Each month just gets better and better with Holden! We are so in love with him. He lights up our lives. He continues to grow 
and change on a daily basis and we just love being a part of the whole process. He is getting to be such a big boy now!
In the past month Holden figured out that he had an elbow. Then, once he figured that out, he began to shake a rattle and then began to hit himself in the face. At times he just does it with his fist but often there is a toy in his hand and he hits himself, looks shocked, then just shakes it off! He can now reach out his arm on his belly for a toy and he turns toward you when he hears his name! It’s pretty neat! He also scootches around on the floor on his belly and his back, rolling, pivoting, and bridging to get from place to place. Sometimes he is motivated by toys and other times he just gets a kick out of it! It is a lot of fun to watch. Before we know it, he will be officially on the move! Yikes, look out world, here comes Holden!!!
When Holden isn’t scootching around on the floor, he LOVES to be in his exersaucer. He loves to bounce in it, play with the toys, and it is a great vantage point for viewing the dogs. He is protected and he can stand there and watch them play. Sometimes the dogs just like to cozy up next to it and be near Holden. We even had to move it up a knotch because Holden is getting taller!
Holden also LOVES to be outside like his mommy! There is so much to see and hear! One 
morning, Holden and I were on the deck and you could hear a flock of geese in the distance. Holden quickly turned his head toward the sound, then spotted the geese and watched them fly overhead. He loved it! I have also been taking him pretty regulary to the trail with Linus and Sascha. It is quite the operation. I strap one dog on each side of the jogging stroller and off we go! Holden usually looks around for a while, talks a lot, then checks on the dogs. About one mile or so into the walk or run he is usually asleep. Today we were out there and a giant 6 foot snake was laying across the trail! Luckily there was a very nice gentleman on a bike that was near us and took it upon himself to battle the snake. He won luckily and the gigantic snake slithered off. Phew!
Another big event this month is that Holden started using his high chair! The first time I put him in the seat it looked like the chair swallowed him. He looked so small in there! But now our eyes have adjusted and he doesn’t seem as small. We started giving him rice cereal around 4 months and now are starting some baby foods! He likes the baby food much better than the rice cereal. Much more flavor for sure! I have been making my own from the garden for him which has been fun!
The best news of all this month has been that Holden is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!! Yay! So very exciting! A few weeks ago we decided that we needed to “cry it out”. Holden was by no means a bad sleeper but he would frequently fuss around for a pacifier. All we had to do was run in, pop the pacifier in and he was asleep. It didn’t seem so bad at first but it got old quickly. So we cried it out. It just took one true night. Holden cried for 7 minutes 3 times and that was it! Since then he has been sleeping through the night. If I had known it would be that easy, I would have toughed it out sooner!
Well we have a ton of things to look forward to in the next month. He just started swim class this past week and loves it, I will keep you posted! Plus Holden and I are taking a trip to California! It will be his first plane ride so I am a little nervous to do it myself! Plus Matt is running his second 50 miler in Vermont. So stay tuned for what’s to come! I have a feeling Holden will be sitting by himself the next time I write too! Whooo hooo!
Until next time…
Erin 🙂
What a cutie pie! He is soooo adorable! And so happy. You and Matt are doing a fabulous job!