five months

Dear Joshua,

My chunky little five month old boy. Right now I’m watching you as you lay in the floor and arch your back as far as possible so that you can look up above your head at the singing ball toy someone gave you. You want to play with it so badly but you can’t quite figure out how to move your body around enough to get it. You have great head control but you still have this slight hesitation about flipping your lower body over so that you’re on your belly. I think you still think that you’ll fall.

Anyway, you’ve grown a ton. You’re wearing some size 12 – 18 month and some size 18 -24 month clothes and I STILL just cannot get over your fat rolls. They are delightful. Socks just will NOT stay on your feet, probably because you have no ankles to hold them on. Instead you have cankles.  And you know really, it wasn't that long ago that I was nine months pregnant and saying that about myself so I'm not just picking on you.

You still don’t have a tooth yet, but judging by the way you chew on your fingers and then burst into tears from the pain no less than five times a day I’d guess we’ll have one before too long. The doctor said we could start solid foods this month and so far you’ve had peaches, bananas, sweet potatoes, and green peas none of which you’ve been especially fond of. You do enjoy the cereal though.

Right now you’re suffering through your second double ear infection. It makes you sleep extremely poorly and congested enough that you don’t want to eat at all. You wake multiple times a night just trying to be able to breathe. You have snot pouring down your upper lip practically all day and you have coughing fits that make you easily mistaken for an old man. The solid foods may have made you constipated for a few weeks but the amoxicillin makes you poop about ten times a day.

But. BUT. Bless you child, because despite all of these crappy life changes you still have the sweetest temperament. It takes very little to make you laugh or smile and you squeal with delight very easily.

You can sit up for two or three minutes on your own before you topple over backwards or bend your waist all the way do that your nose is pressed against the floor. You've officially found your feet.  You love for someone to hold you up so you can stand.  You’ll come really close to reaching for people if they hold their hands out to pick you up and you move all around your crib throughout the night. It won’t be long at all before you’re all over the place in the blink of an eye.

We’ve finally gotten the bedtime thing down pat and you go to bed pretty easily these days. However, even at the beginning of the month you still weren’t sleeping all that great throughout the night. You’d go to bed around nine and wake up usually once each night to nurse and then you’re up for the day at seven. Most of the time you also wake up around 2 or 3 am as well even though you’re not hungry but at least then you’ll go back to sleep on your own. Now with the teething and ear infection (and who knows what else) you’re up every other hour. Mommy needs some sleep, boy! Can you work on that?

You take a bath with your sister every night and you love rubbing your belly when it’s wet. We let you go for a little swim in the water after you’re all clean and you seem to love it. I can’t wait to take you in the pool this summer.

You also love to watch Julianna in the car. It’s great that your carseat is rear facing because it lets you see her for the entire ride. We’re headed to the beach later this week so I hope that you’ll be good for us and if sister will entertain you the whole way, I can get a nap! Whheeeee! :)


Can't wait until next month, Sweet Boy!  I love you!

Love,
Mama