Week 25!

Wow is Matthew growing! I just can't believe how he gets more and more interactive every day. Sometimes it's fun, like when he's in a giggly mood and thinks that Mommy and Daddy are the funniest, most wonderful people on Earth. And sometimes it's not so fun, like when he's tired or frustrated and wants to whine and yell. And hit! Although I don't think it's so much that he hits on purpose. He just gets mad and flings his arms around, which happen to smack you in the face. At least he better not be hitting on purpose :oP

Here is what the newsletter says:

Your baby boy, Matthew, is 25 weeks (Approximately 5.8 months) old now.
Is your baby falling asleep on his or her own yet, or does it still take you a long time to get him or her to sleep each night? Sleep related issues are among the most common reported by parents with a child this age. Many exhausted parents turn to the advice of Dr. Richard Ferber, M.D. Dr. Ferber's method prescribes a regular bedtime routine and stresses the importance of teaching your baby to fall asleep on his or her own.
If your baby isn't crawling yet, he or she may become frustrated and cry when he or she can't get to toys that are out of reach. Although he or she may be able to scoot around on the floor, this movement is somewhat difficult and cumbersome. Try showing him or her how to crawl by positioning him or her on his or her hands and knees. Before you know it, he or she will be crawling all over the house.
Your baby has probably started babbling one syllable sounds that include consonants, such as "ba," "ma," and "da." The next step is combining those syllables into basic words, which he or she may start soon. You may not understand what he or she's saying (and he or she probably doesn't know either) but this is a huge step towards real speech.

Ah yes, sleep related issues. This is by far the most difficult thing that I am facing as a parent now. I feel that I've failed Matthew in some way, because he is not yet sleeping through the night. He got up twice last night, in fact, and refused to go to sleep again until I fed him. I know that babies his age do not need to eat at night. I also know how to break the habit of him eating at night. I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. One, I do not want to make him go hungry if indeed he really is (because I know that I get hungry at night sometimes, so why wouldn't he?) and two, I do not want to have to be kept awake by him crying because I haven't fed him. If I do feed him, it's almost guaranteed that he will be asleep again in 10-15 minutes. And I have to get up early and go to work 5 out of 7 days of the week, so I find it very difficult to do anything other than put him back to sleep as quickly as possible. But it's backfired, I'm afraid, because now he expects a meal whenever he wants one at night. So...do I just realize that I have created a monster and let it go on like this until he either grows out of it or gets old enough to understand "go back to sleep," or do I let him cry for a few nights to break him of the habit? Seems like a no-brainer, but I hate to walk around like a zombie for a week because I can't sleep with him screaming. Not that I'm not already a zombie, getting up at random times of the night, every night for almost 6 months. Geez, who told me that parenting would be easy? Oh, right. No one :oP