5 months old!

Today is Jackson's 5 month birthday! I can't believe that next month he'll be halfway to one! He has changed so much in the past month. He's really grown from being a little newborn to a fun baby! I love this stage with babies, when they are so interactive and fun. He really enjoys playing with toys now, and appreciates being entertained. He's working on sitting up, but can't quite get the whole balance thing, and topples over if he looks to the side or reaches for something. Here he is showing off his almost-sitting-up skills:
Playing under his gym in his room.
In an effort to help him sleep better, we went ahead and introduced solids last week. Ideally we would wait till he's 6 months old, but let's face it, we are desperate for some rest around here, so we took the plunge. I wasn't sure how he'd do, being on the young side. But, as you can see, he was all about it! He kept grabbing the bowl and spoon and bringing them towards his mouth.
A happy baby after his first meal. Maybe he'll take after his sister and be a super eater!
Don't be fooled, he doesn't have any teeth yet. He sure is working on them, though. He drools lots, and is constantly chewing on anything and everything. We are now officially in the stage of putting everything in our mouth...
More sitting up skills.
He really enjoys time in the exersaucer too.
But we have to watch him...he'll turn himself around if the tv is on to see it! Sneaky!
He has continued to enjoy being swaddled, but as he's getting more mobile, he tends to become very frustrated when he wakes up and can't move his arms. So, we're trying to break that habit. That, of course, means he flips to his stomach to sleep. But, when he's not swaddled and wakes up, he has a hard time getting back to sleep because he moves so much. What to do???
Jackson also enjoys time with his big sister. He especially likes to reach out and touch her when she comes close to him, and grabbing her hair. Both get nice, loud screeches from Kathryn. We're working on laughing about it instead...
He still enjoys time in the Moby wrap as well. He usually faces out when I wear him so he can see what's going on, but on this particular day he wasn't feeling well, so he was facing me. He ended up taking two short naps in the wrap just like this on the day we took this picture. Poor thing!
Some other facts about Jackson's life as a 5-month-old:
*He eats about every 3 hours.
*In general, he takes one morning nap, one long afternoon nap, and then another catnap in the evening. I try to put him down for a nap about 2 hours after he woke up, whenever that may be.
*He's still rockin' the cloth diapers.
*Sleep is still a major issue for us. In fact, he's gotten worse. He's back to waking up every 2-3 hours throughout the night. Please PRAY for us, that we can get this straightened out soon...we're exhausted!
*He is still very ticklish and loves to laugh and giggle.
*He just started this happy screeching sound, and blows lots of raspberries and makes lots of other sounds all the time. He is a very vocal kid.
*He is a cuddler, and will snuggle up to us.
*He gives the best, slobbery open-mouthed kisses!
*He brings us so much joy, and we love him!