Jonah: 5 Month Update

Weight: 18 lbs

Clothes Size: 6-9 mo

Milestones:

-Sitting up!  Jonah’s officially a baby-sitter (or, a sitting-baby, I guess).  He can sit by himself for several minutes at a time now before he teeters over (which is adorable because regardless how he lands—on his side, on his back or face down—he doesn’t seem to mind one bit). 

-Motor control: Jonah grabs pretty much anything he can get his hands on (he especially loves holding and grabbing faces) and brings it to his mouth.  He can even coordinate both hands enough to (sort of) pick up a big squishy block.

-His first tooth is emerging! (Without much fussing or fevers, knock on wood.)

"J" is for Jonah.

Favorite Activities:

-Walks in the stroller, especially in the late afternoon.  We’ve made a ritual of going on a walk around the neighborhood after Jake gets home from work.  We bundle Jonah up and as soon as we get moving he immediately calms down, relaxes his body and peacefully observes the big wide world.  It’s awesome.  Jake and I can get in some good conversation, exercise and fresh air and Jonah seems to enjoy the ride.  I’m not sure what we’ll do once daylight savings time hits; it’ll be too dark to walk as a family after work. Maybe we’ll become mall walkers…

-Being outside.  Sitting on a blanket in the yard, swinging on the porch swing, lying in the hammock, all of it seems to make this little guy happy. 

-Reading: We read him several board books each day and Jake reads a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible while I nurse him before bed each night.  He really seems to enjoy looking at the pictures and “helping” to turn the pages. 

-The exersaucer remains a big hit. 

Bundled up for an evening walk.  

Digging the exersaucer. 

Reading on the porch swing with Mom. 

Sleep:

We took our first foray into sleep training this month.  It was challenging, but all in all, I’d say a great success (for nighttime, at least).  Jonah now goes to bed drowsy, but awake, around 7:00pm (after a bath, massage, swaddle, feeding and kisses) and we rarely hear from him before 5:00am anymore.  Most nights he fusses a bit before he falls asleep (rarely he’ll cry for longer than 15 minutes) and every now and then he’ll wake up in the middle of the night and put himself back to sleep after a bit of crying. 

-Naps are still a struggle.  We attempted sleep training for naps, but abandoned it after a couple days of extended crying (crying all the way through naptime on a number of occasions…absolute torture). So we still bounce or nurse him to sleep for naps, and they still last, on average, about 45 minutes. 

Things I Want to Remember:

-My mom visited for a long weekend while Jake went away for a wedding in Charleston, SC.  The weather was terrible (cold and rainy) but we made the best of it: cooking big meals to freeze for later, bundling up for walks during breaks in the rain, repotting a bunch of succulents that had grown unruly, making homemade baby food (which we’ll start offering to Jonah this month!), buying and assembling a highchair and drinking wine, eating cheese and crackers and watching Parenthood after Jonah went to bed at night.  It was a pretty awesome weekend with Omi!

-Jonah’s big gummy smiles, which he offers pretty much any time we look at him and smile now. And they’re often accompanied by giggles, belly laughs or babbles.  It’s so sweet to see him interacting with, and enjoying, the world. 
-I'm eating dairy again!  And boy does it taste great.  Especially the cheese.