Sean at Five Months

Dear Sean,

Five months old and positively scrumptious. That’s you, in a nutshell.

Your personality continues to be “chill.” You are the epitome of the magical third baby that I heard so much about before actually taking the leap to have a third baby. I can’t say enough about how blessed we are to have a baby with your demeanor. You go with the flow, you rarely complain. The only time you really ever seem to lose your mind is when we are getting close to bedtime. And who can blame you for that?

So let’s dive right in with sleep, shall we? I’d say there were pretty significant improvements this month. You’ve seemed to move more consistently to only one wakeup per night, and that wakeup is typically between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. Compared to where we were before—all over the place—this is very bearable (for now). You’re in your crib every night now, all night if I can help it. Sometimes I do doze off while nursing you in our bed so we snuggle for an hour or so, whenever I wake back up and move you back to your bed.

We did break you of the swaddle a week or two ago. You started rolling over in it, and although you are strong enough to lift your head and turn it all around even when your arms are strapped down, we knew it was time. You handled it SURPRISINGLY well, given that sleep is not your strongest suit. One night, I did try to put you in a sleep slack instead of a swaddle sleep sack (which we now just wrap around your torso instead of your arms) and you had a really tough time staying asleep, so apparently you still need to feel the security of the swaddle around your middle. It’s funny, the trial and error we must go through with each individual baby! :)

Rolling. You started doing it in your sleep because you are so good at it awake! You are rolling, rolling, rolling all the time. You can go all ways. Back to belly, belly to back, to the right, to the left, whatever. You are an independent rolling machine. You also like to bear weight on your legs, which is funny because neither of your sisters were very good at that in their infancies. You like it so much that it occurred to me that perhaps you’d like a jumperoo. And guess what? You do. You jump around in that thing like it’s the greatest fun ever. You’re gaining a lot better control of your hands, too. You love to reach and grab. Hair, clothing, blankets, toys, whatever. If it’s there, you want to grab it. I’ve experienced some fingers to the nostrils a few times while nursing you in bed.

You do this adorable thing right now, where you tilt your head back to look intently at whoever is holding you. We might have you on one of our laps at dinnertime, and you’ll just suddenly rotate yourself a bit and tilt your whole head back to look straight up at Daddy or me. Or Grammy or Grandma or whomever. You will straighten back out and then do it over again. It’s sooo cute. I can’t help but wonder what is going on inside of that little head of yours!

Size-wise, I’m not sure where you’re at with weight and height, but you are still a solid little dude. Although you seem to have thinned out maybe just a *little*? You’re still solidly in 3-6 month clothing, although I think 9-month sizes will be knocking on the door here very, very shortly. You also outgrew your size 2 diapers so we are in size 3 now. I wasn’t even able to finish up the box of size 2s we had open because they were just too ridiculous. And frankly, we were experiencing too many blowouts. Not fun for anybody!

Earlier this month, we had you baptized. It was a really lovely day. Unfortunately, the priest that married Daddy and me—and then baptized your sisters—he passed away last summer. So we had to choose a different church for your special day. Thankfully, it’s a church we’ve been to many times, as it’s the one your grammy grew up going to, and the one at which we attend Christmas Eve Mass every single year. We were blessed to have a lot of extended family join us at the church, and then we had a party for you back at our house. It was fun to celebrate you, and of course, you were awesome.

Mommy is leaving soon to go on my first business trip since you were born. Honestly, I’m sick over the thought of leaving you for one night, let alone three! I am slightly freaking out but I know it’ll be okay. Your daddy is a champ with all of you kids and it’s comforting to know that at least you’ll be with him. But given how much I still miss you during the work days (it feels so, so good to pick up and snuggle you at the end of them!), it’s going to be kind of rough. Not to mention all of the pumping I’ll have to do. Chant with me… I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…

You’ve been doing wonderfully at daycare. Mary seems to have fallen in love with you, because… obviously. You are fine at drop-off, you’re great at pick-up. But that’s what we’ve come to expect out of our relaxed little guy. I’ve started to wonder, though… does this laidback nature now mean that we’re in for it once you’re a toddler? TIME WILL TELL. :)

I’m so blessed to have you as my son. I love you to the ends of the Earth.

With endless kisses,
Mommy