Moses: 5 Months Old

Dear Moses,

How in the heck did I get lucky enough to be your mom?! Sometimes I still can't believe that I get to spend my days holding you, playing with you, rocking you, nursing you, and putting you to sleep. I truly have the best job in the world. I honestly don't mind that you're not sleeping through the night yet. I just feel lucky that I have an adorable baby to wake up for.

The biggest development of the month is that you've started to get bored just sitting around and want to play with toys to entertain you. You get frustrated with them easily however. Your hands don't quite work the way you want them to yet, so you're constantly dropping things, which always makes you cry with frustration. While I was holding you today, you were pulling on the necklace I was wearing. All of a sudden, you got hysterical out of nowhere. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I realized that you were crying because my necklace wasn't coming off my neck. You were trying to pull it off so you could suck on it, but it wasn't working and you couldn't figure out why! It was so funny.

Your dad and I are a little bit worried about how flat the back of your head is getting. I remember all of your brothers having flat heads too, but I can't remember if theirs were as flat as yours. I've been really trying to keep you off of the back of your head by holding you, laying you on your tummy, or sitting you upright in your jumparoo or your bumbo chair, but I can't help it that you're putting pressure of the back of your head while you're sleeping or in your car seat. I am going to talk to your pediatrician about it at your appointment next month and see what he thinks.

A few weeks ago, you faked us out by sleeping through the night for three nights in a row, but now you're back to getting up around 11 pm, 3 am, and 7 am. You still can't stay awake for longer than about 1.5-2 hours at a time, which means you're taking 3-4 naps a day, depending on how long they are. You were taking really short little cat naps until I realized a few days ago that you need to go down for your first nap sooner. If I put you down about 45 minutes to an hour after you wake up for the day, you'll sleep longer and the whole day goes better. If I mess up that first nap by keeping you up for too long, you end up sleepy crappy for the rest of the day because you're overtired. I haven't been able to go to the gym lately because it messes with your sleep too much. I'm bummed about this because I really like to work out, but getting you good sleep is a bigger priority to me.

You still pretty much require me to nurse you to sleep for every nap and at bedtime with the exception of your morning nap. I'm usually able to lay you down awake for that one and you'll fall asleep on your own, but you need my boob in your mouth to fall asleep for the rest of them. For the most part, I don't mind this too much, but it does feel pretty restrictive when I want to go out in the evening for a date with your dad or dinner with girlfriends (heaven forbid!). You usually spend the whole time I'm gone struggling at home with the babysitter and I feel anxious the whole time I should be out enjoying myself because I know you're home being a little pill. I don't really know how to remedy this situation, but it's a bit troublesome.

You've started to show a lot of interest in food. Every time you're sitting on my lap while I eat, you your eyes follow my food all the way to my mouth. You also grab for it constantly. As much as I know you want to try food, I'm not quite ready for it yet. My life is a lot harder when I have to both nurse and feed a baby, so I'm putting it off as long as I can. I want to wait until you're 6 months before we go down that road!

You are capable of rolling from your belly to your back but don't do it very often. Most of the time, you're pretty content just being a fat blob that sits there drooling and smiling. Just the way I like you! I love this baby stage so much where you can't get around much but just like to chill. You love to put everything you can possibly get your hands on into your mouth. You drool more than any of my other babies. You can soak through a shirt within 15 minutes of having it on. I usually try to put a bib on you so that your shirt isn't always wet and I usually have to change those 3 or 4 times a day. It's so yucky!

It's been so much fun living at the Alba's house while our house is wrapping up. We should be moved in within the next 3 weeks or so. I can't wait to start our life there! We are going to make so many amazing memories! Grandma Janie and Guelito can't get enough of you. They're constantly holding you, kissing you, and playing with you. You bring everyone so much joy!

Lots of Love,
Mama

5 Month Stats 
Height: 26 inches (58th percentile) 
Weight: 17.6 lbs (79th percentile) 
Head Circumference: 17.6 in (97th percentile)