Joe is 5 Months

Wow.  Where does the time go?  Joe is 5 months!

Weight - 15 lbs 12 oz (25-50th Percentile)

Height - 26 inches (50-75th Percentile)

He is such a happy little baby!   I will never grow tired of his smiles, and now that he has

started giggling more it's so much fun to play around with him.  The sides of his rib cage
are super ticklish and he can't hold in his laughs when you tickle him.  He honestly does not
have very many sad moments. He used to get so upset being in the car, but knock on wood,
he's outgrown that for the most part.  It seems the only time we really hear him fuss
is when he's hungry, tired or bored.  As long as we can keep him 
fed, well rested and entertained, we're good to go.

He is getting so strong too.  He does great on his tummy and he's started rolling from side to

side.  He doesn't quite roll all the way over yet, but he's close.  Even though he can't roll, he's found ways to move around.  I'm not exactly sure how it happens, but I'll start him in the crib with his head at one end and when I go to get him in the morning, he has shifted around so his head is at the complete opposite end.  I am actually a little intrigued.  I'll have to watch him one of these times to see the how me manages that feat.

And speaking of his time in the crib, we've had a few sleep hiccups, but now he is back to 
sleeping for a good 8 hour stretch when he first goes down for the night.  He wakes to eat
and then goes down for another 3-4 hour stretch.  Typical bedtime is 6:30PM, which means
he wakes to eat around 3:00AM and then wakes for the day around 6:30AM.  We definitely
still have our nights where he wakes at 1:00AM, 4:00AM and then finally at 6:30AM, but
we're working on making those few and far between.  With the help of his new found thumb,
he can soothe himself back to sleep without me needing to feed him all the time.

He's not on any type of nap schedule yet, but he's finally sleeping past that magic 30-45 min
mark more consistently.  It didn't happen all of the time, but at least one nap per day he
would make it about 30 minutes in and then wake up.  Owen did the same thing around this
age.  It's something to do with them not being able to transition into a deeper sleep.  But
now that Joe is a pro at soothing himself to sleep, he's finding his way past that 30 minute mark to longer, more restful naps.  The best is when one of his naps lines up with Owen's
nap and both kids are sleeping at the same time.  A mother's dream!!

Things are not so bad when they're both awake though.  One of my favorite things to do is
watch him and Owen interact together.  Joe watches Owen so intently and is super happy to
be around him.  If Joe is in his jumper, Owen will come near him to talk to him or hand him
toys to play with.  Joe's face completely lights up and he gives Owen the biggest smiles.  It
makes me so happy and excited to envision how they'll play together in the months to come.

 

Joe is changing little by little every day.  He's learning new things and becoming so much

more social.  We've had so much fun over these past 5 months and I'm excited

to see what this next month has in store for us.