How the Fifth Month Went

Dear Zachary,

I tried to think of something clever to say about your being five months old, but I'm coming up empty. It's hard to think of clever witticisms when you're still not letting me get much sleep at night. To make up for that, though, you've gotten more fun during the day. From learning to use your hands, to being able to sit in your high chair and watch me wash dishes/prep food, it's rewarding to see you learn to interact with your world.

Now that we've settled into the routine of going to school three times a week, I'm rediscovering how much I love having conversations with people who can respond more or less intelligently teaching. You love it too, because it means you get to be at school, where there is no shortage of people willing to coo over you. You are so liberal with your smiles, it *almost* makes me wish you showed some kind of preference for me. But since you don't, I'll continue being happy that I can hand you off to strangers without any signs of anxiety on your part.

The flip side of this school thing is that on the days we don't go to school...The. Days. Drag. On. Forever. It gets really tempting to just read endless BuzzFeed articles (A List of Some Number of Things About Disney Princesses!) and pin countless cookie recipes (there's no way I'm ever giving enough tests to justify baking that many cookies!) on my phone while you chew on your blanket, but I'm trying to remind myself that these days need to be treasured. The bonus of working with high schoolers is knowing that I'm getting a preview of what you'll be like in the future; soon you'll be spending twelve hours a day at school (I'm assuming you'll have sports practice/debate club/robotics team/some other extracurricular activity) instead of twelve hours giggling and napping with me, and the whole world tells me I'll miss these slow, leisurely (mostly slow) days. So I'm making an effort to put my phone away and follow the words of a wise man who died before he could spend any time with his child:

Wherever you are, be all there. -- Jim Elliot

It's a grace to be able to hang out with you all day on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Love,
Mommy

Likes:

• Grabbing. Last month I was worried because you weren't grabbing things yet, even though the developmental milestones book said you should be. Well, I'm not worried anymore. You're grabbing the links on your activity gym, the O-ball, the taggie and shark I made for you, various rattles, my hair, my shirt, my face, Walnut's hair, everything! And then sticking them in your mouth, if possible. It makes me feel ridiculously gratified that you like the toys I made for you, although really, you like anything with little bits to suck on. 

• Somewhat related to the above: putting your arms around my neck when being held and pinching. The former is sweet and endearing, the latter, not so much. 
• Splashing during bath time.  We used to be so proud of you sitting quietly in the bath tub, but now you love kicking the water out. Your right foot is especially active -- Daddy jokes that you'll have a buffer right leg because seriously, it never stops moving. It's like somebody told your right leg that you were riding a bicycle and then forgot to tell it to stop. 
• Being tickled around your neck. We were also starting to think you weren't ticklish, but then your 公公 discovered the sweet spot that makes you giggle up a storm. 

• Being tossed in the air. Leave it to Daddy to dare to send you fake flying and set off a fit of giggles. There's no way I would've dared to do it without seeing him do it first. 

• Doing crunches. Poor little guy, you want so badly to sit up and see what's going on, but your core can't quite do it yet. Still, one must admire your persistence in trying to sit up. You especially like doing it in the bath, except then you can't hold the position for very long, so you tip over to the side and start gnawing on the side of the tub. 

• Rolling over, but only when nobody's looking. Every morning, I think to myself, maybe this is the morning I'll catch you rolling on video so that we can show grandparents. And every morning, I wait and wait, you lie there on your back and smile and show no signs of going anywhere, so I decide to step out and get some tea or breakfast. And inevitably, when I come back into the room, there you are in tummy time. You little devious thing, you. 

Dislikes:

• Cars that honk unnecessarily, cars with pumped up sound systems, excited middle schoolers, barking dogs, sirens, and flocks of geese overhead. Okay, maybe those are more my dislikes than yours, but seriously, nothing gets me more irrationally angry than noisy things that wake you up when you take your daily car nap. I go to all the trouble of driving you around until you fall asleep, only to have my efforts foiled by people who don't stop to consider that there might be a baby sleeping somewhere nearby (Just to be clear, I'm kidding about that, because really, how would they know). 
• Sleeping in new places. We took you on your first church retreat, and you absolutely refused to sleep in an unfamiliar environment. I ended lying on the floor, nursing you for hours those two nights in order to get you to stay asleep. And then when we came back you were all thrown off, and to be honest, you still haven't recovered. 

You also hated having to take pictures with the speaker's daughter.

New this month: 

• As mentioned above, you went on your first retreat. Aside from the sleeping thing, you did fabulously, being quiet during the plenary sessions, bouncing happily during the small group times, and mostly cooperating during meal times. You especially loved all the people fawning over you; mom and dad especially loved all the people willing to give them a break by holding you. 
• Your 爺爺, 嫲嫲 and 姑姐 came to visit from Philly. As with retreat, you love new people to smile at and play with, and we are glad to hand you over to give our arms a break. 
• They brought you a bunch of new clothes, and you're already almost too long for a couple of those 6-9 month onesies. How is that possible. 
• You raked in the red envelopes for your first Chinese New Year. We are so grateful for the people who love you so much already!

Happy Year of the Ram/Sheep/Goat!