Cinque

Month five, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways. Month five is the new month three (at least for Baby Cugini). Everyone told me to wait until month three and I'd see all of these major developments and a lot more sleep. Didn't happen. Here's what's happening in month five:

1) We are sleeping more and better. YEAH! I'm almost afraid to put it out there but I can't contain my joy. Grumpy mamma is no longer. Last Thursday night (the night before we had our appointment at the U.S. Consulate), Dylan slept from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. straight. We haven't had any repeats of that but we see it as a good sign. Let's hope that major traveling next month does not throw us off too, too much. Any volunteers to take the night shift so mom and dad can at least get over their jet lag? C'mon, pay it forward! I've already decided that I'm going to do S.O.S. colic duty for anyone (call me day or night and I will be the most sympathetic listener because, girl, I've been there) who ever needs it and let some poor exhausted mom go take a breather around the block while I walk her screaming, red-faced kid around the house for an hour or two. The colic era gave me a few gray hairs.

2) Houston, we've got contact. A (very cute, however) crying, pooping blob we are no longer. We still cry, we still poop but we also laugh hysterically, talk, babble, play and wave "ciao ciao." Yes, he's begun to maneuver his hand into an unmistakable first wave type gesture. It's a little weak and palsied but it's most definitely a wave. Dylan babbles the day away with "ta ta ta ta" or "da da da da da." It used to be that it was me holding a one-sided conversation with him as I yammered away about God knows what. Sometimes I was so hard up for conversation starters, I'd pull out the box of Pampers and name all of the animals printed on the diapers. In English AND Italian just to kill some time (incidentally, we still don't know how to say "chipmunk" in Italian so I would just say "cheeeeepmooonk." Cristiano says he's never seen one and would call it a "small bear" but the box of Pampers already contains a big brown bear and this was so obviously a chipmunk. Somebody needs to get Procter & Gamble to add more Italian animals to the Italian Pampers - maybe the wild boar could replace the chipmunk over here.). But now I can't get a word in edgewise because if you try to talk back, he talks louder. Hey, it's not always all about YOU, Dylan. Oh, wait, yeah it is!

3) Mangia! This kid eats. Everything. Sweet. Savory. Plastic. He is not at all finicky. Whatever you put in front of him, he gobbles up. I'm still doing my whole "tasting menu" thing as I'm not going to fully introduce solids until next month but so far everything he's tasted, he's liked. I give him a few bites and then I quickly have to hide whatever it is I'm feeding him and distract him with a toy or else he will scream for more food.