Henry: 5 months

5 months, almost half a year! I can't believe it. This month has been the biggest month for Henry so far, as far as growth and learning new things!  It seems like his mind grows and grows more and more everyday, and his personality is emerging at the same rate. If what he's like now is any indication of what he'll be like as he gets older, I foresee our little man being quite the ham. But also quiet at times, extremely sweet, and a total mama's boy. Henry is just starting to like to cuddle, and his favorite way to sleep is on his side, facing me, one thumb in his mouth and the other holding on to me. It melts my heart every single day. He's now sleeping in his crib every night and has recently gone back to sleeping through the night. Last month he started waking up 2-3 times, and we couldn't figure out what the problem was. Eventually we realized that he was just too big for the co-sleeper we had him in in our bed, and once we moved him into his crib (and got through the adjustment period), he was back to sleeping almost 12 solid hours. Henry loves to sleep completely stretched out, arms and legs wide open most of the time, and no wonder he kept waking up- every time he went to stretch he found himself confined. Now he is absolutely loving his crib, and although it's a little sad to not wake up and see his smiling face, Hank brings him in every morning for his first feeding and we cuddle for a long time to make up for it!

 

So here's Henry's current schedule:

6:30am wake up, Hank brings him into our bed before he gets in the shower
7-7:30am feed Henry, cuddle in bed, etc.
8am eat breakfast while Henry plays
8:30am get us ready for the day- either the gym/bootcamp, errands, meet a friend for brunch, or hanging out at home
9:00am leave the house or stay at home, but either way H. takes a nap during this time. He'll sleep through my bootcamp class (falls asleep in the car on the way there), or he'll sleep in his crib
10:30/11am wake up, feed Henry, hang out and read, play, etc. for the next couple of hours
2pm nap #2- this nap lasts anywhere from one and a half hours to two hours or so
3:30/4pm wake up, feed Henry, sometimes we'll go on a walk during this time
5:30pm Hank gets home and they have father/son time while we cook dinner
6:30pm start winding H. down for bed, give him a bath
7:00pm (on the dot) bring Henry into his room, read a book, feed him again. He usually falls right asleep around 7:30 or so.

When he wasn't sleeping through the night he would wake up at the same times almost every night- 11pm and 4am! Now that he's back to being a great sleeper I'm counting my lucky stars and enjoying every second. I think they say though that the minute you mention what a "great sleeper" your baby is, you're destined for a sleepless night, so we'll see about that! 

In other Henry news, all he wants to do lately is pull himself up into sitting position, and once he's there he wants to stand. He's such a mover and is on the verge of being able to crawl, once he figures it all out. He loves to flip belly to back, back to belly, and push up with his legs so his butt's in the air.  I'll post a video later this week from the other day and you'll see what I mean! It's just beyond neat because we'll go to bed one night, having just started to attempt something, and then the next day he'll master it! He's so smart and it's amazing seeing all of the connections being made day to day.

Henry is also quite the babbler and lately has taken to screaming and squealing when he's happy. He loves to take walks in his Baby Bjorn, and we've found that he likes that a lot more than his Ergo or Moby wrap because he can comfortably face out and take in so much action. He's so observant so unless he's super tired he prefers to face out.

This month Henry:

went on his second hike- he loves the outdoors
started making more distinct vowel sounds
is teething- I can see a little white bit of a tooth on his lower front/left gum
can almost sit up on his own
can almost push/pull himself into a seated position on his own
loves to stand with assistance as much as possible
started using a jumperoo and loves to bounce
likes to lie on his back and clap his feet together over and over
is highly amused by clapping and likes to "clap" with us by holding our hands
has mastered picking things up/reaching for things
has gotten to the stage where we have to push things away from him when out to dinner- he will lunge and grab at everything
is still breastfeeding
is getting more and more light brown hair
loves to have his head rubbed while falling asleep
still doesn't really live him Bumbo chair- is too active to want to sit still in it
had his first Easter
started to enjoy playing with blocks- he especially likes light blue and yellow
smiles every time Madeline comes near him
laughs very easily/smiles very easily

It's funny because every new stage has been the "best one yet," and I can only imagine how much more fun this is going to get as he gets older and is able to communicate with us more and more. My heart just grows and grows every single day, and I cannot even begin to describe the job that I feel being this little guy's mama.

So here's to you Henry, and here's to 5 months! We love you so much.