Bobo at 21 Weeks

We've made it to 21 weeks. Or should I just say 5 months and counting? The past month has been amazing - to watch Will grow and change, sometimes seemingly so quickly.

• My husband and I see more of me in him now, although it's hard to pinpoint the exact features. So he's starting to seem more like a blend of both of us instead of a carbon copy of my husband.  This is me at 6 months old: 

And here is my husband at about 9 months:

• Several weeks ago Will began rolling over from his back to his tummy. It took him about 10 days to get used to this phenomenon and become more comfortable on his tummy. Now he's comfortable for much longer, but gets frustrated eventually, at which point I have to pick him up and change the scenery. He is getting good at pushing up with his arms, lifting all of his torso up off the ground momentarily - which also happens to scooch him backwards - so he is moving, slowly, backwards, but also moving in a circle. Today I watched as it took about 10 minutes for him to do a 360 turn. 
• One of his favorite games is "Bobo sit up". Well, it started out that way, and now it's "Bobo stand up". He lays on his back and we let him grab onto our fingers with each of his hands, then he cranes his neck up - trying to sit up. He doesn't have quite the strength to do it, so we assist. But now, when he does it, he straightens out his legs and digs his feet in, so he goes from laying down to standing. Once we start doing this, he wants to do it over and over and over. I know, because he'll use his body to forcefully lay back down and then he'll crane his neck and lift his head again and stretch his legs out
• No teeth have appeared, but he's often gnawing on things - his own fingers, or ours, or the head of Sophie the Giraffe. And he's drooling like a maniac. 
• His favorite toys at present are: The soft blue bear rattle given by his Mimi, the Einstein bendy ball from his other Grandma, Sophie the Giraffe, and the empty Coke Zero bottle that I filled with a few dried beans to make it rattle. 
• His new toy is an Evenflo exersaucer I got used. At first I thought it would be so fabulous - but it turns out there are a few toys on it that make him mad - I'm not sure why. I think he wants to take them apart or bring them to his mouth and he can't. So for now I'm having to limit the exersaucer to a couple of times a day for short periods. 
• He loves being carried in the Moby wrap (most of the time). I use it several times a day - doing chores, shopping, or taking walks at night when Will won't sleep! He sometimes falls asleep in it while I'm shopping and I love the feeling of his still little body against mine - I so rarely get that anymore!
• He seems to have slowed down on the physical growth (thank goodness) - now hanging out in the 6-9 month old size. 
• He's still a pacifier addict when it comes to sleep or soothing, although it's seeming to let up a bit. 
• He's become SO much more interested in everything around him - the food we eat, the drinks we drink, the remote controls, the phone, the refrigerator, the iPad. Strangely he's become a little less interested in the television.
• I've started giving him a little water in a cup and he gets so excited and intense - he immediately grabs the cup with both hands and forcefully shoves it into his mouth. He doesn't know yet how to drink - most of the water runs down his shirt, but it's just a new experience he's super excited about.
• More of his personality comes out every day - his variety of laughs and smiles, his angry face (along with his angry yell), his sad face which appears at perplexing times, his persistence and forcefulness, the way he shakes, lunges, and attacks when he gets really excited or wants something. I'm still intrigued to see who this little guy is gonna turn out to be, but right now he seems willful, energetic, intense, driven, curious and social - and sometimes sensitive, grumpy and apprehensive.
• Parenting him has been harder the last month for me for several reasons. First, he's become more attached to me and more apprehensive of everyone else - in other words, having someone else watch him (even my sweet Mom) is not so easy. Also his sleep schedule seemed to go out the window. He sleeps okay at night once he goes to sleep, but it's harder to get him to sleep in general - meaning less downtime and alone time for me - and I've come to realize how much I need that to feel "okay". 
• I have a theory about this sleep interruption - at this age Will is clearly going through a major mental growth spurt and with all that brain activity, there is a whole new world of stimulation and sensory overload, making it harder to relax, unwind, etc. Who knows? It's just my current theory!
• Sleep is still a big (emotional) issue for me - not middle of the night feedings per se - just sleep in general. I tried transitioning to almost 100% crib and it so kicked my butt that I went whimpering back to what I was doing before. So now I am still using a mix of swing, crib and co-sleeping - whatever seems to work - and feeling conflicted about doing so and afraid of the ramifications. And please, no one offer me advice! Love you all, but don't want to go there. I think part of my problem IS all the conflicting advice and opinions and sometimes more so being afraid that what I'm doing isn't kosher with societal expectations - even when it's working for our family. Umm, I said emotional, right? Ugh. I feel like I'm moving even further in the "Attachment Parenting" direction - wanting to just go with the flow, do what works, what gets my kid sleep, what gets me sleep, what makes my baby feel secure and safe and loved - even if that's not the social norm. And I'm just not sure if this will create a monster problem to solve somewhere down the road. 
• I'm still trying to recuperate from the sleep interruptions and the crib transition attempt - so that's why I've been blogging so little and have turned into a cave troll who is hoarding all of her time to do things as elemental as take baths and read books. I'm not sure when I'm going to reemerge from this cave I feel I've descended into. We'll see what the next few months bring.
• And finally, he is still so darned cute. And my husband and I say the word "cute" about 10 times a day. If kisses could spoil a baby, this little rascal would be spoilt rotten!