5 months old?! It’s really hard to believe. Even Jack who heard me tell someone that Rigby turned 5 months old over the weekend said, “Five months, already?!”
Rigby is a bright-eyed, flirtatious 5 month old babe with rosy apple cheeks and blue eyes that are full of expression. He continues to be loud and has no qualms letting you know that he is tired or hungry. He has also learned how to squeal this month and it is equally as loud as his cries.
This month was full of many marked events among which was a power outage from a wind storm that lasted for 50 hours!, a delay in the start to Jack’s school year due to a teacher strike, his first night away from home, a trip to the zoo, becoming the youngest supporter of Jack’s soccer team, the Yellow Jackets, and going to his first college football game.
Night time sleeping is going very well, yet we did experience the highly discussed 19-20 week old sleep regression in which Rigby work up several times throughout the night. It coincided with his first cold, so it was all around a difficult few days, but we are on the other side of that and he is back to sleeping long night stretches. His routine of late is an early bedtime of 6:30p (in actuality, he is ready for bed by 6:00p, but we are not quite ready to put him down then) and an early morning wake up of 6:00a. He is still waking one time during the very early morning (lately around 5:00a) to eat and usually goes back to sleep with no trouble. Despite the great sleep, he still wants nothing to do with his crib and sleeps pretty much the whole night in the Rock and Play. Not certain what we will do once he outgrows it.
Day time naps are so-so. His morning is the most unstructured time of the day as we are still working to find our rhythm with Jack’s school schedule. We walk Jack to school each morning and Rigby tends to cat nap both before and after this walk with, unfortunately, lots of crying as he tries to help himself fall asleep. Afternoon naps are much better and longer, yet not without their share of tears before he gives in to his sleepiness.
When he’s sleepy and being changed into his pajamas, he stares very intently into my eyes without moving a muscle aside from the occasional smirk that he lets slip. He hangs onto my every word and I just might fall more in love each time. He also might be the only person who enjoys my singing, but man is he a fan! We have been singing Better Than Ezra’s “Something “Bout This Time of Year” and Frente!’s “Accidentally Kelly Street” a lot lately.
Rigby is definitely playing and interacting more these days. He sits in his Bumbo chair several times throughout the day and is getting stronger supporting himself, which is good since solid foods are right around the corner (perhaps that is why he sheds buckets of drool all day long)! He also enjoys jumping in the Jumperoo and has a particular affinity for the music and lights. If ever on his back or in the carseat, he loves to grab ahold of his feet and sort of rock or place them into his mouth- reminds me of a little turtle that got flipped over on his shell. The highlight of his world, however, continues to be big brother Jack. His eyes sparkle and his whole face lights up whenever Jack is within view.
We have started more purposeful reading to Rigby, realizing just a few days ago that his book time was with Jack’s books and his board books were essentially being ignored. He enjoys listening and looking at the pictures if you can get him positioned just right in your lap, but he is also eager to grab at our arms and the book during story time. He loves to try to close the book and stick the corner into his mouth.
Rigby is quite ticklish and I can hardly get through a diaper change without a laughing spell. I continue to be completely addicted to it! I just love his laughter. We are starting to do sign language with him and he is an attentive observer. His new trick is the beginning of a hand wave hello. But, I have to be careful to praise as my excitement can be startling to him and he will pout out his bottom lip while tears swell in his eyes.
We love you so much sweet plum!
This past weekend we spent Saturday at 
Pardon me while I revisit one of my favorite memories and share it for the first time here with you. Last summer, we travelled to the Methow Valley in Eastern Washington, just the three of us (well, Rigby was technically with us, but we didn’t know that for most of the trip). It was a trip that we all needed, one that allowed us to recharge and to just be with each other in a stunning landscape.
Brown Goat 
