The Nora Chronicles: The Fifth Month

Some of the parenting books out there say that during the fifth month, babies’ behaviors can change a bit. They can go a bit “weird.” That would be accurate assessment of Nora from the past month.

Nora still hasn’t slept really through the night, and has also added to the mix fighting my wife or I every time we try to put her down. She’s also developed the ability to be very frustrated with her inability to sit up and play with her toys the way she wants to. Nothing quite like seeing a baby go from happy to screaming to happy all in the span of about 5 seconds. (I’m glad they don’t do psychological studies at this age, because wow would the numbers be off the chart with an infant.)

That said, she’s becoming much more interactive and fun. She’s got great control of her neck and head, and her tactile skills with her hands are pretty impressive (to me–I’m biased.) And let’s face it, there’s nothing more fun than seeing a smile emerge from her face with a toy or as a response to something we say… pretty satisfying.

Being a working dad

It’s tougher than you think. I feel very fortunate that my financial situation allows my wife to stay home while working part-time. That way we can avoid going the daycare route (which neither of us wanted). But being a working dad is hard in two ways:

1. The obvious one: Being away from my kid. I’ve missed the first real smile, the first real laugh, and some other firsts. And I know that I’ll miss some other firsts as well. It’s just the reality of the situation.

2. Future decisions. I know I’ve talked about it before, but every decision carries more weight now. I can’t really act impulsively on big decisions.

Anyway, that’s about it. Let’s hope the sixth month is a bit easier on all three of us.

Tagged as: daddy blog, Nora Chronicles