Five months…

Dear Noah,

Happy five months little man. Before you were born everyone said to me that the time would fly by, that you would grow up so quick and change before my very eyes and I think this month I have started to realize how true this is. You are developing your own little personality, you have some strong likes and dislikes and you certainly make your opinion heard when you are happy or unhappy.

When I held Nay`s baby, Leilah earlier this month it really shocked me to think that you were one that small! And it wasn`t even that long ago. I couldn`t get over how light she was and I can hardly remember when you were that small. I think it was then especially that I realized just how much you have grown!!

Last month I wrote that you were in a clingy stage always wanting to be held while you played or did anything but in these past couple of weeks you have started to become more independent and you like to play with your toys in front of me on the mat. You will look up every so often and grin to make sure I am still here and watching. Sometimes if we are out and I am holding you on my lap you start to get restless because I think you want to be able to roll around and explore by yourself. You still love cuddles though, thankfully!

A crazy nurse from the city came to visit the other day and she weighed you and you are 7kg- so you only gained 100grams in the last month but I know that after the first couple of months your weight increases slow down. She marked where you were on the growth chats in your boshi techo and you were smack bang in the middle still so all is well there. In the last month you have gotten a lot longer though- I don`t know how long you are exactly but you are in 70cm clothes now! You used to have such a little pot belly- and it is still there, but because you have gotten taller it is not as pronounced.

You still love the jolly jumper and this month you have also really gotten into your “funfungym” which one of mama`s students lent to us for a couple of months. You love pulling on the bear and getting it to play music and also trying to “climb” on it, so to speak.

In the mornings while daddy is getting ready for work and mama is eating breakfast or hanging out the washing you play on your fisher price mat- you have recently become obsessed with the mirror on there but you still love to bat at the other toys with your hands and feet and try to pull anything you can into your mouth. During this time we also put the NHK children`s shows on in the background- sometimes you will move yourself around so that you can get a better look at the tv! We have rearranged the living room and put down a rubber ABC mat (so much easier to wipe up the drool!) and put your toys and things in a little shelving unit. Mama is a bit obsessive compulsive so all your soft toys are in one box, rattles, squeaky toys, balls and other things that make noise in the other box, nappies and wipes in a another box and so forth.

You have an extremely infectious laugh and sometimes the weirdest things make you laugh. The other day I swear you laughed because you saw someone trip over. If you really did laugh because of that then you obviously have your daddy`s sense of humor. You spent a good 40 minutes laughing the other day while playing with a silver bowl- we got a great video of it which I am sure you will see many times when you get older. Basically you thought it was the best thing ever.

You had a couple more firsts this month too. Your first overnight out of town trip (we went to Shizuoka), your first solid foods (organic rice cereal), your first Chiba Peanuts Multicultural Playgroup meeting (yesterday!) and your first Children`s day.

Your first try at solids went well- you actually managed to swallow some. At first you were like “what the hell are you doing to me?” but then you certainly got into it. Daddy gave you you first couple of mouthfuls since it was me who has been feeding you all these months up until that point. We are now trying to give some rice cereal once a day. Some days you will gobble it down and others you are a little less interested. Will probably start you on other solid foods- maybe some sweet potato, carrots or apples sometime in the next month.

Children`s Day is a big thing in Japan and we had lots of fun taking photos of you with your “koinobori” and other Children`s Day things. Will get more interesting as you get older I am sure.

We are in the middle of a schedule change I think with your naps getting less frequent but they are usually a bit longer. This has only started in the last week and it is not everyday but certainly on the days we are at home pretty much all day you usually take at least one LONG nap with another 2 short naps or 1 other long nap. Today for example you took 2×45 minute naps and then had a 2 hour 15 minute nap this afternoon. You are still sleeping well at night with your first stretch going for anywhere between 7-9 hours and then you go back down for a further 2-5 hours depending on what time you wake up for a feed. I am wondering if I should start giving you a “dream” feed in which I stir you at 11pm when I am going to bed in the hope that you sleep then from 11 til 7am. I think if I do this it will take a week or so for you to get into the hang of it so I might wait til you have your day nap schedule down to 2 naps a day before trying this. I actually don`t mind waking up to feed you once a night as you only feed for 10 minutes and then resettle yourself in the cot so you are really easy going this way. You also are happy to put your self to sleep for you naps pretty much all the time which is great. I love that I can pop you in your cot when you start to get sleepy and are due for a nap and you will just go to sleep. If you are not sleepy and I have misread the signals then you don`t usually cry or anything you just play in your cot for 5 minutes or so then kind of call me without crying to let me know that you are not going to sleep yet.

You are pretty strong- you don`t pull yourself up yet onto furniture or anything but if I put out my hands you will try to pull yourself into a standing position. A couple of weeks ago you also got into a toy fight with Sakura and despite the 5 month age difference you held your own! You also love lounging around on your tummy and do mini push ups and can lift your head right up and turn around to see what is happening. When you are in your cot too I will often put you down one end on your tummy lying vertical in the cot and when I go into feed you in the middle of the night you are up the other end, on your back and lying horizontally. I think you must use the cot bars to propel yourself around- you do a similar thing on your mat when you want something

You like to play peek a boo and like to do it yourself by pulling a blanket or towel over your head and pulling it off. Reading is still something you enjoy and you are loving all of your cloth books this past month because I let you put those ones in your mouth I guess although your favourite book has been one called Let`s Go (Flaptastic) which has big full page flaps and it is about transport- you smile as soon as we get to the rocket page and often get a bit cranky when the book is done so I have to read it again!

I guess you may be a water baby- we have been to two different aquariums recently and you enjoyed both and you are still loving bath time. I have to start bathing you in the big bath full time in about a months time (you are just getting too big for the baby bath) and that will be a fun and new experience for us both. I have started to introduce bath toys and also we sometimes fill a bowl with water so that you can put your hands in and have a play. Splashing is always fun, right?

You still enjoy many of the things you liked last month like row row row your boat and other games but you also enjoy Round and round the garden- you start to smile before I even get to the tickle part and you are giggling as soon as my fingers tickle you under your arms. I am not that ticklish but you daddy certainly is so I guess you get it from him. You also think daddy`s face is funny apparently because sometimes you just look at him and laugh- I totally agree little man, his face IS funny! We sing and read lots of stories, play some games together and you are starting to get more into having skype chats with your Nana in Australia (or sometimes Cassie & Nana)- I think you are starting to realize that it isn`t just a tv as much as it is people you actually know.

This time next month you will be six months old and I can not believe I am almost the mummy to a six month old little boy. You are just growing so fast koala munchkin- you will be crawling, walking and talking before I know it.

Lets hope this month brings us many more giggles and belly laughs,

Love Mama

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