From the Desk of Chloe & Abram's Mom: Abram

At five months Abram has found a new hobby in self-worship. He loves looking at the handsome baby in the mirror. Sometimes we just pass by a mirror for a quick second and I catch him flashing himself a giant smile. More notably, Abram has started his life-long relationship relationship with - what else? - his penis. His favorite time of the day is bath time. Although, I like to recognize it for what it really is: personal penis squeezing time. I am not joking about this. The second I put that little naked baby in the tub his hand goes south and he laughs and laughs. Abram loves his bath so much that every night at 7:00 p.m. he starts fussing. It is like he can't go without touching his penis for more than 24 hours! Joking aside, I love giving Abram a bath. He is just so happy chilling in the tub. He would stay there as long as I let him just cooing and smiling up at me. Bath time has done wonders for his skin, too. I have been using Eucerin body wash followed by Eucerin body cream immediately after the bath. His skin has completely cleared up and is now soft and smooth. No more itchies!

Abram's favorite person is Chloe. She gave him his first belly laugh and she makes him belly laugh on a daily basis. All she has to do is walk in the room and he smiles. To get him to laugh she just jumps in a circle or says "googoo, gaga." She is pretty funny, but he thinks she is hysterical. He also happens to think that I am very funny. I can get him laughing by just saying "hi" or by laughing myself. Paul gets him laughing by tickling him, but he laughs so hard then that he ends up doing a laugh/squeal that ends in the hiccups.

Abram's favorite place to hang is in the Baby Bjorn. I picked it up at a garage sale for $40 and I don't know where we would be without it. He loves to face out in it and smile at people whenever he can. People are always saying how cute he is, because he is always grinning from ear to ear.

Abram rolled from back to front on May 21. He rolled from front to back a few days later, but catching him in the act is rare. This is mainly because he rarely flips over on to his tummy since he realized that he hates it. When he rolls over he ends up just lying there complaining about it. There are no signs of him crawling anywhere any time soon. He does love bouncing in his jumparoo and sitting up in his pink Bumbo seat. He also loves trying to bounce himself out of his pink chair.

Chloe never seemed ready for solid food, and she choked on it for a good month or two before she was able to get the hang of it. Abram, on the other hand, has been competing with Griffin for the longest steak stare-down at dinner time. Abram just couldn't wait to get his hands on some real food. I've been saying that his first food was organic rice cereal mixed with (super far from organic) breastmilk. We gave that to him right at five months; however, about a week before that Chloe, Paul, and I were enjoying a round of red, white, and blue Country Fresh popsicles on a hot summer night right in front of Abram when it dawned on me that we were being awfully rude. You could see that he could practically taste our delicious treat! I surprised myself when I gave Paul the go-ahead to give Abram a taste. My, how my nerves have calmed with baby #2! The crazy books I read with Chloe would have had me convinced that Abram would turn into a giant hive within seconds of slurping the devil's candy!!

Abram is still breastfed and I'm fortunate that I haven't yet had the need to supplement with formula. He takes the bottle or breast and has started holding his bottle when he eats. He never usually eats more than 5 ounces. He can get his pacifier into his mouth and can reach for his toys. It is funny to watch him experiment with depth perception. Sometimes you see him grabbing for something and he is off by about six inches.

With regard to sleeping, he takes two naps a day - one shorter and one longer. I breastfeed him at night and let him fall asleep doing it. I haven't even thought once to Google how this is going to mess him up in the future. I don't even care at all this time! Once he is asleep I pop his paci in his mouth, take him up to his crib, and swaddle him up in a soft blanket my Mom made for him. Yes, I wrap him in a blanket. Past Cassie says, "GASP! A blanket?!" He loves his blanket, and I'm certain it is going to be with him until he goes to summer camp and is forced to leave it at home in fear of what his friends will think. We have had him wrapped in that blanket from day one, because his arms and legs are always moving and he can't sleep without being partially constrained. But there is something magical about that soft, cozy blanket. We've tried to go without, but there is just no way.

Chloe slept on her tummy at nap and bedtime from the minute she could roll over on her tummy until she was about 18 months old. There was just no stopping her. Every time I put her in her crib she would roll over and I would pat her butt. You always had to pat her butt. I think it is a colicy baby thing. Anyway, I would pat her butt lighter and ligher, slower and slower until I could tip-toe out of the room. Abram, on the other hand, I lie him down on his back, wrap up his body and legs really tightly in his blanket and then hold his crazy arms down against his chest. It takes him a few seconds to fall asleep and then I gently release his arms and tip-toe out of the room. Funny kids.