Welcome, month five!!

(Okay, this can be confusing, but Elliot is entering his fifth month of life, so he is just now four months old - so when I say "Welcome, month five" that means, he is in his fifth month, not that he IS five months old... k.)

I feel like Elliot has changed so much in the past week or two! Let me tell you all about it. :-)

In regard to sleep, month four was a tough one. Elliot had been sleeping 6-7 hrs, waking up to eat, then sleeping another 4 hours every night, like clockwork. Then the "four month sleep regression" hit, & predictability went out the window, as did good sleep. There was no telling when, or how many times, he would wake up. Basically, during the sleep regression period, babies are learning how to sleep like big people instead of like newborns, which includes being able to put yourself back to sleep after waking up. So for about a month, every time he woke up, he'd need his paci & perhaps some shushing to get back to sleep. There were, I think, three nights that he woke up 6-8 times. AH! Finally, about a week ago, he started waking up only two or three times, & enter this week: Sunday & Monday night, he woke up once for his paci & went all night without eating, then Tuesday & Wednesday night, slept all night without waking up at all. WOW! What a difference it makes, sleeping all night without waking up - I'm talking about me! It's been a full year since I started waking up during the night to pee, then to tend to a newborn, so it's pretty nice to be sleeping again.

Also about a week ago, he started talking more. He has been pretty non-verbal up until now, just choosing to check things out around him without contributing a lot. Now he's just a little talker! He lays in his play yard & talks, talks, talks. I'll hold him & he'll look up at me & talk, talk, talk. I'll talk back to him & he'll smile, then talk some more. If only I knew what he was saying! It's like all of a sudden, he's just a little person, part of the world, & not just a little newborn. Sigh. Soon enough, he'll get teeth & be eating real food & sitting up then CRAWLING... oh I can't take it. Slow down, little guy!!!