Progress all around to 6 months

As I watch his mobility progress this month, it has really been interesting.  In the beginning, he would be on his hands and knees, move his knees forward a couple of steps and would lunge forward so his head would be in front of his arms.  He would then lift his arms and place it parallel to his head and move his knees accordingly.  Most people tell me that babies learn to go backwards first but GM has opted to go forward.  He moves fast for a little person and when he is not in his playpen, he requires constant supervision.  Whenever something catches his eye, he "really moves" to try to get to it. 

With his increase in activity, I have also opted to increase his soft meals to 3
times per day and his milk intake is 6 times a day.  Even with the increase in intake, he hasn't developed Michelin arms and legs but is becoming more muscular.  I guess he works off the additional meals.  He also drinks juices and plain water so this helps me ensure that he doesn't get dehydrated from all the drooling and sweating.

GM takes a few naps a day but each nap lasts no longer than 30 minutes.  In the beginning of this month, he will have his last milk around midnight and then he will proceed to sleep until 5.30 to 6am.  From what I have read, babies should be able to sleep 8 hours straight now and require no night feedings but I just use this as a guideline.  As long as he is healthy and developing well, I am not worried.  Towards his completion of his sixth month, with the meals and more activity, I put him to bed at 9pm and he wakes up at 6am - a definite progress which also means that I can sleep at longer stretches.

He also talks more and we would sometimes "chit-chat" in the car and also before he goes to sleep - a way I use to unwind him in preparation for sleep.  I would normally start "slowing" him down around 8pm, starting with a bottle of milk, massaging him, chatting with him, all slower paced activities.  We would also spend time reading Quranic verses before he would fall asleep.  I try to stick to this routine as much as possible although when we attend events, this may not be possible.

GM remains his smiling self, always a smile for people who greet him
which really endears him to many.  He also is willing to be held by anyone so this really helps me out a lot, allowing me to have someone care for him when I need to do something.  As he rounds off his 6th month, he weighs 8.6kg and is 66cm tall.

Now that I will be approaching 5 months, any other things apart from milk?

GM was growing so fast and he drank milk about every 2-3 hours.  I began introducing him to soft foods like pureed pumpkin, peas, zucchini and rice and he enjoyed eating them.  He was easy to feed and when I place the spoon close to his mouth, he opens it readily.  All the food was without added sugar and organic.  I tasted them and found some of them to be only slightly sweet and this was from the natural sugar content.  I varied his meals and so far, he has eaten all the different types of food.  At this stage, I did not want him to eat sweetened food but to accept the natural tastes.  Luckily, he also accepted drinking water and unsweetened juices like apple and pear.

He also became more active - moving his arms and legs a lot.  He definitely developed an aversion to being held in a sleeping position and would voice his displeasure.  He preferred to sit up and stand and watch the world.  He began to recognize other people apart from me and would smile at people.  He loves to smile and he looks so adorable that people just tend to fall in love with him, especially with his easy-going personality.

He also started his babbling and I would respond with some inane response.  According to the literature that I read, babies do not understand what you say but will respond to your voice and this would encourage them to "talk" so here I am saying all kinds of things in response to his babble.  He also began to react to harsh tones by crying so I would avoid situations where he would hear people arguing or yelling at each other.  Since he rarely cried, and also chooses to babble at his pleasure, whenever we visit my dad, his comment would be that he hardly hears GM voice and has yet to hear him cry so he worries that GM will develop his vocal skills at a slower rate.  My comment, I'd rather he cries only for specific reasons like he wants to be fed, changed or is not feeling well :).

I bought him a couple of toys to further encourage his motor skills development and he would try to hold them, although with his thumb still folder so of course, this made it difficult for him to hold things and he figured out that he can grab things with his index and forefinger.  Towards the end of month 5, he began to use his thumb sometimes. 

He also learnt to lie on his tummy and would roll around as well as slide so I had to watch him
whenever I place him on the bed or any other locations where he could fall off.  He moves pretty fast so I had to keep a watchful eye on him.  He also had developed a preference to sleep on his tummy and sometimes even lifting his bottom up, which looks really funny.

At his fifth month checkup, he weighed 8.2kg and was 72cm tall, above average growth but with balance height to weight ratio so I didn't have to worry about him falling into the obese category.  If a baby fell into the obese category, it may affect his ability to crawl and walk if the legs and/or arms are not able to support its weight.  All in all, a month filled with changes and the joys of motherhood continues.