5 months

5 months?  Is that really possible?  Oh, how babies make time warp in silly ways.  I have a picture up in the kids' room that says "The Nights Are Long, The Years Are Short".  I couldn't describe any better than that how this time in our lives feels.

Here's a snapshot of Ira at 5 months:  He's smiley when fed and well rested, cranky when tired, and downright unreasonable if he gets woken up before he's done sleeping.  When awake he's up on all fours, can do 360's, and can basically scoot himself anywhere he wants to be.  This makes him very hard to contain...the boy will only sit in one spot (i.e. the stroller, car seat, activity circle) for about 10 minutes before giving you the riot act.  He started sitting on his own, but he so wants to get places that I think he won't be sitting much until he accomplishes crawling.  He's getting a little better about riding in the car as long as there are several toys within reach for chewing, but we still have several cry fests on the road. 

Unfortunately, his physical skills are far beyond his sleeping skills.  There are several times he'll wake up and immediately roll over and start rocking on all fours.  This means he's not getting the whole "putting himself back to sleep" thing very well.  I'm hoping that will be coming soon.  We finally got a crib for Ira, so we'll start to think about transitioning him from our bed to his own.  I have a feeling I'll "think" about it for a while.  There are times when having him in the bed is annoying and tiresome, but the hours and hours of baby cuddling time are hard to beat.  I know there will come a time when co-sleeping no longer works for me, Matt, or Ira.  But for now I'm going to enjoy it while I can...the years are short, right?

There's no one who can get Ira's attention like Josephine.  He absolutely idolizes her.  I'm pretty sure that's why his physical development has happened so fast.  There's nothing he wants more than to keep up with her.  She's becoming more interested in playing with him and reading him books (which is about the cutest thing ever!).  She also is getting more opinionated about NOT having her picture taken which makes it hard to capture them together.  But, this is the look she gave me when I told her not to look at the camera...ha, ha reverse psychology.