theo at 5 months

theo or "baby bilog", as i fondly call him nowadays, turned five months last march 4th. he's still the happy and bubbly baby that we all love but i have observed that he's becoming clingy lately. though not as clingy as his kuya iñigo was but theo is now  demanding for our attention and wants to be carried always. ugh! he reacts whenever i put him down in his crib and it takes a while for him to be pacified. but it doesn't take long and he demands to be carried again.

he also prefers me laying down beside him during his slumber time. worse, he wants me to put one of my arms around him when he's sleeping instead of him lying down on his tummy. hello backpains!

but i realized that theo is just telling us that he, too, has emotional needs which we need to fill. he now cries when we disappear from his sight without any warning, especially if that happens in the middle of our bonding activities. he likes to be carried always as he likes to see us moving inside the house. so the daddy now wears him (yeah, i admit, he's better than me when it comes to babywearing) and it's amusing to see theo quiet inside the sling; his eyes busy with whatever his daddy is doing. this tells us that the baby just wants to get involved in our daily ritual... amazing isn't it? :)

party boy theo attending the first birthday party of his cousin zandy in pixie forest, festival mall, alabang; with him in this picture is lola babes (jude's aunt).

development and milestones

- his weight gain for the past four weeks tapered as he only gained additional 600 grams. but i think theo who's 4 1/2 months during the time he was weighed is still very heavy at 7.8 kilos. he's still exclusively breastfed until now and when i say "exclusive" it means he takes no other milk or liquid, including water and vitamins. breastfeeding not only gives us a healthy baby but saves us thousands of pesos as well.

- he can see farther now, up to three meters i think. i realized this when jude was carrying him from the door of our bedroom while i was in the kitchen cooking lunch... our eyes met and he gave me a big smile and gestured that he wanted me to get him from his daddy. he also now pays attention to colorful objects, aside from those with red-black-white patterns. and most of all, theo loves to look at the mirror and is fascinated with his own image. :)

- one of the milestones he achieved lately is using of his hand to reach out. now he knows what else he can do with his hand aside from putting it inside his mouth. :) theo has entered the age of discoveries as i sometimes see him gazing at his fingers, toes or any object that he can grab within his reach with so much fascination, only to shove it inside his mouth, probably to also know how it tastes like. hehehe.

- he now turns and rolls faster than he did a month ago. he's also trying to do some push ups but with his heavy load, he could only lift his body an inch. hahaha.

..less than a month from now and theo can already eat solid foods. he is already showing interests to eat but i think he has to wait for many more months before he could get a share of his cake, a monthly treat for his month-birthday but it's he--the celebrator--who cannot eat. hehehe.