Five Months

Baby Bird is five months old today. He is happy as can be; I'm teetering between ecstatic and devastated that the time is passing so quickly.

Raising a baby is a roller coaster. The days, weeks, and months that make up the first year are rife with phases - some good, some challenging.

Here is what I've learned about Baby Bird this month:

• Baby Bird has a high need for stimulation. He is never happier than in public with lots to see and hear, or in a room full of people doting over him. At home on quiet days, I struggle to keep him entertained and happy.
• His pain tolerance is not so great, as discovered at the doctor for his latest vaccinations. I was worried sick over the 4 month appointment (to the point that it was closer to five months) because his two-month vaccinations resulted in two weeks of screaming, crying, no smiling, and no sleeping. I was terrified he was allergic or susceptible to autism as per the experience of thousands of other parents. Anyway, he was fine after the first day or two - normal - but I have never heard him scream like he did while getting jabbed. I tried to nurse him through the shots, and after the shots, and it just wasn't happening.
• He has learned about cause and effect. He knows how to make his toys work, and he knows the difference between me pushing a button and him pushing a button. 
• He has learned to "yell" at me to switch sides while nursing - this one cracked me up. He gave me angry eyes and yelled, "Ah-mummumm!" at me.
• He is sitting up with assistance and has sat up unassisted once.
• He wants to be mobile. It frustrates him when he spots something out of his reach and can't get there. He has the upper body and lower body components of crawling down but hasn't managed to put them together yet.
• He smiles when a parent enters the room.
• He has learned to transfer things from hand to hand.
• The way he holds his hands tells me he is about to start working on his pincer grip.

Finally, I have learned that my heart truly lives outside of my body. There is no love like this. It is all-consuming. I have become the mother who incessantly posts about her child on facebook and twitter and frankly, I don't care if anyone is bothered by this. Infancy is so fleeting, and raising Baby Bird is my entire job during his infancy. It's my whole entire world.