Jon 5 months on
Sunday, 9th December 2007 by Julie
It’s slightly disconcerting to find that 5 months have passed since Jonathan’s arrival (and that Christmas is looming large on the horizon!), but there you are.
Our little guy is certainly looking – and feeling! – a lot bigger. And gradually figuring out how his body (fingers, hands, tongue, etc.) works.
Looking back at the routine I noted down when Jonathan was 6 weeks old, while Jon has changed a whole lot, there’s not a huge amount of difference in the routine yet.
For me, the single most important change is the loss of the early morning (04h00) feed. What a relief. That was already tailing off when I wrote Jon’s 12 week entry but now, thank goodness, it is definitely gone.
That’s not to say that Jonathan is completely quiet before 07h00. We often experience some half-hearted calling out between 6 and 7, and the occasional blip of non-negotiable awakening, but generally Jon settles himself quite quickly and goes on sleeping until we wake him just after 07h00.
The other sleep-related change to the routine is the loss of the afternoon nap. This tended to be hit and miss even at 12 weeks. Fortunately I can rely on a decent morning nap — falling asleep quietly in his cot just after 09h00 is starting to become a regular thing — and a lunchtime nap of at least an hour, but more likely two if he’s in his cot and down around 12h30.
Thinking along the baby “milestones”, we haven’t got a lot to report yet. We have seen (okay well, I have seen, and captured on film) him rolling over from front to back. This was quite exciting and he did it half a dozen times more in quick succession each time I rolled him back, before refusing to repeat it on any number of days since. 
Tom’s birthday at the end of August was the first time we actually spotted Jonathan smiling at us, and this is certainly something that is very repeatable. *warm parental glow*. Since then his repertoire has expanded to include a throaty little chuckle when he’s amused that we just love.
We’ve been doing one or two little experiments lately with putting tastes of various “baby-safe” solids onto his tongue.
The other day it was a bit of yoghurt, most of which immediately exited, much diluted with baby drool. And running a spoon over his chin to collect this, was, it turned out, the most amusing thing to have happened to young Jon all day. Chuckle-chuckle-chuckle. Every time. Bless.
With his neck and back being so much stronger now, Jon has also discovered the funny side of being thrown around. Tossing him into the air is a sure way to raise a smile and sometimes even a little chuckle too.
Jon’s fine motor skill are mostly related to twiddling his fingers together. These convenient toys seem to provide endless amusement. They’re also the only things he really wants in his mouth. We’ve seen him make a grab for other toys, finger them a bit, sometimes followed by a clumsy gesture to get whatever it is into his mouth, but it always comes back to the hands…
