5 Months Old!

 Baby Richard is five months old today!  After the Spring Sing all the other preschool parents were commenting on how big he's gotten and how alert he is.  When Richard first started picking up brother at preschool he was under six pounds and ALWAYS asleep.

Random thoughts about the last month…
1.  He's a rolly polly baby.  He can easily roll from back to front and sometimes over and around again.  Back to front is much easier for him.  Night finds him sleeping on his tummy.  Always.  (Once they can roll over themselves they are allowed to tummy sleep.)
2.  He's discovered the baby in the mirror.  That baby is always so friendly and happy to see him.  At Front Yard Friday last weekend he also discovered baby Leo next door.  Leo is 11 days older and was clearly the most fascinating thing Richard had encountered in a long time.  He just couldn't take his eyes off of him.
3.  He's starting to really understand what hands can do.  In addition to sucking his thumb, he likes to grab and hold the toys on his gym and bouncy chair.
4.  He has a clear understanding of who his people are and who aren't his people.  Fortunately he's generally still friendly.
5.  He's not the good sleeper he was as a newborn.  Generally he demands to be bounced all the way to sleep (except after his mid-night feeding) and he occasionally wakes up FAR too early.  Twice this week he was up at 5 in the am. He occasionally will sleep 6-7 hours at a stretch, but other nights he'll wake up every 4 hours, he's still unpredictable.  He's also still little.  Adjusted for prematurity he's only 3 1/2 months old.
6.  His bottles have increased to a whopping five ounces.  Usually he'll eat the whole thing.  (In contrast, Anthony was chowing down 8 ounces at this age.)
7.  The drool has started!