5 Months Old

As much as I like it that Matthew is growing older, it is so hard to say goodbye to the previous month. I want him to grow, but I know that with each new milestone I lose some of his babyness, if you will. Now Matthew is 5 months old. He's one month away from eating food, his two bottom teeth are really trying to come through his gums, he is growing increasingly aware of his surroundings (okay- he is nosey), and he is getting SO big. I love this age when your baby is able to entertain themselves and watch the world around them, but they aren't old enough to move around the house and cause havoc! Matthew loves taking in the world around him. He watches cars go by, watches his brother and sister whiz past him, and can even enjoy the view from his car seat! We are in a good place!

Matthew was sleeping great! I felt rested and had tons on energy to put into the other two kids! We were on a roll! And then it happened. Those two bottom teeth turned our world around. His poor gums!!! He is constantly rubbing his tongue on his gums and if you put your knuckle in his mouth, he bites down on it like a lion attacking meat! It is pretty funny to watch, but sad too that he is so bothered by the pain! My other two kids weren't really affected by teeth coming in. Claire drooled incessantly, but then one day I looked in her mouth and she had teeth! Matthew, on the other hand, is working constantly to relieve the pain in his gums and we all can't wait for these darn teeth to just come in already! Okay, you got me. I don't care so much about the teeth as much as I yearn for our sleep patterns to get back on their normal paths!

Matthew now laughs and giggles at us and is growing increasingly ticklish! He recognizes Mom and Dad and will lean towards us to be picked up. He can sit up independently for a while but then slowly falls forward like a flower in the hot sun. It is actually pretty cute. He decided he was no longer interested in rolling, but has showed some signs that he might be interested soon. He loves to play on his mat and bat at his toys. If you put a toy in front of his face, he can grab it and it will go immediately to his mouth. He loves standing with assistance. We always tell him he is a 'big boy' when he does it and you can tell he is awfully proud of himself when he does this. He is not a big crier, but when he is mad he screams. This scream might be called a screech because it is so high pitched and you can tell he means business! He loves to eat and is doing so every 3 hours or so. He still does the crawl-stroke motion on my arm and also loves to hold my finger. He loves his pluggie (pacifier) and can now take it out of his mouth and put it back in. He loves to be held (mostly because he is held most of the time) but has grown content to have floor time. He does welcome the break to stretch his legs and arms and just kick around. He also does this hilarious closed fist arm pumping move where it looks like is trying to fly, but he only does it with his left arm. Other notables is that Matthew is a spit-up machine! He is an efficient eater and only eats for about 5 minutes a feed, but apparently gets more than his fill!

In terms of his look, we are starting to figure Matthew out! He still has the one dimple in his left cheek and I really hope it stays there! His hair is growing longer and I definitely see a twinge of red in it, but it is nowhere near as red as Michael's hair. I think he will be strawberry blond but only time will tell. His eyes are still such a pretty blue and I think they will stay too. Claire's eyes were green by the time she was 5 months so we think his blue eyes are here for good! The consensus is that Matthew looks a lot like Claire. Their coloring is a little different, but there are serious similarities when you look at Claire's baby pictures.

The kids are growing more and more in love with Matthew (if that is even possible) and again continue to thank me for having him. Life is good. We are happy. The only thing that can make life better at this point is for those darn teeth to come in already so we can have some peace and quiet until the top two teeth decide to make their entrance! But for now, we will enjoy our toothless gummy 5 month old Matthew!