Watch Me Grow: 5 months

Well, my baby is officially 5 months old.  And this is the point where I would say something like "It's gone by so fast." or "I can't believe he's 5 months old already."  But truth?  There have been some very challenging moments days weeks where we've listened to a lot of crying, done a lot of nursing and lots and lots of "putting the baby to sleep" dancing.  And to be honest, these last five months haven't gone by so fast.  And this is even after I quit dairy.  I mean, he's much happier now than when I was still binging on cheese, but nap time is a struggle every.single.time.  Is he teething?  Maybe.  Growing?  Probably.  I keep trying to find the reason why he's fights sleep so hard because then maybe I can accept it more.  But I haven't come up with anything concrete yet.

(sigh)  Ok, now that's off my chest.  On to the happier stuff.

Eating:

•  This kid loves his mama and loves his milk.  So guess what we do a lot of??  Yep, nursing!  Some days he'll only eat every 3 hours, but usually it's more often than that.  The good thing is that he's still a pretty efficient eater and we can be done quickly if necessary.
• He's much more active while nursing.  He's taken to beating my chest with his free hand.  Awesome.  "Easy there slugger!  I'm providing the food, remember??"  I usually can distract him by either holding his hand or giving him something to hold.  The worst is when he becomes distracted with something in the room and turns his head to look at it .... while still latched on!  Holy wow, does that hurt.  Let's just say I've become pretty speedy at unlatching him!
• Our goal is to wait to introduce solid foods until Carter is at least 6 months old to avoid any potential allergy issues.  But I think this kiddo will be more than ready next month.  He's already "eyeing" up the food we put in our mouths and consistently reaches for it.

Sleeping

• Excuse me for a moment  (HAHA! sleeping?? bahahahaHAHAHA)  Ok, I'm good now.  Well, sort of.  As I mentioned earlier, sleep has become a rarity in our house.  The only two places Carter will sleep are in my arms and in his carseat.  Or if I time it right (meaning, if all the planets in the universe align) I can sometimes nurse Carter to sleep on our bed (this only works in the early afternoon.  why?  I have no idea).  Then I slowly slip away and he might sleep for an hour or so there.  Which is good.  But then he fights naps the rest of the day.  And let's just say a 5 month old can NOT be awake for 6 hours straight and still be a pleasant human being to be around.
• Since I can't get Carter to sleep in his bed, we do a lot of driving to put him to sleep.  When we're out and about in the mornings, he'll usually nap in his carseat.  But it's becoming more common to take evening drives with him as well.  That seems to be the hardest time to get him to sleep.
• Despite our daily nap struggles, Carter still sleeps pretty well at night.  He's getting up more often again to eat (usually once around 1am and again around 5am) but he always falls right back asleep.  Praise the Lord for that! 
• We thought his "extra" waking in the night was maybe due to his bed.  We had him sleeping in a pack n' play next to our bed and the "mattress" on that thing wasn't very thick and consequently probably not very comfortable.  So we took it down and set up the actual crib, still next to my side of the bed.  He seems to sleep ok in it, but still prefers to be in our bed most of the night.  I guess I don't mind.  He's pretty snuggly :)
• I do have to say that when Carter is well fed and well rested, he's an incredibly happy baby!  He laughs and smiles and plays!  He's so fun to be around.  I just wish he would sleep more often so we could enjoy more happy Carter time.

New Discoveries

• Carter found his toes.  When he help him sit up, he leans forwards and sucks on those little piggies!
• His mouth.  Carter has mastered picking things up with his hands and shoving them straight into his mouth.  Toys, blankets, socks, my hair.  Anything and everything goes into his mouth.  He's even tried putting my face in his mouth.  Apparently my chin looks good for nursing :)
• Brooks.  I know he's always been aware of his big brother before, but Carter LOVES Brooks and they're starting to interact more.  Brooks can make Carter laugh more than any of us!  It's so fun to see their relationship begin to develop.
• Snow!  It's been a super mild winter this year, but we did get a little bit of snow a few weeks ago.  Brooks, of course, wanted to try out his new sled so I bundled up both the boys and we went outside to play in the snow.  Carter was pretty much stunned by it all.  He didn't smile, but he didn't cry either. 

New Abilities

• Grabbing.  I'm not sure if this is an ability, but Carter has become a grabber.  And usually it's things I prefer he not grab ... such as the skin on my neck or my hair.
• Scooting.  Carter spends most of his floor time on his tummy and when he pushes himself up with his arms, he ends up scooting himself backward.  Or in circles.  He doesn't move too far on the carpet, but the other day I put him on the bathroom floor while I was getting ready for the day and I heard him crying.  I look over and he's wedged himself between the toilet and the floor.  (Note to self: make sure the toilet is always very clean)  Silly baby!
• Carter will also arch his butt up in the air while on his tummy.  He wants to crawl so bad.  And I know it will happen all too soon.
• Blowing raspberries.  Super drooly, but super fun!!
• Blanket sucking.  Carter hasn't sucked him thumb in a while and he's never been a touchie (pacifier) guy.  But lately he's taken to sucking on blankets (or any other fabric for that matter).  Charlie would have been so proud!