Henry at 5 Months

As I sit down to reflect on the past month for Henry’s 5 month update, I marvel at the fact that this Saturday (9/8/12) we will be celebrating Henry’s 6 month birthday.  It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Henry has been in our lives for half a YEAR now.  He’s actually been in our lives for even longer than that, because even before he was born, even before we knew that he was our little Henry Simon, he was with us; changing our lives.  It has been the best and most amazing change I’ve witnessed in my life, and such an incredible blessing and privilege.  Watching Henry grow and change just keeps getting better and better.  But before I get too far ahead of myself musing about Henry being 6 months old, I need to commemorate Henry at 5 months old! 

I'm 5 months old! 8/8/12

5 months old! 8/8/12

Snuggling with blue-bear 8/8/12

The month of August was a good month for us.  We were able to slow down a little bit and hang out in La Crosse and enjoy all of the fun things that summer in La Crosse has to offer.  We kept busy with going for hikes, to yoga, the farmer’s market, play-dates, and runs through the marsh.  We celebrated LJ’s 28^th birthday and visited the Domes to see Grandma and Grandpa Yak.  We even went to the Great River Folk Festival on the UW-L campus, which was a great event!  Over Labor Day weekend we took a big trip to Belleville, IL to visit the Sustar cousins and meet the newest addition to the clan, Margaret Rose.  We all survived the 8 hour car ride, and Henry even slept for maybe half of it.

5 months old! 8/8/12

5 months old! 8/8/12

5 months old! 8/8/12

Henry did a lot of growing and changing over the course of the month, but his most exciting feat is that he started sitting up on his own just a few days after his 5 month birthday!  Since then he loves to sit up and take in his world from a higher position.  Henry loves to play sitting up and is great at reaching for toys and bringing them to him.  Henry is very observant, and his new perch gives him more perspective on the world around him!  Henry also continues to roll from his back to his tummy, but not very often from his tummy to his back, although he CAN do it (and has done it a few times to prove himself!)!  

Henry continues to grow, and grow, and grow!  At the beginning of August he was about 16 lbs.  This past weekend we visited his cousins in Belleville, IL and weighed Henry on the baby scale at their house.  According to the scale he was 16lbs 10 oz.!  I predict that by the time we visit the pediatrician for his 6 month checkup he will be 17 lbs (or at least very close!). 

Henry sits up for the first time all by himself! -8/11/12

Hiking with papa 8/11/12

8/11/12 - Going for a hike in Hixon 

Thankfully, sleep has gotten better.  We have been working very hard on creating good sleep habits with Henry.  Since returning from Door County at the end of July we’ve been making an effort to put Henry to bed at an earlier and consistent time, usually around 7:30 or 8pm, and have been helping him to learn how to take longer naps.  We have been getting sleep advice from a book called “Good Night, Sleep Tight”.  It offers gentle sleep solutions as opposed to the “cry it out” method.  Instead of nursing Henry to sleep at night, we now put him down drowsy but awake.  When he wakes in the middle of the night, we soothe him without putting him to sleep ourselves, but reassure him that he can fall back to sleep by himself.  
On a good night Henry will be asleep by 8pm and will sleep 8 hours until 4am when he wakes up to nurse.  After he nurses he goes back to sleep until 7:30 or 8am.  Henry usually sleeps between 6-8 hours straight.  Maybe a handful of times he has gone longer than 8 hours without eating.  In the nap department we have made slower progress, but progress is progress, so I’ll take it!  Henry is now taking 1- 2 hour naps in his crib!  Sometimes he will still wake up after 30 or 45 min, so I usually wait a few minutes to see if he will go back to sleep by himself.  If he doesn’t seem to be drifting off again, I go in and try to soothe him and let him know that it’s still nap time.  When I first started trying this it used to take an hour before he would fall back asleep, now it only takes between 15-30 min most of the time.  
Henry continues to love to sleep on his belly.  I always put him down on his back, but he almost ALWAYS rolls over to his belly.  I guess he just wants to be like his Dad, who also loves to sleep on his belly.  

Must eat camera! 8/12/12

Celebrating Dad's birthday - 8/12/12

What a guy! He even does his own diaper laundry! 8/15/12

Swimming with his buddy Henry W.  8/30/12

Henry has been busy learning and exploring this month.  He continues to make new sounds every day, and is consistently getting stronger and more balanced when sitting up.  Henry is all out laughing again, which is so great to hear.  Henry loves to make very high-pitched screeching noises, and he loves it even more when I mimic the sounds he makes.  Henry and I have little conversations with each other that consist solely of high pitched noises.  =)  In the evening when LJ comes home from work Henry is super excited to see him.  Henry always has a big smile on his face when LJ walks through the door. 

Henry continues to get more and more fun.  He is an awesome little man who never ceases to amaze me.