June 29

Yesterday was Eli's five-month birthday, but since today was Do-Nothing Monday, we took his birthday pictures today. He was quite cooperative for the whole thing!

At five months old, Eli weighs about 14.5 pounds. 

He coos, goos, and has just started squealing. 

He loves playing with his hands and fingers, and bats at or grabs anything he can reach.

Eli usually wakes up around 9 am, takes a 45-minute nap in the mornings, and a 3-hour nap in the afternoons. He spends his evenings nursing, snuggling, and on Daddy's chest in the Ergo, but won't sleep independently then. At night he's in bed with us, and he nurses through the night.

He just showed me that he can roll from his back to his belly last week, and during our photo shoot today I learned that he can also roll from his  belly to his back. Way to go, Eli!

Goodness, he is a sweet baby.

Hi there, handsome!

He really is a very happy baby, and he is so tolerant of all the "love" he gets from his siblings. I would definitely call him a good baby, but I also know that my standard of "good" is very different from other people's standards. I wear him a lot and feed him when he's hungry, and he is very, very happy. I call that good.

Seriously. Chunky naked baby! I see all those rolls and wonder how on earth he is considered 10th-15th percentile. I suppose we could fit more fat on him... I'll have to get on that.

(The quilt he's on was handmade by Chris' grandma for our wedding. This is the underside, but I think it's just as lovely as the top!)

Since Eli surprised me with his rolling skills, I tried putting him in a seated position to see what he can do. He can almost do a three-point seat, but he tips over pretty quickly. He'll get there, though!

By then it was nearly nap time, so I started packing up my things. I'm very lazy, so I asked the kids to help me carry things into the house. Caleb cheerfully agreed, and Lily seemed to agree to carry the ring sling in for me.

It turned out that she really just wanted to snuggle up in it. I love this picture of Lily - it is so very much her!

I love this sweet little stinker!