet up onto the tray.  I usually combat that but pushing the tray in as far as it goes.  But still, he gets his feet up on the chair part (so his knees are sticking up).  Then he just smirks.  If he can't manage to get his feet up, then he'll just kick the bottom of the tray the entire time.

When we push BB around in the stroller, we see all the other kiddos sitting up, taking in the world.  Not BB.  He's slouched down as far as the seat belt will let him go...with his feet up on the tray thing like he's at the beach or something.

So last week, BB started sleeping well again, 8-3 AM for two days and then 8-6AM the night before yesterday.  So I thought, he's back to normal...maybe he's not really teething and all of this was growth spurt related (since there is one around 6 months).   During the day, he was back to his normal happy self...smiling, making his happy noises, napping like a champ, etc.  Then last night, he was up every hour and today, he was a mess...irritable, screaming, crying, not eating, fighting naps etc.  And we were like ?????????????  How could this be the same baby?!

I noticed that he started shaking his head a lot...and I knew it wasn't an ear infection since the doctor just examined his ears on Friday.  So I googled it and it's reported that it could be related to teething...or it's just something that some kids do to self-soothe when they're tired.  Anyway, there was an article about teething and there was this one part that said that the tooth doesn't make a smooth, continuous trip to the top.  It moves in spurts.  So on the days when it's not moving, the baby feels fine and dandy...and when it moves, it's not good.  That explains soooo much.  There were these random days during all this teething stuff when he would be totally fine!  And I couldn't figure out what it was that made him so happy on those days.  I started doing the whole...what did I do on that day that I didn't do the day before thing to try to figure it out.

Either way...there are still no teeth.  I feel so bad for him...it obviously really bothers him.  Now, he even uses his bottles as teething toys and will cram the nipple in as far into his mouth as possible so that he could rub his gums against the plastic part.  And he's not eating well at all.  I tried to get him to drink water or pedialyte, but he wouldn't take that either.  This is the worst it's  been so far...poor BB.