5-Months Old - 25ths!

Today we celebrated Jack's 5-month birthday. Hard to believe that he's almost half a year old - when you're in the thick of it, it doesn't appear that time is moving quickly at all, but looking back allows a different perspective showing us how far we, as parents, and Jack have come. The weeks following his birth were extremely long and challenging, particularly adjusting to the lack of sleep and worrying constantly about his reliance on us. Now, at five months, he's growing more independent - he can play on his own for a half hour or so. He's beginning to learn how to sit up on his own, and he's babbling quite a bit more. His patterns (eating, napping, etc.) are becoming more scheduled, and he really only does one middle of the night feeding. Of course, this - paired with Jeff and I becoming more comfortable with parenting - allows us to relax and enjoy Jack and watch him meet his developmental milestones.

In terms of these milestones, Jack is beginning to teeth, which causes an inordinate amount of drool to coat everything from his clothes to our backs. We go through burp clothes almost as quickly as we go through diapers. Because of his teething, he also likes to put everything in his mouth, which presents a challenge if we leave certain things close by. My phone, my glasses, books, and baby wipes have all ended up in his mouth at one point or another. While he's learning to sit on his own, he simultaneously likes to try his hand at standing while being supported by one of us or by the Exersaucer. It's amazing to think that he'll be learning to walk by Christmas. And, aside from everything ending up in his mouth, he's starting to recognize his toys, and gets very excited when I bring out his old favorites. It's quite charming!

My last day of work was today, though I'm sure I'll be asked to continue to help with certain things and answer questions from my replacement. It's a bit scary to no longer have a job, but the happiness and anticipation I feel far outweighs that fear. I'm excited to not have to put Jack down on his playmat while I address a project or question from work. I love the fact that I can spend the entire day with Jack, and can leave the house for hours at a time without worrying about being tied to my laptop and work email.

Jeff and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful baby. My mum, when describing me as a baby, has said that I was happy 99% of the time, but the remaining 1% was filled with terrible screaming and crying. Jack seems very similar. He's a happy baby for the most part, but he does have his fussy moments. Fortunately, breast-feeding gives me an advantage over Jeff in soothing him. And we've used it quite a bit! We're certainly looking forward to seeing what the next month brings.