braxton michael | five months.

I'm always amazed at how fast the months have gone by since your birthday, and this month is no different. You're almost half a year old, big boy! WOW! This past month has been busy, busy, busy just like the others, but we've been having lots of fun with every memory made. You love talking, flapping your arms + legs, lifting your head up reeeeeeeally high during tummy time so that you don't miss anything, listening to loud music (I have no idea where you get that one from - hehe!), laughing (and I mean belly roll laughing), being close to daddy, being outside (we spend most of our days out in the sunshine), and that's just the start. You still eat chug-a-lug five times a day, and you'll start eating solids in just one month. Crazy! I reflect a lot on how thankful I am to be able to breastfeed you considering how things started out, and even though you'll never remember these feedings, I cherish them all (yes, even the ones when you're distracted by everything). You're not a huge fan of your car seat, probably because it keeps you from moving so much, but you usually do okay once you're all strapped in + ready to go. You love to snuggle when you're sleepy, but you want to be facing outward if you're not - if you can't see what's going on around you, you let us know in a hurry! You rolled over from you belly to your back several weeks ago, and now rolling is all you do. You love to roll back and forth, cooing + laughing as you move around. You're, also, becoming more of a wiggle worm every day - little one, I'm pretty sure you cut flips in your crib while you're sleeping! I usually wake up to the sounds of you talking to yourself, and when I turn to look at the monitor you have somehow ended up on the opposite side of the crib facing the other direction. Doctors recommend that babies sleep on their backs, but there is no way that's happening now that you've learned to roll to your belly - you are a belly sleeper all the way (just like mommy). Doctors, also, recommend that bumpers are not used, but I am certain that you would have a cracked skull by now if you didn't have one to help soften the blow of your head banging into the sides of your crib while you're getting comfy. You're still teething with no teethies breaking the surface so far, and you're not quite sitting up by yourself just yet either. You're a strong lad, so we know you'll be holding yourself up soon, though. Daddy is officially home for the summer now (minus a few weeks of coursework), which means that we're going to have looooots of play time with all three of us until August. Yippee! We're kicking things off by keeping tradition alive and hiking to the top of Table Rock today (no time to waste!). You did it with us last year, too, when you were only the size of a little prune inside of mommy's belly. Now, however, you weight more than sixteen pounds, and daddy is going to get a big workout as he carries you up + down the mountain. Here's to hoping we live to see tomorrow!

You met your Aunt P. Sawyer for the first time on May 19th, you've been hanging out with our dear friends from Haiti during their visit to the States, and you've received dozens of hugs + kisses from them both since they had waited so long to meet you. A really special thing happened this past Sunday, too - one that means a lot to daddy + mommy + a lot of others: we stood in front of our family at Capstone Church and dedicated ourselves to doing everything in our power to help you learn to love Jesus! We are so thankful for the opportunity to teach you + show you how the Lord loves you, and our prayer is that you would one day love Him in return.

We've got even more excitement planned for this next month, and we're pumped that you will be celebrating your half birthday at the beach. That's right, little one, it's almost time for our first vacation as a family of three (twenty-nine days to be exact). Whoop whoop! Until then, I'll keep nibbling on your precious rolls, letting you punch me in the face while you swing your arms all around, tickle you until you bust out laughing, and telling you that I love you ten thousand times a day.