Anselm Ioan is five months, today.

Today we started solids for the first time. With the other two boys, I did Baby-Led Weaning and didn’t start solids until almost seven months. So starting so early is new for me; starting with spoon-feeding is new to me. And all day I’ve kept thinking that he’s almost seven months, not five months. Someone remind me that time is already going fast enough, and doesn’t need any help from my foggy memory.

 

We went to the pediatrician yesterday for his (late) four-month checkup. Both the nurse and the doctor, in their turn, looked at me, then at the big boys, then at Anselm. “Well,” they each said, puzzled. “Who does he look like?” It’s true: he really is his own little person.

There is something incredibly sweet about him that I just can’t quite express. Even when gagging on his first sweet potatoes, today, he flirted and grinned at me the whole time. He’s not exactly laid back–he has his moments, and his limit on nonsense and missed naps, etc.–but he’s just so sweet about everything.

It may have something to do with how his ears stick out. A baby grin is a baby grin, but add sticky-out ears and you’ve got something that’ll melt your heart and make it ooze out your toes.

He’s in the 20th percentile for weight and the 62nd for height. He is also very strong. The pediatrician joked that he’ll be the jock of the family. Maybe he’ll be able to break the records that his Papa set. In the meantime he keeps Mama on her toes by doing silly things like trying to sit up in the carseat and pulling himself forward on his belly, which isn’t anything incredibly shocking except if you consider the fact that the last baby she had didn’t move until 12.5 months and didn’t walk until almost 20.

A huge answer to prayer was the news that his head is still growing appropriately. At his two-month checkup, it was noted that his soft spot was already almost closed, and there was a concern that it would close to quickly and inhibit his head from growing. I took him in a couple of extra times to make sure his head circumference was continuing to go up. He is following his growth curve perfectly. Thank you, Jesus!

Both of the big boys love their baby brother, but he and Ephraim have a special bond. Ephraim loves to tell and show him everything, talking almost non-stop when they’re together, and Anselm absolutely eats it up, all smiles and coos and laughs. Ephraim loves to tell him stories, and has finally adopted the nickname “Mr. Mo”, which he makes sound almost as cute as “Baby Handsome”.  It’s hard to believe we’re almost halfway through his first year. I have not felt the pang of the passage of time so much as I have this time around. This little Baby Handsome has softened me even more than the first two did (which is really saying something!) It must be his sweetness. And his ears.