I don't have a male so they may very well be different than my girls. At five months I remember still having to watch my girls and like a hawk too!
I think consistency and praise, praise, praise is the key with housebreaking them.
I found they did really well for awhile and then regressed the odd time which I think is pretty well normal with puppies. Eventually though they were all really great so the consistency paid off for sure.
If I go out for a short time I will put them in their kennels. If I have to leave them for three or more hours then I put them in a tiled room with their pee pads and the x-pen, water, beds and toys. This has worked well for me.