Austin's Fifth Month

Wow, this little man is growing so fast!!  The rate of his development is really amazing to see, it seems like he is doing something new everyday!  Austin has really mastered tummy time this past month and now enjoys playing on his tummy (which he used to absolutely hate!).  He has also started to turn himself to another direction while on his tummy and kicks his legs very hard to try to move around.  He has been able to roll onto his side from his back, though not all the way over to his tummy yet.  Austin's favorite game  now is peek-a-boo and he just giggles away at it!!  I love his laugh so much!  He continues to be quite a talker, he jabbers nonstop in his crib before he falls asleep and cracks himself up while he's in there, it's pretty amusing to watch (one of the awesome benefits of a video monitor!).  While Austin is extremely talkative around us he often becomes silent around other people and is very much an observer, taking in everything around him.  It is really fun to see his little personality emerging with both very playful and very serious sides to it!  He has been developing his fine motor coordination.  We leave two pacifiers in his crib tha he recently discovered.  They were originally out of his reach, though he was able to scoot himself over just enough to reach them.  Now he loves to grab them and play with them; he will try putting all different sides in his mouth and is able to find and grab it when it falls above his head.  One of the new things we've been working on this past month has been teaching him to drink water from a glass and also through a straw.  He has started to get the hang of it and is able to actually swallow instead of letting it drip all over!  Austin and I have also joined a playgroup this past month and he has been enjoying playing with other babies.  We hosted a Valentine's themed playdate at our place and the babies were able to fingerpaint for the first time!  Austin wasn't sure what to think when I put his hand in it at first, though he seemed to have fun.  It is so exciting to see what each new month brings!