Sandra Bullock said it best, “I never knew what a milestone meant until I had a kid”. As an adult, we take for granted the ability to walk, talk, roll over and etc. But It’s such an accomplishment for our babies to achieve these milestones. This past month Braden has learned to roll over from back to tummy. Every time I see him do it, I’m so amazed. The way he’s learned to slightly push himself up from his arms makes me smile. I could take a picture of him doing it every time and it will never get old. Why is this so amazing to me!? Perhaps it’s because I’ve watched him go from a silent and still newborn to this growing, active, “talking” baby.
Rolling over is a great achievement in baby world. For Braden it started when he was able to find his feet. Every time I laid him down he would hurl is legs up towards his face. Eventually he realized he had feet he could hold onto, and hold onto he did! Changing diapers became a different kind of challenge, but it’s so cute it’s worth it.
Soon after the feet finding, Braden learned to use that momentum to lean himself to one side. He would do this and rock back and forth, back and forth. Somehow without me looking, he would end up on his tummy. I would know because it got eerily silent, and then the grunting began. I’d walk over and talk to him about his accomplishment. He’d look up and smile at me. But after a couple minutes he got bored of it, and would try to get back. Except he doesn’t know how to do that yet, so the grunting and whining would start up again. I’m curious to see how long it will take him to roll around without any help from me. I’m excited and scared at the same time.
Speaking of whining… Braden has found a new way to communicate with me: whining. He mostly whines when he wants me to hold him up and help him bounce up and down on my legs. I (kind of regrettably) got him a standing bouncer since he outgrew the seated one. Ever since then he thinks everything is meant to bounce on. Bounce bounce bounce. If he didn’t weigh over 18 pounds i’d oblige, but my arms are killing me. Is it possible for a 5 month old to walk? I’m pretty sure I won’t me able to hold him for much longer.
Braden has experienced his first time in the pool, he doesn’t have an opinion about it yet. He got his first bad rash (eczema), he handled it better than I did. He has a newfound affinity for water bottles. He loves to chew on the caps. Don’t worry; it’s attached to the bottle. He’s once again gone up a size in diapers, and in clothes. He still loves to drool, poop and fart like nobodies business. He likes to eat his feet, watch me eat, and grab at anything and everything. I learned this very quickly after sitting him in my lap at the dinner table. Yikes!
I haven’t decided on when I’m going to start him on solids, but I think he’s ready more than I am. Do they have to grow so fast?
I truly love him more and more each day. I love looking at the world through his eyes. Let’s see what the next 4 weeks will bring us.

I love you,
Your mama xo