James at Five Months

The last month has flown by!  Time in general seems to have acquired entirely new properties since our little guy was born, but this month in particular was FAST.  I wanted to document this very sweet time in our lives and share what’s new.

I have to say, this is my very favorite stage of development so far (yes, I think this at almost every stage…).  James is so engaged and interactive, but is not really mobile yet, which I know will bring new challenges.  He is such a happy little guy and is changing all of the time.

Gross Motor

James is determined.  He started rolling from tummy to back at three months and back to tummy at four months, but he really mastered rolling this month.  He also started desperately trying to crawl, but so far this mostly results in scooting backward or slowly rotating in a circle.

Funny story – half way through the month, he seemed to forget how to roll over!  I think once he mastered it, he didn’t care as much about practicing anymore and was likely focused on learning something new.  After constant rolling back and forth, he started trying to roll over, than flopping back down and giving up.  Has this happened to anyone else?

Once I realized this, I started putting toys / interesting objects diagonally above him so he could see them, but would need to roll onto his tummy to get a better look / grab them.  Within a day and a half or so of doing this, he was back to rolling regularly.  (I jokingly referred to this as rolling boot camp.)  Not being able to roll over was seriously impacting his naps, so I was happy when he was at it again!

James has also been practicing sitting and baring weight on his legs.  He can sometimes sit for a couple of minutes, with his hands on the floor for balance.  This seems to surprise him more than anything.

He also loves being held upright to practice standing.  He often collapses after a few seconds, but the last week or so he has started bouncing while doing this with a HUGE grin on his face.

Fine Motor

Last month was all about clasping his hands together and this month has been all about reaching for objects and bringing them to his mouth.  I so clearly remember when he couldn’t get his hand to his mouth at all as a newborn (and so desperately wanted to), and it is amazing to see him now, using his hands so deftly.

Sleep

James has made great strides with sleep this month and I must say, it’s made a huge difference in our family’s happiness!

He is not yet sleeping through the night regularly (he usually wakes up once in the middle of the night and once in the early morning), but I honestly don’t really care about that.  He goes back to sleep quickly and on his own after I feed him, so it’s just a 15-20 minute process.

The change this month, however, has been falling asleep independently.  This is something we’ve really been working on since he was three months or so, but saw significant progress in this month.  He’s been able to fall asleep on his own after night wakings for months, but just recently started doing so for most naps and at bedtime.  He used to cry and cry and need significant comforting, but I now just sing him one song and put him in his bed and he usually falls asleep.  I sometimes have to go back in to sing him another song and he sometimes needs more help with his late afternoon nap, but the days of lying next to him and rubbing his back or tummy while he cried seem to be mostly over (at least for now!)

He did have a strange 5-6 day string of very difficult bedtimes a couple of weeks ago.  I honestly have no idea why.  He started crying SO hard when we put him to bed; it was terrible.  After a few days though, he went back to normal and seems perfectly happy at bedtime most days.

Awareness

One of the biggest changes I’ve seen in James this month is his awareness.  He seems to be recognizing patterns and anticipating what will happen next.  For example, he gets super excited when I put him in his stroller to go for a walk.  He also gets a huge grin on his face when we start getting ready for bath time – one of his all-time favorite activities.  I actually wonder if this greater awareness is what caused his temporary bedtime rebellion – he would start crying as soon as the bedtime routine started.  Regardless, it is so fun to see this mental leap.

I honestly can’t believe that our little buddy is almost half a year old!  Six months seems like such a milestone to me and I just wish time would slow down.  I can only imagine what the next month will bring, but I’m trying not to look ahead too much, to focus on savoring these sweet days one at a time as they come.

Do you have children?  If so, what is something new they’re doing this month?